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Flying Sans Parachute

by Abby Kerr

in Uncategorized

About this column

We’re still not finished with this idea of finding the voice of your business and especially how you see your larger entrepreneurial life as an inspiration or a hindrance to this.

Let’s hear some more from Izzy. Remember her?

So, maybe the larger topic is simply motivation. Or fear itself. And the discussion becomes what enables some people to jump in fearlessly, trusting. Because if you can’t conquer that, you can’t even begin to form the words, let alone create the “voice” you need in hopes of having your “right people” hear you.

Izzy wrote to me recently in response to a post where I asked for deeper feedback on what’s challenging around finding the “voice” of your business. {I’m creating my first info product this Summer, which will help creative entrepreneurs do just that, then find the confidence to speak it forth.}

I know that for every person who takes the time to reach out to me about something, it usually turns out that there’s ten or fifty others out there feeling the same way.

Entrepreneurial life can feel a lot like flying without a parachute.

Realizing there are no parachutes is a learning curve in any entrepreneur’s life.

So I gather it’s time for some talk about the entrepreneurial art of flying sans parachute. And the gorgeous foolhardiness of it.

Because that’s what we do, you know, those of us who hear the siren song of entrepreneurship {sounds so romantic, I know} and dare to answer it. Even if only to utter a timid, gulp-propelled little, “Yeah?”

We buy a ticket. We get on the plane. And we fly. And we do it without a parachute, putting our faith in the laws of physics and the ability of the pilot to troubleshoot any number of tricky aerospace scenarios we can’t begin to understand.

It seems to me there are an awful lot of comparisons we can draw between the rather pedantic {or holy-crap!-inducing, depending on how you feel about it} act of flying, and our entrepreneurial adventures.

As a young girl, I didn’t know people were allowed to fly without parachutes.

I took my first plane ride at the age of 20. It was the Summer before my Junior year of college and I was traveling to Detroit to visit a boyfriend who was interning there for the Summer. I was nail-bitingly nervous about taking my first flight. I’ve never loved heights and didn’t like the prospect of my body being 30,000 feet above the earth and trapped inside an aircraft that was totally out of my control.

On the morning of my first flight, I’d talked myself down from a near panic attack and said to my mom, “If the plane starts to crash, I just have to remember to pull the string.”

My mom looked at me quizzically. “The string?”

I stared back, wide-eyed. “The string on my parachute.”

“Honey,” she said. “There are no parachutes.”

I took a moment to process this information .”So,” I said. “What happens if we crash?”

She looked at me kindly, matter-of-factly. “You die.”

I didn’t know about any of my fellow travelers, but to me, flying without parachutes seemed like an awfully big gamble on the laws of physics to build a multi-billion dollar industry around.

Yet somehow, I was comforted by the awareness that people do this every day. Celebrities, politicians, and people who work cross-country fly multiple times a week! Once I boarded the plane and took my seat, I noticed that the former frat boys carousing in the back rows weren’t phased by the fact that we were about to take off. Neither did the creepy, grease-y business man in ill-fitting pleated khakis sitting next to me who stared at my bubblegum pink toes half the plane ride {the other half, I covered them with my carry-on tote}. Neither did the flight attendants, who completed their beverage service with nary a lip twitch. This was air travel as normal for everybody else.

It was pretty much only me who was freaking.

The reality is, the fear of flying is so much greater and more spirit-crushing than is the likelihood of crashing and dying in a fire-y blaze.

Can’t we look at our entrepreneurial life like this, too?

Or can we continue to let our fear of crashing {our dreams} keep us away from the destination?

I’m just not sure that’s good enough for you.

What do you think? {As Izzy tells me, our beliefs can really keep us down.}

 

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

Chris Anthony July 13, 2010 at 4:44 pm

It’s on a smaller scale, but:

Walt Disney World used to have an attraction called “ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter”. (It’s been retooled into “Stitch’s Great Escape”, a vastly subpar attraction – but I digress.) EAE was known for terrifying small kids, to the point where they had a sign up warning parents that the ride was intense and to exercise discretion when bringing children in.

One parent (according to the Unofficial Guide), however, reported that his child was scared out of his wits until he thought about it for a moment and realized that of the millions of people who had been through the attraction since it opened, every single one had come out alive. When he figured that out, it made the attraction much more enjoyable (and much less terrifying).

Reply

Chris Anthony July 13, 2010 at 12:44 pm

It’s on a smaller scale, but:

Walt Disney World used to have an attraction called “ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter”. (It’s been retooled into “Stitch’s Great Escape”, a vastly subpar attraction – but I digress.) EAE was known for terrifying small kids, to the point where they had a sign up warning parents that the ride was intense and to exercise discretion when bringing children in.

One parent (according to the Unofficial Guide), however, reported that his child was scared out of his wits until he thought about it for a moment and realized that of the millions of people who had been through the attraction since it opened, every single one had come out alive. When he figured that out, it made the attraction much more enjoyable (and much less terrifying).

Reply

Abby Kerr July 13, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Chris —

Good anecdotal evidence there that one can survive the formerly-much-cooler-named EAE…and maybe even entrepreneurship!

— Abby

Reply

Abby Kerr July 13, 2010 at 7:23 pm

Chris —

Good anecdotal evidence there that one can survive the formerly-much-cooler-named EAE…and maybe even entrepreneurship!

— Abby

Reply

Cassandra July 14, 2010 at 4:17 pm

This is a great way of putting things into perspective. When I begin to feel fearful or second guess myself, I force myself into understanding that it’s just an insecurity based on… fears of failure, success. What gives? I have begun to recognize that when my nerves start to show, it’s because I feel so strongly about ‘my thing’ and the idea of being rejected is so terrifying. Because my thing is mine, and it’s such a part of me.
On that note, there is no point in holding back based on fears. How the heck else am I going to grow, better my crafts, share my creations with the world and ultimately be 100% independent while living a wildly creative life? I know this. I have realized that it is so important to do those things that put butterflies in your belly.

Not all at once… but, y’know.

I really appreciate you touching on these things, Abby. I have a feeling that many people hold back from being totally awesome for fear of someone else thinking they’re not. It is difficult to re-train your brain, but I think the first step is in being able to recognize the signs, and knowing that you just need to take the next step forward, and then the next.

Reply

Cassandra July 14, 2010 at 12:17 pm

This is a great way of putting things into perspective. When I begin to feel fearful or second guess myself, I force myself into understanding that it’s just an insecurity based on… fears of failure, success. What gives? I have begun to recognize that when my nerves start to show, it’s because I feel so strongly about ‘my thing’ and the idea of being rejected is so terrifying. Because my thing is mine, and it’s such a part of me.
On that note, there is no point in holding back based on fears. How the heck else am I going to grow, better my crafts, share my creations with the world and ultimately be 100% independent while living a wildly creative life? I know this. I have realized that it is so important to do those things that put butterflies in your belly.

Not all at once… but, y’know.

I really appreciate you touching on these things, Abby. I have a feeling that many people hold back from being totally awesome for fear of someone else thinking they’re not. It is difficult to re-train your brain, but I think the first step is in being able to recognize the signs, and knowing that you just need to take the next step forward, and then the next.

Reply

Erica July 14, 2010 at 8:51 pm

mm. I look at it this way: if you’re NOT scared, you’re doing the wrong thing.

Go where the fear is.

THAT’S where you’ll find your brilliance.

Reply

Erica July 14, 2010 at 4:51 pm

mm. I look at it this way: if you’re NOT scared, you’re doing the wrong thing.

Go where the fear is.

THAT’S where you’ll find your brilliance.

Reply

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva July 15, 2010 at 1:21 pm

ohhh izzy is so right…our beliefs are our reality…and exactly what we create for ourselves…it is not easy to jump off the cliff of entrepreneurial bliss…it takes a lot of courage to believe that you have a business model that other people will ‘buy’ into…and then jump!!! i wrote about this the other day with a little inspiration from Van Halen!!!

Reply

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva July 15, 2010 at 9:21 am

ohhh izzy is so right…our beliefs are our reality…and exactly what we create for ourselves…it is not easy to jump off the cliff of entrepreneurial bliss…it takes a lot of courage to believe that you have a business model that other people will ‘buy’ into…and then jump!!! i wrote about this the other day with a little inspiration from Van Halen!!!

Reply

Abby Kerr July 15, 2010 at 6:29 pm

@Cassandra — You said: “I have a feeling that many people hold back from being totally awesome for fear of someone else thinking they’re not.” Thinking about that, I’m pretty sure I know more people who’d like to do something entrepreneurial but don’t for the very reason you said than I know people who are actually doing it. What makes the difference between those of us who try to fly and those of us who just like to hang out in airports? I guess just getting on the plane.

@Erica — “Go where the fear is. THAT’S where you’ll find your brilliance.” What if we were taught this repeatedly in school as children, as a part of every discipline’s curriculum? We’d have a totally different looking country, commercially speaking! More mini businesses, solopreneurs, and niche driven industries than we even have now, I think. Maybe it really IS all a matter of mindset.

@Rebecca — I think what holds many people back from taking a chance on their talents is that there is no guarantee of “entrepreneurial bliss.” We see so many fallouts, go unders, and failures these days {“in this economy”}. My friend, a budding and often frustrated creative entrepreneur, says that what I should be writing about here is creating a micro business on a tiny scale, such that its success or failure has virtually no impact on one’s life beyond one’s psyche. My question for all of us is, is this really entrepreneurship? Or is it soft-shoeing in the wings?

Reply

Abby Kerr July 15, 2010 at 2:29 pm

@Cassandra — You said: “I have a feeling that many people hold back from being totally awesome for fear of someone else thinking they’re not.” Thinking about that, I’m pretty sure I know more people who’d like to do something entrepreneurial but don’t for the very reason you said than I know people who are actually doing it. What makes the difference between those of us who try to fly and those of us who just like to hang out in airports? I guess just getting on the plane.

@Erica — “Go where the fear is. THAT’S where you’ll find your brilliance.” What if we were taught this repeatedly in school as children, as a part of every discipline’s curriculum? We’d have a totally different looking country, commercially speaking! More mini businesses, solopreneurs, and niche driven industries than we even have now, I think. Maybe it really IS all a matter of mindset.

@Rebecca — I think what holds many people back from taking a chance on their talents is that there is no guarantee of “entrepreneurial bliss.” We see so many fallouts, go unders, and failures these days {“in this economy”}. My friend, a budding and often frustrated creative entrepreneur, says that what I should be writing about here is creating a micro business on a tiny scale, such that its success or failure has virtually no impact on one’s life beyond one’s psyche. My question for all of us is, is this really entrepreneurship? Or is it soft-shoeing in the wings?

Reply

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