What’s your compass?
Most people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own.
They spend decades in pursuit of something that someone convinced them they should want, without realizing that it won’t make them happy.
Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.
You need to know your personal philosophy of what makes you happy and what’s worth doing.
In the following stories, you’ll notice some common themes. These are my philosophies from the ten years I spent starting and growing a small business.
- Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.
- Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving yourself.
- When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design your perfect world.
- Never do anything just for the money.
- Don’t pursue business just for your own gain. Only answer the calls for help.
- Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what’s not working.
- Your business plan is moot. You don’t know what people really want until you start doing it.
- Starting with no money is an advantage. You don’t need money to start helping people.
- You can’t please everyone, so proudly exclude people.
- Make yourself unnecessary to the running of your business.
- The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy.
What do these statements mean? What’s the context? How are you supposed to apply them to your own situation?
Well… I don’t love talking about myself, but for the lessons to make sense, I have to tell you my tale.
A compass joke: I am still chuckling over a Sunday newspaper cartoon, "The Little Woman." She and her husband are walking down the sidewalk to the polling station.
The husband asks, "Who are you voting for?"
The wife calmly replies, "I am thinking, I don't know."
The husband explodes, "What? We are almost there, for an important election, and you don't know?"
The wife calmly replies, "Of course I know. I am thinking, I don't know whether to tell you."
... So, Derek and friends, I don't think I will tell you my compass, but I will say I don't know how anyone can find their compass if they can't:
Ride a bus without needing a book or mobile device,
walk a path without needing headphones,
take a long bus or plane ride without needing a substance first,
be at home or in a hotel room without needing constant company,
drive a car without needing a constant wall of sound from the radio
discuss in person, or comment on-line, with politeness, not outbursts or spewing words
watch a movie, stage play or opera without needing to check a device in the dark
The key word is "needing."
I am sure you must know stillness if you are ever to know your philosophy
I really like it. My fav is "The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy."
Hi Derek, I'm an ex-musician and soon I'll be an ex-music teacher. Brazil has become a strange place to live and work, especially for artists and teachers. I'm planing to move to Canada, as soon as the pandemia allows me to fly. Never heard about you until yesterday, and I'm very impressed with your work and thoughts. They have been very inspiring to me and I just wanted to say thank you.
Thanks Derek for sharing your business philosophies. Very different than usual ones. Some of these deeply resonate with me. As an aspiring Entrepreneur, these values will be useful to others and me.