We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.” – Khalil Gibran
Seven days ago, I shared the following story in our Path community:
“In a medieval town, a traveller came upon a group of three stonecutters.
The traveller asked the first stonecutter what he was doing, and the man replied:
‘I’m carving stone.’
Then he asked the second man, who replied:
‘I’m earning a living.’
Both men looked worn and exhausted.
The third, however, was working with incredible energy and joy.
When the traveller asked him what he was doing, he smiled and said:
‘I’m building a cathedral to the glory of God.”
All three men were doing the same work, for the same pay.
But only two of them saw it as work:
A task that must be done in order to make a living.
The third saw his work as a vehicle for building a greater vision.
To me, this is the root difference between working a regular job and building a business.
Both take work.
(and a business often takes more work, at least in the beginning)
But one, the job, feels like a series of tasks you must complete, whether you want to or not, because you are required to.
It feels like a fixed exchange:
Insert a dollar of life-force, get a dollar of salary back.
A flat trade; effort for survival.
The other, a business, feels like you’re building something greater:
Like every task you complete is a brick that builds towards the cathedral of your life vision…
And so even the tasks you don’t want to do take on greater meaning and higher purpose.
There are pros and cons to both paths, of course:
Running a business comes with more risk, more stress, and more responsibility than most jobs.
(with obvious exceptions like emergency surgeons, special forces, first responders, etc)
And it is 100% possible to find a you love, that feeds you with purpose and meaning.
So if that’s your path, don’t let anyone — including me — convince you otherwise.
On the other hand:
If your vision is calling you to build something of your own…
If you don’t just tolerate the additional risk, stress, and responsibility that comes with building your own business — you’re inspired by it…
And, if you’re willing to push through the upfront struggle — however long it may take — in order to see your greater vision come to life:
I would like to invite you to apply for FounderLab.
And I will do everything in my power to help turn your vision into a reality.
I look forward to the honor.
– T
P.S. Quick update:
More than half of our 15 spots have now been filled by committed applicants.
(some have already paid, some I’m still waiting on)
So I’m not sure how much longer application will be open for.
My guess would be Monday or Tuesday.
If you’d like to apply, my strong recommendation is to do it this weekend, before we’re full.
Here’s the link once more.
“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.” — Bhagavad Gita
