Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found that dislike of roller coaster rides just may be genetic. Their study, which asked whether attitudes are learned or in-born revealed that dispositions about roller coasters (love them? or hate them?) were one of five attitudes showing the strongest genetic connection (the others were reading books, abortion without restrictions, playing organized sports, and death penalty for murder). Full Disclosure: I really hate roller coaster rides.
That may explain why I’m not a high rolling entrepreneur, even if – according to Darren Hardy, author of “The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster: Why Now is the Time to #JOINTHERIDE” –entrepreneurship comes to human beings naturally. You see, back in hunter-gatherer times, putting everything on the line to survive was just what we did. At a later date in history, everyone got divided into laborers and owners. Exactly how that came about isn’t Hardy’s subject. To summarize, however, the Industrial Revolution changed everything and the majority of us started working for someone else. Possibly, it sucked as much then as it does now. The question is: What can you do about it?
According to Hardy, this is the best time since forever (or, at least since cave-painting days) to answer that question. Conveniently, the answer is in his book. Hardy’s measure of success (both yours and the book’s) is that by the time you reach its end, three things will happen: You’ll be tougher, you’ll be well-equipped for the entrepreneurial ride, and you’ll be more confident. Which are pretty good outcomes when you consider how daunting it is to run your own business these days. While reported figures vary, it seems that anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of start-ups fail not long after they start.
Hardy’s advice sometimes reads like an ad for Success, the magazine he founded; references are sprinkled throughout the book. According to its website, the magazine’s readers “understand and embrace that they are responsible for their own long-term success and happiness.” A central premise – of both magazine and book – is that we are living in a time “unlike any other time in human history,” one which demands that we “continually keep up with expanding knowledge and perpetually develop new skills to stay relevant and sustain” our lifestyles. I’m sure that if early cave painters and hunter-gatherers had a magazine to spur them on, it would have said much the same thing. Staying relevant and acquiring new knowledge always has survival value.
“The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster,” however, offers some fresh gems of advice. We’ve often heard that passion is what drives a person to succeed, and that if you don’t love your job (really, really love your job), you’re hardly going to give it your best. Hardy reminds readers that doing what you love also means doing a lot of what you don’t love. Citing one of his one tweets, he writes, “Work is gonna suck 95 percent of the time. But that other five percent is freaking awesome.”
The trick isn’t just to be passionate about what you do. You need a high level of ardor, as well, for why you do it, how you do it, and who you do it for. Discovering that, Hardy writes, “gives you the adrenaline you need to persevere through the dips, twists, and loops” of your Six Flags Entrepreneurial Thrill Ride.
The truth, according to Vivek Wadhwa, American tech entrepreneur and academic (at Stanford’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance), is that entrepreneurship is “more like a roller coaster ride than a cruise.” Hardy doesn’t mention Wadhwa, but he understands that ups and downs (and loops, and dips – not to mention the white-knuckles and screaming) are as essential a part of roller coasters as they are of entrepreneurial success. If you don’t have the stomach for it, chances are, you won’t succeed. Hardy does his part, however, to inspire the hope and confidence that you’ll overcome your fears. While it doesn’t quite qualify as a “how-to,” “The Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster” is a good business memoir-cum-pep talk for those contemplating the journey. Until science develops a trustworthy genetic test for who will become the most successful entrepreneurs, calculating your disposition for some motivational reading may be as reliable as it gets. QCBN