The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

October 25Celestial Fire

All the means of action— / The shapeless masses, the materials— / Lie everywhere about us. What we need / Is the celestial fire to change the flint / Into transparent crystal, bright and clear. / That fire is genius!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—“The Spanish Student” (1843)

It would be pretty easy to interpret today's reading as a call to swell up that fire in your entrepreneurial belly. (The metaphor is there for the taking.)

But that would risk oversimplifying the entrepreneurial journey into the hustle-and-grind camp.

The “celestial fire to change the flint” comes more accurately from developing keen self-awareness.

By understanding your strengths and, more important, your weaknesses, you gain the power to make decisions “unreliant” on your ego. (To be “unreliant” on one's ego is sort of synonymous with being reliant on one's self, or self-reliant. How's that for making the ego the villain?)

Let's face it: it takes more work to admit our weaknesses than to carve out our strengths, but to trust ourselves at that level is to become more completely self-reliant.

Now, lead by filling those gaps; surround yourself with people and resources that shore up your weaknesses.

Analytics and details can make or break your business. Hate the details? Be self-aware enough to realize there are those strange humans who love the details.

Challenge Question

1. What is your greatest weakness? (No, this is not an interview question; you really have to figure this out.) ...