Ah, the Challenge of Balance!
I am a Main Street American Entrepreneur. That means I take risks, put myself out there, advance (sometimes boldly, sometimes with trepidation!) into the unknown. It’s not always easy, sometimes it is scary, and a few times, teetering on the edge, it has been gut wrenchingly frightening.
You’ve got to have courage, you’ve got to believe in yourself, you’ve got to believe you can take on anything that comes your way and handle it. Much of the time that means you’ve got to think big, act large. You may be the underdog but you’ve got to believe you can take on the competition, the reigning King of the Mountain and if not annihilate the competition, at least carve out a prosperous niche and gain a meaningful toe hold when they are bigger and, at least in conventional terms, stronger and don’t want to give up nada. That’s the “Be Big” part.
At the same time you’ve got to be humble and nimble, accept your limitations and fight with the army you have, not the army you wish you had. You have to share credit and be willing to ask questions, listen and learn. You’ve got to be a team member and roll with defeat and setbacks and use them as stepping stones, not bemoan them as stumbling blocks. That’s the “Be Small” part.
It may sound like simplistic common sense when it appears before you in black and white written form, but reality is much more complex and at times comes at us at light speed and often gives us our final exam as a pop quiz when we are tired or stressed or otherwise have our guard down. It is easy to begin to believe our own press releases (Too Big) or be demoralized by setbacks and doubts, both internal and external (Too Small).
Closing Quotes:
“To walk around with an ego is a bad thing. To have confidence in yourself is a great thing.” – Fred Durst, b. 1970
“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.” – Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900
“What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better.” – Wendell Phillips, 1811-1884
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier