The Heroic Entrepreneur: Profiting from Your Brilliance
If you look up the definition of hero in Webster's, you'll find a definition something like, 'A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war'. Some heroes in our lives have earned that badge of honor by doing something everyone feels is heroic as defined in the traditional sense, whether it's running into a burning building to rescue a child, pulling an injured woman from a car accident, or fighting the enemy in the time of war.
I recently rented the movie, Seabiscuit, which started my thinking about this whole notion of heroism. What I found heroic in the movie was not that both Seabiscuit and his jockey. Red Pollard, came back from adversity to win the Santa Anita race. What was most heroic is that neither of them let adversity stop them in the pursuit of their passion. They knew they were born to do what they were doing, and despite physical setbacks, found the courage to pursue their passion anyway. In the pursuit of this passion, the paths that their lives took had a profound impact on all they came into contact with, most especially with Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, and trainer, Tom Smith. Howard and Smith got in touch with their owns gifts as a result of their contact with Pollard and Seabiscuit, and racing history was changed forever.
Where would we be today in the world without these people who discovered their brilliance, changed the world in some way by following their passion, and have become famous because they followed their dreams: Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Debbie Fields, Stephen Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, and Mark Victor Hanson, to name a few?
There are others who aren't yet famous yet are heroic every day because they have discovered their brilliance and their gifts and share those with the world. My virtual assistant, Jean Hanson, who, after years in retail and helping her husband run a cleaning business, now loves to step into the lives and businesses of her clients and is thrilled with her ability to help them achieve their goals. It's due to Jean's love of helping me achieve my business dreams that I'm able publish a weekly email newsletter and inspire my readers to take action to live better lives and create better businesses.
My brother started his firefighting career at the tender age of 15, now continues to serve as the youngest-elected chief of the local volunteer fire department, fire marshall for the city in which he lives, and Assistant. Emergency Management Coordinator for his local tri-county region. When the space shuttle Columbia exploded mid-air on February 1, 2003, and debris rained down on East Texas, he organized and managed an incredible volunteer effort to retrieve shuttle debris and remains of the astronauts, 5 of whom were recovered through his team's search efforts. How would NASA's ability to thoroughly examine the debris and research the cause of the explosion have changed if my brother hadn't been there spearheading the rescue, following his passion of firefighting, and leading with his gifts to organize and delegate large numbers of people in times of crisis?
Each of us has a unique gift that we bring to the world, and I truly believe that we all are here to fulfill a purpose that ties in with our gifts. The impact that your gift will have on the lives of others can be incredibly amazing, so you definitely owe it to yourself, at a minimum, to discover that gift.
As a business owner, perhaps you've discovered your brilliance and are able to pursue that daily in the operation of your business. If you're like most business owners, however, you often lose sight of why you started your business and get bogged down in doing those day-to-day things that drive you nuts but are necessary evils for keeping your business afloat, yet prevent you from living your brilliance. If that's the case, grab a sheet of paper and make two columns: Things I Love and Everything Else. In your Things I Love column, write down only those activities you love to do in your business.
For me, it's pretty simple: writing, speaking, coaching, and marketing. All the other things that need to happen in my business, from bookkeeping to website maintenance to fulfilling marketing plans to database updates go into the Everything Else column, where I'm delegating (or have a plan to delegate) these tasks to those professionals, like my VA Jean, who are great at these things and love to do them. This, in turn, enables me to free up my time to do what I do best, and share my gifts with the world.
Exercise your courage muscles today, get in touch with your brilliance, and become a hero in your own right in your business and your life. The world is waiting to experience your brilliance....
About The Author
Donna Gunter is a Self Employment Expert and Women's Business Coach. She works with overwhelmed solo business owners whose business are running them (instead of them running the business) by coaching, training, and consulting with them on 8 key strategies proven to help them work smarter and make more. Visit her website at http://www.self-employment-success.com and subscribe to her newsletter, Work Smarter Make More (and it's not just about the money!).
Latest News
Could auto industry layoffs spur more entrepreneurialism in Mich.? MLive.com, MI - So in the wake of all this economic destruction, will entrepreneurialism and creativity flourish? Some business leaders think so. ... 'There's no such thing as job security' |
Risky Decision-making Essential To Entrepreneurialism Science Daily (press release) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 12, 2008) — Whether someone will become the next Richard Branson, Steve Jobs or Henry Ford may be down to whether they make risky ... |
Norfolk entrepreneur wins top award Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, UK - ... and at LEAD East - a new initiative which promotes entrepreneurialism in order to help ensure continued growth in the East of England. ... |
Two Degrees, LLC Appoints Mike Heffernan as Chief Financial Officer MarketWatch - Now is the time to bring on a financial expert that we know and trust, and who shares our spirit of entrepreneurialism, to ensure our continued success. ... |
Bank of America and PRIME - Working Together to Support the Over ... ITNews, Italy - It aims to unlock entrepreneurialism in the over 50s in the UK by helping this group get back into employment through setting up their own businesses. ... |
Economic downturns can spur mergers, innovation Seattle Post Intelligencer - We've seen consolidation inspire entrepreneurialism most clearly in Washington's banking industry. Every time a bank is bought, that frees up capital and ... |
Max Levchin, Jawed Karim, Tom Siebel, Scott Banister, Reid Hoffman ... SYS-CON Media, NJ - ... co-founder of Zivity, Reid Hoffman , founder, President and Chairman of LinkedIn and others to Discuss Cross-Country Entrepreneurialism in Two Panels. ... |
Chamber joins Go Texan Jack County Herald, TX - Retirees are increasingly drawn to smaller rural communities with access to urban services, and rural entrepreneurialism is a growing trend. ... Chamber provides info on how to donate |
Range of Bay area firms take note of Entrepreneurship Week Bizjournals.com, NC - Entrepreneurialism, invention and innovation are important to advancing living standards, said Ken Evans, regional director for Entrepreneur Week in his ... |
Portland trying new solar-powered public toilet Northwest Cable News, OR - Entrepreneurialism aside, the city says it's recognizing a humanitarian need for public rest rooms. To reduce opportunities for vandalism and crime, ... |
Resources
-
Sorry there are no resources available at this time