There is nothing without purpose.
THE NEXT STEP begins with a question. Not the obvious question, “What is your idea?” but rather “Why are you trying to start a startup?” I ask you to begin with that question here, as well.
Why? What do you want from your efforts? Do you want to be rich? Do you want to improve the world? Is there an injustice you are trying to fix? A problem you are trying to solve?
What purpose is pushing you to be an entrepreneur? What purpose is pulling you out of bed in the morning?
Without such a purpose, you are not going to succeed. It is simply too much work and too difficult of a process to start a company from scratch or to launch a new product within an existing company. Unless, that is, you have some great motivation that makes you take on the next challenge.
Taking this one step further, in The Monk and the Riddle, Randy Komizar explains the difference between “drive” and “passion.” Drive pushes you to get things done, because you feel compelled that these things must get done. Drive works, but it wears you down and burns you out. Passion, on the other hand, wakes you up in the morning and pulls you along to complete the task at hand, because, with that task, you are one step closer to your goal. Passion motivates. Passion fills you with energy.
Is your purpose a drive or a passion?
