One reason I love being an entrepreneur so much is that it requires me to excel in so many different facets of my life. I love this Marines commercial that shows intense shaping through tough circumstances. I’m most definitely talking about the mental, not the physical side, as anyone who knows me can rightly attest. You have to wear so many hats as an entrepreneur that I feel like I’m in a pressure chamber, just waiting to explode, but I know at the end of the experience, I’ll come out far better for it.

My goal in doing business isn’t just to make money or to build a company of lasting value. I love to learn and grow personally, and I love to see and help others to unlock their potentials. My feelings on the subject are best expressed by Marianne Williamson, though this quote is often inaccurately attributed to Nelson Mandela.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”