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all humans are entrepreneurs
March 26, 2023 / Ronny Eriksson
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In today's society, we miss out on so much growth because our fixed mindset keeps us from understanding.
It's interesting but funny how labels make us uncomfortable about specific topics.
In fact, so uncomfortable that we refuse even to give those topics a thought - locking ourselves into a mental cage.
"You only define yourself. And you do the defining. Don't let anyone box you into an identity of their choosing." ― Salil Jha.
Understanding the depth of reality is the only way to escape this cage and build a life where no labels are holding you back.
Today we will break free from one of these cages and dive deep into the real meaning of the word "entrepreneur" - sharing a superpower that will change many things for you.
the problem
If you were to ask just about anyone on the street to define "entrepreneur," I'm willing to bet they'd tell you it's someone who starts a business. And suppose you asked them to elaborate on the traits of an entrepreneur. In that case, they'd probably toss out words like "visionary," "leader," and maybe even "hero." In their eyes, an entrepreneur takes risk, is assertive and influential. They tend to have a larger-than-life personality. The first thoughts that pop up in their heads are something like:
"Elon Musk"
"Hustle"
"Making money"
And so on…
While these definitions are not completely wrong, it is not what being an entrepreneur is in its core meaning.
Our society has hijacked the proper depth of the word.
Why?
It is a "cool" title because it represents many elements most of the use aspire for - independence, freedom, success, and courage. It is an easy word to put in front of your name because the explanation is "Someone who starts their own business"; start, and you can be one.
The word has become overly used, gaining hype, with over 400,000 people using that title on LinkedIn (and many of them not even living up to the definition).
Those who don't, start to despise this word growing almost allergic to it. The term's meaning gets diluted into a void as we grow distant from it.
The result? We lose our innate power to use the benefits of entrepreneurship, which are the cornerstones of survival and creating lives we genuinely enjoy.
When Starting Up Yourself, you need to become the entrepreneur of your own life. To do this well, there are a few things you need to understand.
all humans are entrepreneurs
"All human beings are entrepreneurs. When we were in the caves, we were all self-employed … finding our food, feeding ourselves. That's where human history began. As civilization came, we suppressed it. We became "labor" because they stamped us, "You are labor." We forgot that we are entrepreneurs." — Muhammad Yunus
We all were born entrepreneurs. Now your mind is probably fighting against that statement. "I'M NOT AN ENTREPRENEUR" This is what our fixed mind does.
So let me tell you what I mean before you get frustrated.
All people being entrepreneurs doesn't mean all people are Elon Musk's starting companies.
In fact, you will probably never start a company, but still you are an entrepreneur.
The entrepreneur I'm referring to is the one encoded in your DNA. To survive, you must be able to solve challenges and create solutions. This skill set is what entrepreneurship is all about.
Some entrepreneurs do it for monetary compensation - others to survive everyday life.
To understand this, we must go back and remind ourselves where this mindset was born. Let's rewind to the time of our ancestors and look at the cavemen.
A day in life for them in a nutshell was:
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Wake up
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Hunt for food
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Eat
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Find or sustain shelter
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Survive
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Sleep
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Repeat
A day in the life was built around a mindset for survival and improvement and a skillset to execute the minimum viable. This instinct was natural. There was no other way.
Their days were entrepreneurial because they created their own life - used their skillset to meet their survival needs. With time, they learned to be more efficient by creatively improving.
Now the world might have changed, but we humans haven't. Thus, we long to survive, solve problems and be creative.
If the cavemen were entrepreneurs, I argue our definition is flawed in regards to how we define and understand the word entrepreneur.
What if entrepreneurship is more extensive than just creating businesses?
redefining the word entrepreneur
If you google "entrepreneurship," you quickly find: "Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value."
Yeah, that might be true to some extent in the modern world, but do you think that thought drove our ancestors? Certainly not.
So what is entrepreneurship?
It has nothing to do with society's view of self-employment, value creation, and business.
It is a definition that includes everyone.
The definition clicked for me when I was asked, "Where does your entrepreneurial spirit come from, Ronny?"
I stopped to think about it. I had no idea – no one in my family was an "entrepreneur."
One day sitting at my cabin, the answer struck me. While observing the cabin's construction, I noticed the ingenious solutions implemented to make it cozier. My father and grandfather were responsible for all of it.
They used an entrepreneurial mindset to engineer our cabin to work for our needs as efficiently as possible.
I realized that entrepreneurship is larger than building businesses.
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Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.
It is a definition of opportunity and resources.
The same pursuit the was driving the cavemen.
Understanding this allows you to grow beyond what you've thought possible. You have the same entrepreneurial DNA as the most extraordinary minds out there.
To tap into it, you need to rediscover and unleash the entrepreneur within.
unleashing the entrepreneur within
As you start rediscovering your entrepreneurial instincts, many exciting things happen.
You may start to see more solutions than problems.
Maybe you start to realize everything is not that fixed.
Perhaps you start to understand yourself better.
Unleashing these realizations is about understanding that we all have the innate ability to solve problems and create value in the world. It's about recognizing the power of our unique human skill set and using it to our advantage.
To unleash the entrepreneur within, we must break free from the limitations of a fixed mindset and start thinking like problem solvers. We must embrace the idea that failure is not the end but an opportunity to learn and grow.
We must also cultivate a mindset of creativity and innovation - thinking outside the box and being willing to take risks. It means being adaptable, open to change, and constantly looking for improvement.
Finally, to unleash the entrepreneur within, we must take action and take steps toward achieving those goals. It means persistence in the face of obstacles and never giving up on our dreams.
We need to remember where we come from, what has been driving us. In the modern world we easily think things should be in a certain way. We need to unleash that capacity that made us succeed throughout the life-span of our species.
We all are entrepreneurs. It's not about starting a business or becoming the next big success story. It's about embracing our innate ability to solve problems and create value. By unleashing the entrepreneur within, we can develop a life of purpose and fulfillment and positively impact the world around us.
That’s a beautiful goal and it all starts with you accepting that,
You are an entrepreneur.
So am I,
I can't wait to build the startup of You and Me together,
Until next week,
- Ronny
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