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Equanimity: Conquering Mount Entrepreneur author Dave Blanchard tells us that when we chase money it runs… and when we serve it, it flows.
Intrigued? Let’s dig in…
In a nutshell, he explains that when we are focusing on serving people, stepping into their worlds, and filling their needs, the money flows towards us. He calls this mindset and approach “equanimity” as reflected in the title of his book.
Blanchard defines equanimity as “the feeling of accomplishment and peace one finds in serving people and having a dream that’s validated… of facing challenges and moving past them.”
He explains further that, “Equanimity means peace of mind, but it is a very special kind of peace of mind. It’s a peace of mind you get when you know how to create a dream, you’re in the action, you’re actually doing the work of creating the dream…”
The opposite of equanimity, he adds, is trepidation and fear.
Equanimity is written with the reader as the main character, whose challenge is to scale Mt. Entrepreneur. So what steps must we take to conquer this mountain?
His first piece of advice to us is to become the boss – our own boss: “Engage in life, embrace principles, connect, serve, create value, contribute, make that decision to hire yourself.”
Next, we need to create habits around this approach of engaging and connecting, and hire them. Any habit that supports our dreams should come along with us.
Finally, we must always seek to improve. Any habit that weighs us down must be discarded as we embrace our giftings.
Now we are ready to begin our hike up Mt. Entrepreneur. The next project, or mile marker, is to find a mentor…
Blanchard elaborates, “So we learn to step into a person’s world. We learn to listen, and love, and serve. And as we are unleashing the energy and productive cooperation in them, we get to move to the next mile marker.”
He explains that we can’t expect to create or achieve a dream in a vacuum – we must participate with others. It is through this cooperation that energy is produced to carry us along and further develop our dream.
The next mile marker on this journey is to find and define our own why, and in so doing to find value in our own dream. Our mentor can help us in this process by helping us to more clearly define and distill our dream.
When we get a clearer vision of our own dream, the brain ignites, and creativity will flow more spontaneously. We develop a passion that drives us to think beyond workaday drudgery…
…then we’ll do whatever it takes to create this reality that we’ve seen so clearly in our mind.
This is the point at which we move beyond the clear vision of our dream to the action of creating it.
Mentorship and encouragement… a clear vision… solid action…. from these key elements flow abundance. This only grows as we invite others to participate in our abundance and lead them in creating their own dreams.
As entrepreneurs, Blanchard elaborates, we are independent thinkers who bristle at too much structure… unless that structure serves us.
Blanchard returns to his vivid metaphor of the mentor as a guide on a mountain trek. The mentor will often point to the safest route, the well-trodden path, and the hazards to avoid. This is an example of how structure can serve the independent-minded entrepreneur.
We must be willing to embrace structure to a certain extent when learning from those who came before us. While we may adventure or stray from the path a little, the existing structure should be seen as a tool that serves us.
Finally, Blanchard asserts that entrepreneurs will not embrace structure “unless they have learned to intrinsically value people and have a dream that they intrinsically value. That’s sufficient motivation to embrace the structure that will support the creation.”
This is only the beginning of Dave Blanchard’s vision of achieving abundance in the climb of Mt. Entrepreneur, the book (which is an enjoyable and inspiring read) goes into much further detail. To order Equanimity: Conquering Mount Entrepreneur, or to see other books by Dave Blanchard, visit the Money Revealed bookstore!