A few days ago I made a discovery about the word "entrepreneur" that really got me thinking about what the journey of life is all about.
Remember the last time you had a business idea and you got excited about the journey ahead? We start out with this vision of a neat, upwards sloping trajectory, and then find out months or years later, it's anything but that.
I used to think entrepreneurship was a mix of hard work, resilience, and some creativity.
But a few days ago, I made an astounding discovery. I started to ponder the word "entrepreneur."
I looked at the French verb "entreprendre" and couldn't help but notice two elements:
- "entre" = between
- "prendre" = to take
But there's something else. Bear with me. The word "entrepreneur" bears a close resemblance to the Sanskrit work "anthra perna" which means "self-motivated."
So putting it all together, here's a new way I'm looking at the word.
"Entrepreneur" = to be self-motivated to take from the in-between moments.
Remember the setbacks, the frustrations, the curveballs, the moments when you felt like tearing your hair out?
But isn't that life also? Shit happens when we least expect it, but these tiny storms are forcing mechanisms. We're supposed to stop, reflect, learn, ponder.
Yet often we sail through life on autopilot, blind to what's around us.
Learning doesn't happen on the open road. It happens in the in-between.
I've now learned to recognise these in-between moments in each day, to slow down, to start making time to notice things happening around me.
That is the opposite of hard work.
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