if you don’t challenge yourself, who will?

Big Thinking

rocky mountains from the air

Are you up for a challenge?

Are you willing to try something that’s never been done? Are you willing to think what’s never been thought? Speak what’s never been spoken?

One of the greatest challenges of being an entrepreneur is that there is no one left telling you what to do. No one. You’ll hear whispers from clients. You’ll receive ideas from coaches. You’ll get inspired by research.

But no one will really tell you what to do.

Or dictate how you do it.

Or schedule it for you.

That part is up to you.

Indeed, it’s not even so much what you do as much as it is pushing the envelope. Are you willing to try a fresh strategy? A crazy idea?

But we end up allowing research to pass as an action item, we search for endless tutorials instead of giving it a go, we walk in others foot steps instead of forging our own trail. Entrepreneurs can’t afford (quite literally) to be followers. Sure, you can borrow from others success – but if you’re unwilling to lead with some small part of your business, it’s time to stop kidding yourself about what you’re trying to achieve.

Are you willing to challenge yourself further than you’ve ever been challenged before?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. But you could try. I bet you’d learn something in the process.

Look at it as an opportunity to try stuff out. “Ask yourself, ‘What do I get to do?’ not ‘What do I have to do?'” Good advice for any DIY pursuit, actually.
— Mark Frauenfelder, Made by Hand (quoting Steve Gerischer)

It’s our privilege as entrepreneurs, movers & shakers, up & comers, big-thinking power people to create tasks that we don’t know how to do right now. It’s our joy to stretch our skills & ideas beyond recognition. It’s our entitlement to make mistakes while we’re learning.

We must challenge ourselves.

If you don’t challenge yourself, who will?

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