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Warning: Slightly a longish read
Though I have been a member here for a while now, this is my first post. Think am more like the Silent Monk in the monastery, mostly prefer to observe & learn :). However on this occasion an interesting thought struck me & hence this slightly longish post.
I have been an entrepreneur for over 15 years. It accounts for over 75% of my professional working career, working for an organisation seems like a distant memory. I have survived through a couple of mega & mini economic downturns. So as you can imagine I have seen some ridiculously euphoric highs and some downright crappy lows, quite battle scarred. And often I look back and wonder how is it that after all that insanity, chaos & blood, am still standing to see another day. When I look back on my journey now I realise that lot of it has to really do with my ability to look inwards.
I would like to point out here that I was never really overly religious nor spiritual before, it’s only in the past year or so that I have started to meditate and been spiritually inclined. Yet somehow whenever I have been at crossroads, needed to overcome setbacks, make difficult decisions or deal with consequences of my actions this quality has come to my rescue.
We all know that entrepreneurship is a journey, but is it just physical or is it something more? The question then is does entrepreneurship help you become spiritual? My answer now would be yes, it does help you become spiritual. The journey is more than just the outwardly. I might have not realised or recognised this earlier but certainly when I look back, in hindsight it all makes sense.
Entrepreneurship is fulfilling & rewarding, but make no mistake it does demand its share of you. It is described as a lonely job. It often throws a curve ball at you, presents & places you in situations & scenarios that range from crazy, bizarre, desperate to mind numbing. It mocks your ego & sucks the air off your confidence, leaving you battered & sometimes with self -doubt. More often than not you are required to look beyond logic, reason or peer advice & go by decisions based on your gut instincts. It moulds your character, makes you who you are, its almost like walking through a pyre – a la rights passage.
So do you think just the mere facts that you have a great team, emotional and moral support, sound financials etc. helped you see the daylight? I think not, at least not entirely. I think to a very large extent it is because of YOU. I believe that this YOU is far greater & powerful than you. We knowingly or unknowingly tap into this YOU when faced or placed in extra-ordinary circumstances. For me getting in touch with this YOU is a spiritual (inward) journey. And entrepreneurship has more often than not helped (sometimes forced) me look in this direction. Every success, failure, moments of self-doubt, joy, celebration in this journey has peeled away the layers, helping me slowly but surely get in touch with MYSELF. For better or worse, am more accepting, comfortable & ok with myself & where I am today. I have learnt to wear both my successes and failures lightly. And I know that as long as I honestly continue this inward journey am going to be fine. Would this have been all possible if I was not an entrepreneur? It might or might not have, I don’t know. However I do know for a fact that my journey as an entrepreneur has certainly made this possible. So now every time I hit a low, a roadblock or feel peer pressure I just remind myself that this is an inward journey too!
Think along with meditation & other techniques, entrepreneurship might just be another handy tool for self-realisation?
Rajat
Agree with you Deepak. You learn a lot during your journey as an entrepreneur and most of these experiences are never possible if you’re doing a regular job or working for someone else. In fact when you work alone, you find out a lot about yourself.