40 years ago, I sat in the dark in our family room watching the Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11 walk on the moon. I can remember my father taking pictures of the TV screen (remember no VCR or DVR then!). I was amazed by this even more so when years later I met Len Reiffel who was in charge of the moon landing and he told me about the behind the scenes that day. It was nothing short of a spectacular effort.
We went to the moon because President John Kennedy said “We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Growing up, this sounded very strange to me. Why would I want to do something because it is hard? Then I learned what that meant when I started my own businesses.
Entrepreneurs do it because it is hard. We don’t start businesses because it is the easy thing to do. We don’t do it because it is a get rich quick scheme. We do it because it is hard and as a result, we feel a sense of accomplishment that few can achieve. When we take our idea, and execute it, that feels good. But when a customer says our product solves their pain and pays us, that feels better.
I always say that if I could be happy getting a job and working for someone else I would. But I choose to be an entrepreneur because it is hard. The times I am successful, I have a great sense of accomplishment that no one can ever take away. And when I fail…oh, that’s a whole other book!
What do you do because it is hard?
Or as Tom Abbott says in a Facebook commment- they boldly go where no man has gone before!