Over the past few years, I've had the pleasure of giving many presentations to high school and college students. Every time I've given these talks there's always a teacher or faculty member in attendance who at some point asks me to share some general advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. That's a hard question to answer without sounding breathtakingly obvious, but it has caused me to think a lot about that question. Ultimately, I've decided that the most relevant and generalizable piece of advice I can give to people is to notice what excites you.
I know, not exactly Aristotelian, but I actually think we're not by and large programmed to notice our ideas and inspirations as they pass us by. We're actually programmed to do quite the opposite. We're trained to pick a goal from a set of pre-defined options and then avoid distractions that might divert us from that goal. We learn how to follow curricula, prepare for tests, choose and complete majors, apply for jobs, climb professional ladders, etc. - the better we are at following the trail, the more rewarding the trail becomes. And that's fine. That's a very good way of life. But this mode is so intrinsic that we're not really even aware that we're doing it and I think we miss opportunities to take a shot at something that might be a more natural fit for us -- something not on the menu.
More...
0 comments
Post a Comment