The journey of a lifetime is very much like a great climb or underwater exploration. All challenges inevitably lead you to the dungeon of suffering and the tower of celebration. Things will go wrong in ways you can’t imagine – and you can feel so alone. Some things will go so right – and you want to have a party. The emotional and fiscal hills and valleys of these events are not something you want to horde… alone.
Share everything
Share everything. It will help dilute the impact of the inescapable thrills, chills, and endless hours of starting your own business. If you’re never too high, and never too low, you have the best chance of surviving the long haul. Also, in the years to come, when looking back on the grand ordeal, it is so meaningful to have a few reliable witnesses and memory banks.
Sharing the journey is what gives life meaning, dimension, nuance and even surprise. Such as the solutions your partners envision that never would have crossed your mind. Or the humorous observation a partner risks while in the jaws of seeming defeat. These moments are too rich and harrowing to be singularly expressed or experienced. Partnering is the best, quickest and most steadfast path to wisdom and fulfillment that I have yet to discover.
Yet sometimes a partner is not someone who literally sits with you through each tough decision. Partners are also friends, significant others, spouses and other family members. In the early days of NOVA, I had a dream that inspired me. Even so, I must confess that there were rough patches when it felt like all I was trying to do was survive. In those moments, my most important partners were also my mother, sister, and girlfriends. They were one-woman cheerleading squads who powered me through every struggle.
As we began to fulfill the NOVA mission of helping people of all ages live beautifully and independently, I discovered that success, not just despair, is a group activity, a team sport, a group hug. By sharing the victories, I felt elevated by the company I had kept. The pride of achievement was far more glorious and memorable when I looked around me and saw the faces of my partners beaming with joy. But more importantly, it is the devastating failures and crushing blows when your partners save you, save your business and transform everything.
The moral of the story is simple: never walk alone. Not in business nor in life. Success in any field is nurtured by community, mutual respect, dint of hard work — and the remarkable reward of sharing.
