Pablo Neruda said, “You can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the Spring.”
Maybe it’s seeing all the flowers of our glorious San Francisco spring after a super rainy winter that keeps putting this quote in my mind. Maybe it’s that I keep getting up and going forward despite every stumble in my own small business. It’s probably both. I keep thinking about the power of the Spring.
Creating is much harder than one thinks at the outset of any exciting new project – whether it’s painting the bedroom or starting a business. Marc Andreesen captures it perfectly in this nearly ten year old piece from the PMARCA guide to startups:
“First, and most importantly, realize that a startup puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced.
You will flip rapidly from a day in which you are euphorically convinced you are going to own the world, to a day in which doom seems only weeks away and you feel completely ruined, and back again.
Over and over and over.
And I’m talking about what happens to stable entrepreneurs.”
Exactly. Andreesen describes perfectly what every creator or entrepreneur feels. And yet, even if your rollercoaster ride from hell blows every petal off every flower of your naiveté, the Spring of your resilience and the power your vision can carry you through. When you have a great vision, when you are certain that you’re doing what you are meant to do, then nothing can stop your Spring.
Communication is the essential last mile in finding and motivating the right teams, acquiring strong allies, powerfully bonding with customers, and capturing mindshare with compelling stories. Nothing will serve you and your vision better than developing exceptional communication skills.
