The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur Reading: September 25 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch on The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur – September 25
I’m back with another reading from my upcoming book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, due out in October 2019. For those of you who are just tuning into this special podcast series, the book is structured as 366 daily meditations for entrepreneurs, with readings from some of the great works of the mid-19th Century and commentary from me on how it all relates to the entrepreneurial journey.
Today’s Reading: Immortal Impact
Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemera. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of today. We love it and pay it homage because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young person.
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Self-Reliance (1841)
The true accounting for your contribution to the world won’t be complete until long after you are gone. That’s what Emerson seems to acknowledge.
But, he also seems to suggest that he realizes that in his work and accordingly urges us to work today with that idea of immortal impact in mind.
Do you recognize or even acknowledge that that decision you make today in your entrepreneurial journey have the potential for far reaching positive impact in the lives of thousands, maybe millions of people? Is that exciting or scary?
Honor is not a meme, it’s here to stay. Honorable work today, will be honorably recognized tomorrow.
Final Thoughts
Reading some of these works like Self Reliance can be a challenge. Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemera – what he was saying was that we love honorable actions. We can expand that to mean dedicated work, adding value, consistency, because it’s not short-lived.
What I love about this reading is the way that he finishes it. Honor is not necessarily something that people grow to have. You can certainly develop more honor over the years – I like to think that I have – but I also like to think that I started with a certain degree of honor.
It’s always amazing when you come across someone that you know is just honorable in the way they carry themselves. It radiates, but it’s also something that is every day, out of sight, in the decisions that you make. It’s not just about telling the truth, it’s about having the point of view that the work you’re doing as an entrepreneur will impact people. You will have immortal impact. I think that’s a pretty cool thing to go after.
And with that, I hope you’ll ponder today’s challenge question: How do you know when you are making a good decision? How does it feel?
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