entrepreneur Archives

What’s Entrepreneurism Got To Do With It?

12 February 2018February 12, 2018Eric

The answer to my post title question is; legacy. So, what’s entrepreneurism got to do with legacy?

I’ve found that God is using this thing called entrepreneurism as a tool to help shape my legacy. And legacy is important. For me, for my wife, for my kids, for my followers, for those I haven’t met yet, and the movie that is called “my life.” I don’t always like the journey, but the shaping is undeniable.

In our world today we dig tangible return. For example, if I invest $10,000 in the stock market, I want a return of 8%. That’s great, but who remembers the return and how long does the euphoria last once you get it? Never lasted long for me…more like sand in my hands. But with legacy, you’re dealing in the currency of faith. Faith that what you’ve poured in will produce something brilliant further down the road. I’ve guided many down this road, and yes it’s hard. Funny how they tend to not look back when they embrace the first steps.

Here are some areas of my legacy entrepreneurism has, and is helping:

Fear – I very rarely utter or think the words “what if.”
Failure – Entrepreneurism has taught me that multiple failures that create breakthroughs are like finding diamonds
The Why Question – This is no longer a mystery. My answer to the why question is; I do what I do to inspire people to find and live out their epic life
Communication – I now have an urgency to get the point across. Not to win the argument or sell something, but to be clear and firm
Physical Health – Took it for granted in the corporate experience and became soft. Entrepreneurism is teaching me to always discover my limits physically
The Beauty of Wine – Finally had the courage to slow down and embrace my 5 senses
My Feelings – Finally came to the understanding that I feel everything-deeply. I’ve come to hate this and be joyous about it as well, but feeling deeply always reminds me that I am Fully Alive.

So what’s helping you with your legacy? And by the way, you’re building one whether you know it or not.

Risk

25 August 2014August 24, 2014Eric

It didn’t take me long, as a kid, to know I was born an entrepreneur. A risk-taker who understood that to live, is to risk.

a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

The above definition is from dictionary.com and notice the word any.

I wasn’t the kid selling lemonade on the street corner for twenty-five cents. Though I had similar ventures way back when. I liken my path as a life entrepreneur, who had varied enterprises, with varying levels of risk. Each of them shaping who I have become today.

I haven’t always gotten it right or been celebrated for my achievements. Quite frankly, some of my biggest successes are ignored to this day.

So I think…

What are you risking today? Are you involved in any tremors or ripples? Have you stood up when most remain seated?

Embrace risk because it is a key to epic living.

The Tempest Inside

13 February 2014February 11, 2014Eric

Originally posted back in late 2012, it’s one of my favorites and timely considering this.

Do you have a tempest inside you? I do.

I can’t speak for you, but I’ve learned it’s the catalyst for my creativity. Pulsing and demanding to get out, I don’t fight it any longer. I used to see this, at times, as a curse. A cruel burden to carry in an even crueler world.

The tempest I write about is the one that is a gift. It’s the type that spurs on great pursuits and the impossible. Yes, the impossible stuff. It’s the evidence of authenticity and clarity.

I’ve heard many a great thinker (Seth Godin, Scott Griffin, Sir Richard Branson) who has said that future will not be kind to the doer, but will embrace the creators. Before you think me special, being a creator is in everyone. Don’t wait until your forced into being a creator. By then it may be too late. The issue comes down to the willingness to let this creativity out.

I am a man who allowed the “world” to dictate my view, and it cost me. My story is in process and it is happy. Happy, because I chose to embrace the “tempest” and let it launch my creativity.

The following are some things to consider about the tempest:

There will be failure. Get over it, embrace it, work through it, but it’s there to refine you and test you. Learn.
You will be embarrassed. You’ll pronounce your great idea or work and people will cock their head like a dog wondering what are you doing?
You will feel more things you never thought you would.
It will teach you to do things that you’d rather avoid. You won’t regret this. The end of the comfort zone.
It will lead you to the place of dreams and legacy. Most everyone wants this, I would dare say needs this.

What I Love About Entrepreneurs

2 October 2013October 2, 2013Eric

In a lunch this past week, I rediscovered what I love about entrepreneurs. I observed an entrepreneur (other than myself) in their zone. It was a cool moment for me. Listening to his ideas, listening to the what could be dreamed, listening to what problems could be solved. I felt at home.

More and more, I am embracing the meaning of entrepreneur. Being a risk taker is the difference maker.

We all are entrepreneurs, whether we know it or not.

Are You An Entrepreneur Yet?

10 September 2013September 10, 2013Eric

One of my coaching clients sent me this article on entrepreneurism. Specifically, the coming change in our workplace landscape. Many would say we're under way and I agree. The article includes a telling infographic as well.

So what are you doing about the shift? No drastic measures needed (maybe), just some hard looking and processing. One of the best ways to do this is written planning. Brainstorm the thing and ask lots of questions. By the way, throw the glamour, riches and elation around your employer out the window. This is about your work (the unique talents, gifts and passions forged into one), not your career, not your 401K.

I've written about this topic for some time. It was nice to have a client forward on an article of this magnitude. It encouraged me and it made me realize the work still to be done.

What Entrepreneur Means

14 May 2013May 14, 2013Eric

I have written many times that everyone is an entrepreneur (risk taker). The size and scope varies from person to person. The place where it happens can be different too.

I was in a conversation with a CEO yesterday about how we've moved to a place where if you don't see yourself as an entrepreneur, you'll be left behind. This is tough work. Many, I know, haven't accepted that we no longer live in an industrial age. Accept is the right word to look at here.

I've been an entrepreneur for 6 years. And as I think about that conversation yesterday, I realize that entrepreneurism did something I didn't expect when I started the conscious journey.

Entrepreneurism reintroduced Eric Pennington to Eric Pennington. Regardless of how much money I make, how many people experience what I offer or whether applause comes in waves, the reintroduction is a difference-maker.

Learning How to Get Shot

25 January 2013January 25, 2013Eric

Note: I'm conscious of all the talk around guns in the U.S. As you will see, guns in this post are used as a metaphor.

Learning how to get shot has been one of the best things to ever happen to me.

I was chatting with an entrepreneur a couple of weeks ago and we got into the subject of failed ventures/experiments. I told him that after a few failures, you begin to learn how to try again with better information and understanding. We agreed and smiled as if we both were remembering the "one" that should have gotten traction.

He went onto tell me about a conference he attended, where he met a man in the training business. He was no ordinary trainer. This man trained soldiers in multiple areas, but the one that leaped out at me was the area of combat. Specifically, teaching soldiers how to get shot. Teaching them how to get shot? How about not getting shot?

Here's the deal. This entrepreneur was a part of the British Special Forces and had been shot multiple times in the line of duty. Where things happen lightening quick, you can understand the importance of this art. He retold the story of how he was wounded, but the very interesting part was around how humans respond to trauma.

When harmed we go into shock.

Going into shock hinders our ability to heal and keep going. This entrepreneur teaches soldiers how to keep going if for some reason they're shot. The mission doesn't end because of a wound. The mission continues and should. See the connection? Like soldiers, we need to keep going.

As our conversation came to a close I reviewed my own history and I thought about how many times I've been "shot." Many times, as many of you know. I felt good. Not because I enjoyed the failed experiment or that wanted to see if I could take the hit, but because these events have shaped me and prepared me for what's to come-good and bad. This is truly when life is like Hebrew (have to read it backwards to understand it).

What I Wanted, What I Got, What I Did

22 January 2013May 22, 2018Eric

This re-post from 2009 is designed to give you some context for a post coming later in the week.

Who Are You Marketing To?

4 January 2013January 4, 2013Eric

I've been at this entrepreneur (risk-taker) thing for awhile-even before I knew it consciously. The learning never stops. I had a couple of great conversations today around marketing and the target of those intentions. Driving away from those conversations, I thought about who I'm marketing to. Maybe the question is appropriate for you as well.

Who are you marketing to?

My intentions with marketing may be different than you. Are you marketing yourself to a prospective employer type? Are you marketing yourself to a prospective client? Regardless, it pays to know. I know you may now be thinking I deserve the big "duh." Stick with me.

In the early days of Epic Living I put significant time into knowing who my target audience was. It was a noble effort, but it lacked the sobering understanding needed in the final analysis. Quite frankly, this lack of sobering understanding tripped me up. In other words, failure upon failure. Here's what I discovered some time ago:

I'm not marketing to me.

This reality is crucial. No matter how excited I was about a product or service or how much I thought what I was offering would change the world, I was a poor example of who would buy and follow. The deception lies in a belief that my excitement and applause represented the "whole" needed to sustain my ideas. The dirty little secret is often I didn't want to hear that my "great" idea was only interesting to a few. Ouch!

My friend, Craig Lerner of Involve, always follows my announcement of a new idea with a question. The question, so what? Yep, so what. So what if it does this, does that, saves starving children, and on and on. He's not trying to shoot my dream down, he's putting me through the sobering understanding thing. He has helped me immensely, even when I didn't want to hear it. You need a Craig Lerner.

So where does that leave us? Here are some key take-aways to consider, and remember, this is based on my experience.

Does anyone really care enough about what you offer to keep coming back? Yea, I know you may be a master closer, but after you let go of the vice grip, are they really a fan?
Is what you offer sustainable, solve a problem and have real demand? Sustainable in that it can be reproduced and used repeatedly. Solving a problem speaks for itself. Demand is that essential "it" quality that makes people pay a premium. Not because you sold them, but because there's true value present.
Is it simple? Most people (customers, employers, partners, etc.) have compressed attention spans and don't want to spend minutes trying to figure things out.
Have you real data to support what you do? Real data is not data you spin in-order to get a result you desperately want.
Are willing to set your hopes and dreams aside so that the integrity can emerge? I respect leaders who know that certain ideas stink or need another time and space to work. This is difficult, very difficult.

An Early Morning in June

28 December 2012December 28, 2012Eric

Celebrating the best of the Epic Living Blog, 2012. Enjoy!

I was 14 in June, 1980. Life was a series of things to get over and get past in those days for me. My grandmother had passed the summer before, my parents had been threatening each other with divorce and my brother was on a path that would surely lead to deep destruction.

It was an early morning in June. Like any morning would be for those who slept the night before.

Things can change.

I awoke on that June morning (don't remember the date) to find our house full of people. I didn't know at the time that those people were police detectives and forensic scientists. It was surreal as I walked down the hall to find my mom and dad. I found my mom sitting in a chair in the living room with eyes that had certainly been crying. I asked in a slow, muted tone, about all the people and what was going on. She proceeded to tell me that my brother was suspected of murdering his girlfriend.

What?

Everything was different now and the months and years ahead would be shaped by something irreversible and tragic. After the police, and even TV news crews, had departed, I saw my dad standing at our front door, just staring motionless.

I felt alone.

In the time sense much has changed and much is still the same. For me, as I look back now, I have discovered why I feel things so deeply, why I have such an urgency about living and why I am an entrepreneur (risk-taker). It has nothing to do with a resume or a career. It has everything to do with getting on with what you've been shaped and called to do. I realized early that the table do turn and even if prepration fails you, you must find a way to recover. I guess on that early morning in June, I realized that safety as advertised was an illusion.

There is no doubt that these traits have gotten me into troube, but I have always seen how God took the good and the bad and shaped them into something I can only describe as art-beautiful art. And even though I've matured and learned about appropriate risk, I also know that strength comes from good things and bad. I wouldn't have it any other way.

An early moring in June is still a part of my destiny. It broke me, grew me and sets a course that my DNA is written all over. My hope is it plays to a backdrop of change.