From one King to another

I hate mass text messages and emails as much as the next person. However that didn’t stop me from sending a text at the end of January announcing that I was taking the month of February off. Therefore people would not see me out at events as much nor should they bother to invite me out because my answer would be “NO.”  I was spending the month only doing the things that energized me, made me feel alive, and reminded me to stay focused.

So, I was sure to go to DC in February. I needed to get out of Philadelphia (that always reenergizes me.) I needed the National Gallery of Art (I come alive there).  I needed to go see to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. That

Amazed me: One man lived what he believed. He took a conviction, looked at the horrible odds and went forward anyway. 

As entrepreneurs we usually start with the odds stacked against us. Even if we are fortunate to have strong financial backing, we start out with the unknown. That is a huge variable and is often the scariest. But Dr. King didn’t have a crystal ball and yet he prepared, planned, and moved ahead. Amazing!

Saddened me: It’s sad knowing that a man can do so much, ultimately sacrificing his life, and be delayed his due recognition.  In my opinion, the memorial was long overdue.

As entrepreneurs we don’t and won’t always get our due. We don’t always get opportunities we feel we deserve, partnerships we want, pay offs that we sacrificed for.  Now for as sad as Dr. King’s  delayed recognition makes me, I must say that it finally happening makes me confident to know that nothing, if done well and in truth, is ever in vain. 

Reminded me: We have made progress as a nation concerning racism (and many of the other isms), prejudice, and privilege but progress need not be mistaken as the end product. We are far from the starting line but not so close to the finish line that we ought reduce our run to a slow saunter. It is when we mistake progress for the end product that we deceive ourselves and become lazy and divided. As a country we are still a divided nation, many Americas, many Americans, many dreams, and unfortunately many nightmares. We have made progress but have not yet achieved the end product.

As entrepreneurs we can never afford the luxury of thinking because we have moved forward we have finished. That’s how businesses close. We can appreciate progress, celebrate milestones, but must continuously focus on seeking to do more and be better with each day we are given.  

Convicted me:  I have no excuse not to live what I believe.  None.

As entrepreneurs, dreamers, humans, we have no excuse not to be successful and live the life we have been given well. None.