In that great interview at the D5 conference, where Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are offering advice to entrepreneurs, Steve talks about passion. You can watch it here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxo2rGr7Yfg)
We E’s, entrepreneurs, love that part, the passion. Awesome, right?
But in the same breath, he is very clear about the cost of entry, the reality of the insanity required. “…because it’s hard. any rational person would give up”, and “the one’s that didn’t love it, quit…. because they’re sane.”
How sobering, and painfully accurate regarding our reality at times. The risk, the fear, the drive, the passion, the conviction, the perserverance, is woven into the fabric of being an E. Thank god, because it’s hard. Even when your Steve, at Apple, it’s hard.
It reminds me of the fiercely illustrative poem, Roll The Dice, by the american poet, Charles Bukowski. This was introduced to me a few years ago by a friend and fellow warrior, Tracy Hoffman. It captures the vibrational frequency required to play in this game.
To my fellow kindred spirits, who source the bravery to hold out, hold on, climb, soar, fall, and get up, to trust their invincible drive and conviction to express what matters, I applaud you! “To your climb! – KK”
roll the dice
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.
– Charles Bukowski