P E R S OO N L T R A I N E R
SECTI NA
Entrepreneurial
Intelligence
with Sandy Geyer
HOW DO I MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND?
By Sandy Geyer
My parents are not entrepreneurial at all, whereas I
thrive on new opportunities and building ideas. They
don’t really understand it and are always telling me
to get a ‘career’. How can I make it easier for them
to understand my risky business ventures and be
supportive?
The first word most of us will remember hearing when we
were old enough to move about unaided was the word “NO”.
And in most cases this word was yelled “at” us at top volume
as we explored our environment and every manner of injuring
ourselves as inquisitive toddlers with no sense of danger
whatsoever. This negative and very limiting instruction was
meant with the best of intentions by parents who simply cared
deeply for our safety and security in a dangerous world. Your
parents are still saying it and still mean it with the very best of
intentions. They don’t want to see you fall and hurt yourself,
and they never will.
They probably also don’t want you to live at home for the rest
of your life, depending on them financially! Your conforming
to a “safe” career will give them more peace of mind and your
journey will no longer be in their care. But it’s your future
that’s in question, and it sounds as if you will eventually
wither and die from lack of inspiration if you take a “safe”
career; your creativity and inner happiness will shrivel up in
such a “career”.
Having the natural capacity to build on ideas is a wonderful
gift and suggests a mindset that a successful entrepreneur
needs to get off the starting blocks. Just be respectful to the
need for real skills and know how to develop that mindset
(whether from your own research and education or from
smart collaborations) or you might well fall and hurt yourself.
Although my advice is for you to follow your call, I would
also advise taking the time to talk to your parents about your
chosen path. Acknowledge their concerns by talking them
through in some detail and answering their questions as best
you can.
If they understand more about what you want to do, why you
feel this way and how you intend to proceed, they might be
more likely to be supportive if not completely in agreement
with your chosen path.
In each issue Sandy will be answering commonly
asked questions from new entrepreneurs.
If you have a question for Sandy to do with
entrepreneurship, building successful businesses
or the challenges and difficulties faced by
entrepreneurs, email the editor at
[email protected].
Sandy Geyer is an entrepreneur and mentor and teaches the principles of entrepreneurial
intelligence (EnQ), to entrepreneurs in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. You can
visit Sandy’s website at www.enqpractice.com
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