The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

November 19Greatness of Our Fates

My actual life is unspeakably mean compared with what I know and see that it might be. Yet the ground from which I see and say this is some part of it. It ranges from heaven to earth, and is all things in an hour. The experience of every past moment but belies the faith of each present. We never conceive the greatness of our fates. Are not these faint flashes of light which sometimes obscure the sun their certain dawn?

Henry David Thoreau—Letter to Mrs. Emerson (1843)

Do you come to the end of a day thinking, “I'm capable of so much more than I am doing right now?”

If not, you're a lucky one. Entrepreneurs, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, rarely feel accomplished enough, far enough, done enough. We know we have more potential than is being rewarded.

Of course, we probably define potential as something unreachable in this lifetime.

In part, it's what keeps us going; in part, it's what makes us mental.

And then one day through some combination of courage, usefulness, doubt, hard work, stumbles, lurches, and discoveries, we trust ourselves and the universe enough that we get lucky. (Please note the author is being sarcastic here.)

But we keep going precisely because “We never conceive the greatness of our fates.”

Have faith in every present moment, chill out, and pat yourself on the back every now and then.

Challenge Question

1. To what extent do you think you shape your own destiny, and how much comes down to fate?