Some believe that the entrepreneurial spirit can’t be learned. That entrepreneurs are born, not made. But when you consider it logically, this idea is wildly flawed.
It’s like believing, if your mother language is Polish, you could never wrap your head and tongue around a language like English.
Or if you ate junk food, played video games, and didn’t exercise for a long time, then you could never become a disciplined martial artist or marathon runner later in your life. The same goes for business.
Sure, some people might be born with the ability to throw caution to the wind and pursue their business dreams, despite the risks and challenges that lay before them.
However, no one can prove that this type of “spirit” can’t be learned.
the purpose driven life
by Rick Warren
⏱ 12 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Spirit is like any skill or attitude. Some you’ll find you have an inborn talent for. Others, you’ll completely and utterly suck at, at first. This means attaining a new skill or mindset, such as learning about online marketing or thinking strategically, boils down to sheer persistence.
And sometimes, what fuels the hunger for success, and your persistence as a result, only presents itself later in life.
For instance, if you’ve lost your job and are running out of savings. Or, after years of working for a boss, you decide that a 9 to 5 job isn’t for you anymore. Determination for something more, something better, something of your own, takes over your mind.
Hollywood movie star, Will Smith, is famous for “blaming” his success, not on the skills he was born with or who he knew, but on his unwavering persistence.
In one of his inspiring videos, he drills home the message that your skills can only take you so far in life – no matter how impressive they may be. Your persistence, which you construct throughout your career and life, makes all the difference to your success.
Business magnate, Richard Branson, also loves shunning the belief that an “entrepreneurial spirit” can’t be learned.
When asked what he believes creates an entrepreneur, he attributes the following 3 requirements:
- Have or learn a talent or skill.
- Offer a service from that talent or skill.
- Establish a business from the service you offer.
You’ve probably noticed that being born with a particular skill for business didn’t make the list.
What about freelancers? Do they also have a natural talent? Perhaps you’ve heard about a 32-year-old freelance sound mixer Graham Cochrane, who earns anything from $35,000 to $75,000 a month from a subscription video course he created.
However, he wasn’t born with an entrepreneurial gene. In fact, he was the best example of a guy struggling with a negative mindset:
“I have never been entrepreneurial. I was a scaredy-cat. I wanted a steady job to pay my bills and have a piece of bread on the table.”
But what helped him see the future of his career in a new light was when the start-up he worked for went bankrupt, while he had a newborn daughter and wife to support.
Graham had a side hustle, before losing his job, through his passion project – freelance recording and sound mixing.
So, he decided to take the plunge and turn his attention to this skill and create a lucrative income from it, working on it only 10 hours a week.
Therefore, if you believe in the entrepreneurial path, but don’t believe you’ve been born with the natural “spirit”, change your mindset!
We’ve talked about how you can work on your spiritual journey, but what exactly IS a spiritual journey? What is the core of the goal we’re aiming for?
Will Smith, Richard Branson, and Graham Cochrane joined the journey of becoming who they really are because where they were before didn’t have a MEANING.
When entrepreneurship has meaning, it becomes a true spiritual journey. It’s as much about investing in yourself as it is your business. It’s deeply personal. It must enable the best version of you. And when it does, the accurate YOU can emerge. This process of creating change in your life can inspire the growth of human awareness and, on a broader scale, the strengthening of our collective consciousness. A world that begins to recognize our interdependencies will most certainly be a better one!
Hopefully, through this spiritual journey, we can recognize that each frame of life is fluid; that every moment is rich with meaning and opportunity. We just need to learn how to pay attention to it.
There is a story taken from a book written by Gary Zukav called, “The Dancing Wu Li Masters.” He talks about the importance of beginning from the center, and not the fringe, when it comes to learning. That lessons and opportunities in life come to you directly in proportion to your level of curiosity in it. That we should first seek to understand the meaning of the lesson. He states,
“The Master does not speak of gravity until the student stands in wonder at the flower petal falling to the ground.”
We often ask ourselves:
“How can I find my purpose in life? How can I create more meaning?”
There is no single correct answer, and the proper response can only come from within. Everyone is searching for it, and that’s ok. Never stop digging. It’s ok to not know what you were meant to do. Feel grateful the question appeared! And with that question in mind, continue on your journey.
Focus your attention on your skill. Then, evolve it every moment you get.
Be consistent in your persistence, and then create your vision and business.
What do you think? Do you believe you are on a spiritual journey? Did your spirit help you in your entrepreneurship or freelance journey? Share your opinion in the comment section! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss anything, and you can enjoy the excellent content we send your way!
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