Ideals Are Stars Not Sticks

“Ideals are stars to steer by; they are not sticks to beat ourselves with.” –Barbara Thompson

A friend posted that quote today on Facebook. Many founders overly beat themselves up when things go wrong or do not hum along as desired. Startups are hard and inherently are full of pitfalls, struggles, inefficiencies, and failures.

It’s important to look to ideals and patterns, but not to let them get you down, frustrate your team, or lead to finger pointing. When I was in Venezuela, we had a hard “no complaining” rule. It’s amazing what happens in an organization when complaining is not tolerated. That rule starts with no complaining about yourself.

Of course there is the other side of the coin: the perpetual wheel-spinner addicted to the entrepreneurship game. These could use a good stick beating to get out of the rut.

So much of life is a balance. There’s a balance between humility and pride. The proud do not grow; the wrong kind of humility leads to being a pushover. There is a balance between being consistent and being spontaneous. There is a balance between being firm and being understanding. There is a balance between being organized and being all-over-the-map. There is a balance between talking and listening. And on and on…

Great entrepreneurs are great balances strikers. Sure there are a few popular personalities that are known for being extreme on one or more of life’s balances. In my experience, most of the best entrepreneurs I respect have a great sense of balance and ability to bring it all together to steer an ideal course, staying upbeat along the way.

What do you do to find balance? What are your thoughts on steering by ideals?

Related articles