Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
There is a regular occurrence in my life whereby I find myself telling my journey to new people I meet. For whatever reason, people seem interested in hearing about how I got to where I am. I like to think of myself a humble character, amidst the extravagant illustration of my face of course and this whole site being about me, I try to keep my ego in check. But I have a story to tell and I want to share it, because I crave the feeling of inspiring people. I stand in front of people and speak openly, transparently explaining my struggles and my pain, not looking for sympathy; I share these stories because I know that we all go through struggles and there is no reason why I am any different to anyone else. I share because I care.
For those that know me, and have spent any good amount of time with me, will know I am passionate about the journey of life. I believe that we are all on a journey of discovery and nothing gets me more excited than hearing the story of someone overcoming a challenge or pursuing a dream.
Last night I was asked a question that got me thinking. ‘Where does entrepreneurial spirit come from?’ My response to the question was simple. ‘I believe that entrepreneurial spirit lies in all of us,‘ I said. “We all begin life the same and before we begin to mould into our environments, we are gifted with the ability to fend for ourselves, survive and provide. That animal instinct lives in us all. We are fighting beasts, competitive by nature and we are built to chase.”
Entrepreneurship is the fire within that drives you to attack. A burning desire to jump out our comforts and into unchartered territories. Some say leaders are born, but I prefer to believe that we all have leadership qualities and it’s merely our environments that influence us on whether to lead or follow.
Some of us overcome struggles and we find that we are inadvertently thrown into leadership; not knowing that we are becoming leaders. We find ourselves tackling scenarios and feeling a sense of fulfilment when we defeat them. It’s that sense of personal growth and development that pushes us to go the extra mile, knowing that this ‘road less travelled’ into the unknown isn’t scary at all.
Some people like to believe that they will never be an entrepreneur. That they are not cut out of it. Whatever excuses or reasons that we give, the fact is that we all have the ability to make our own choices in life.
The Road Less Travelled
At various points of our lives we find ourselves going down a road that appears to break off into two separate routes. One of the routes is signposted and has a queue of people all slowly patrolling to get to the place that they know. The other route is empty. No signposts and no people queueing. We ask the people queueing what is down the empty road and they tell us stories that they have heard, with countless reasons as to why we shouldn’t head down that road. So the majority of us jump in line and take the route of the majority.
There are few that discount what they have been told. Maybe because they know what is down the signposted road. Most of these people don’t even ask nor feel the need to ask what is down the empty road, they just feel like it’s the route to go.
These people have no idea what to expect. But something tells them it will be an adventure.