Why Entrepreneurs Relate to Sisyphus

byJwayne75

831 followers

11 years ago

According to Greek mythology poor Sisyphus was sentenced to Hades for chaining death so no one would die and because he was involved with the woman he should not have been involved with. The Greek gods gave Sisyphus a way out. So like everyone else he took the chance to be free. Most of us know the story how he made it to the cusp of the hill, only to lose strength and the huge boulder roll down the hill waiting for poor Sisyphus to get behind it and roll it up once again knowing in his heart what a futile effort it would be. This went on and on and poor Sisyphus tried and tried but failed and failed.

How does this relate to the entrepreneur you may ask? Let me make an analogy between Sisyphus and entrepreneurs. The Boulder represents the difficulty of making a business successful. As an entrepreneur or you want to be financially free, physically free from a job, and be passionate about what you do.

Exactly what is the difficulty in making a business successful? I will get to that answer in a few minutes! In 1910, (9 out of 10) Americans owned their own business. In the year 2015 (1 out of 10) Americans owned their own business. What changed? Maybe, one of the major factors was that people wanted the security of a job over the insecurity of owning a business. Maybe, because in the 1950's, Congress passed a law that allowed franchising. Businesses like McDonald's started franchising cookie-cutter restaurants and they appeared in every city and town in America. Each franchise had a mentor and business rules they had to followed which helped them be successful. Using this system, you did not have to be creative, but had to have large amounts of money to buy their franchise and be a good rule follower.

Now let's get back to why entrepreneurs relate to Sisyphus. In America you have the freedom to be successful and to fail. Most entrepreneurs do not have a safety net except for their brains, brawn and heart. Every entrepreneur knows what ever they do, write a book, or start a business – nothing is guaranteed even if they devote weeks, months, or years to that proposition. Just like Sisyphus, you may end up pushing that boulder up the hill with dismal results. The true entrepreneur realizes what the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. Before the entrepreneur starts rolling the boulder uphill he has prepared himself for success. He educates himself about his business, building more intellectual muscle, he joins a mastermind group with the same passions, interests, and likes in his business field. He selects a mentor to bounce questions off of and asks for advice. He goes forward with common sense and never fears failure. He has complete faith in what he can achieve. He can only lose if he quits. Are you like Sisyphus? Do you struggle pushing the boulder uphill only for it to roll back down again? Do you believe you are the only one failing? No, my friend not by a long shot! Failure is the bedrock of success. Are you asking for help? Yes, the boulder will get heavier and harder to push uphill because sitting on that boulder are all the negative comments you were going to get. Negative people telling you that you can't succeed, financial restraints, time constraints, help restraints and yes, self-doubt will rear its ugly head. As you "sweat" pushing that huge boulder uphill remember people are on the sidelines watching. They're thinking if he can make it, I can make it. I'm watching you and cheering you...because you are me! People fail because they are always learning one more step instead of applying the knowledge they have learned. Can't win at all sitting on the on the sideline... Get in the fight for your freedom!