Entrepreneurs as soldiers of paradox:
While most sane people run out of a burning building, the entrepreneur runs into that metaphorical building of burning opportunity. That makes entrepreneurs both heroes and antiheroes; like daredevils for dollars and for deeper meaning.
Entrepreneurs are both celebrated and considered a little crazy--if not ridiculous--by non-preneurs; they're admired and scoffed at; put on a pedestal and at the same time, looked down upon.
So, entrepreneurs have an emotional tough skin. But what they really have, I've noticed, is a deeper relationship to contradiction. What's the contradiction? Entrepreneurs understand the opposite is true of what scares the bones out of everyone else. Entrepreneurs have a I've-been-there-and-back-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale relationship to the 4 scariest parts of the psychological stomping ground of entrepreneurialism.
1. Risk
Risk is a heart attack subject for most people. Our innate desire is to tame the wild beast of risk and live securely without the fear of losing everything. Everyday sales copy is written to talk about how safe risks are--an oxymoron as salty as the phrase, 'jumbo shrimp'. Imagine honest sales promotions with copy that read: 'Now you just might blow everything, so think hard about this....'
Risks for everyday people come with multiple airbags and soothing lite rock with a no-slip-grip tether to the mothership. Yet, the whole point of risking so much to find a reward that is bigger than what immediate security can offer. Risk is a relationship lack of security for a meaningful reward.
The attack of heart is the reward you can't get anywhere else. (hint: it's probably less about money and more about doing something meaningful for yourself, and for the world.)
So while most people have a heart attack in the face of 'risk', entrepreneurs thrive on imminent reward.
2. Failure
Consider the toxic threat of losing everything--including your self worth. That's a major heart attack. But ask any entrepreneur who has accomplished extraordinary things and they'll tell you that failures are blessings in disguise. Failures offer secret intelligence not discovered any other way. Failure is the fire for a new strategy, one that cuts the fat and transforms your thinking. Ultimately, failure's gift is resolve. Resolve is what entrepreneurs need to make a next move. Failure is actually knowing more than anyone else in the room and doing something about it.
Some entrepreneurs do not regard their disappointments as failures, but as new opportunities about to be born--attacks of heart spring-loaded to bring them closer to success.
3. Uncertainty
Uncertainty drives people slowly insane. Most people claim they can 'handle anything' as long they know what they're up against. (Good luck with that). Yet, whether they know it or not, entrepreneurs thrive on uncertainty. The attack of heart is a sudden new angle, a surprise breakthrough; an unexpected turn that opens a new door to a lucrative possibility.
Uncertainty is an attack of heart; it's the doorway where innovation leaps out of the shadows and into your arms.
4. Selling
One of the massive entrepreneurial heart attacks of all time is when entrepreneurs experience the dark sales epiphany: the realization that selling to others is a non-negotiable part of the entrepreneurial game plan for success. Most entrepreneurs don't count on that.
The heart attack begins with the thought of selling and...never really ends. The subject of sales is repulsive. Terrifying too. Hallucinations of becoming a Camaro driving, cologne drenched sales eel--slithering, manipulating, pressuring--squeeze the life out of...our...polite....entrepreneur protagonist...(gasp) forever paralyzing her ability to offer something that others need.
Entrepreneurs are soldiers of paradox who transcend the common blood-pressure raising sales paradigm.
Their attack of heart is their deeper knowledge--the irrefutable knowledge--of how they positively affect the lives of people. Entrepreneurs who find a way to access the deeper knowledge of what they do, have an in-depth understanding of how they--their products or ideas--bring good things to the people who buy them.
They don't pressure others--just the opposite--they help their audience tap into something significant about their lives.
Soldiers of paradox never stop redefining their relationship to their own ideas. Soldiers of paradox never stop learning about how they positively affect others. This emotional and strategic knowledge explodes entrepreneurial confidence.
For you, the entrepreneur, such imperative confidence is your gateway to a unique persuasion charisma--the core of what you use to attract people interested in what you offer.
An attack of heart: The knowledge of how you are meaningful to others and your ability to attract the right supporters--both inside your company and outside your company's walls.
So as an entrepreneur, part of your job is to have a deeper relationship to what really scares you and most everyone else. Ask yourself:
1. Risk: What is your reward?
2. Failure: Can you use it for your advantage?
3. Uncertainty: Can it not drive you crazy, is there something waiting to surprise you?
4. Sales: Can you instead amaze people, and provide them a fascinating experience?
Leave a comment