For every aphorism there is an equal and opposite aphorism. How do we reconcile "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" with "Nothing ventured nothing gained?" How do we make peace between "Better safe than sorry" and "He who hesitates is lost?"
The owner's manual for human life is at best conflicted and confusing, and no one feels this tension more than entrepreneurs. They are often up at night, with visions of bankruptcy and failing in a spectacularly public way dancing in their heads. The faith investors have put in them is a heavy weight most people will never experience. Entrepreneurs venture forth into the unknown, butterflies in the stomach, and wonder — for the sake of their reputation, their security, their children, and even their reputation in their children's eyes — if they might not have been smarter to have stuck with the bird they had in their hand.
Note to entrepreneurs: If you're regularly visited by apparitions of doom and are often overcome with the desire to quit and make your way to a safer, more peaceful haven, know that this just confirms that you're an entrepreneur. Situation normal. You're feeling exactly the way every entrepreneur who went before you has felt.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review
Author: Dan Pallotta is a leading expert on innovation in the nonprofit sector and a pioneering social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. He is the author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.
