If you make decisions in your entrepreneurial journey to try and impress other people or save them, you’re building a house on the sand

The inherent desire for success is a common trait among people. What captivates me is the underlying motivation that drives many entrepreneurs. When they honestly examine themselves and delve into the core of their entrepreneurial journey, they often find that it is driven by seeking approval from others.

There is a powerful allure in proving wrong those who looked down on you or underestimated you. It becomes a driving force for many entrepreneurs. Additionally, a significant motivation is the desire to financially support and rescue the people they care about, such as parents, siblings, or close friends.

Initially, these motivations may seem harmless or even beneficial, as they provide momentum and drive. I too held this belief until I took a step back and realized that what I was constructing felt more like a prison, regardless of how impressive or promising it appeared to others.

It was as if the essence of what I truly desired was obscured by layers of everything I despised.

This is a complex topic that warrants a thorough breakdown of why seeking to impress or save others is the wrong fuel for your entrepreneurial journey.

#1. You don’t really know what it’ll take to impress someone or to save them

The most humbling realization I've come to is that, in all honesty, I don't truly know what it takes to impress or save someone.

Let's start by exploring the concept of trying to impress others.

I could go to great lengths, doing everything I believe would impress someone and achieve what I consider to be an impressive level of success. Yet, even after all of my efforts, they still might not be impressed.

Where does that leave me? It leaves me constantly seeking validation by doing things based on what I think will garner the strongest reaction from the person I'm trying to impress. I make choices that appear to be the most impressive, but deep down, they hold little personal significance to me.

I'm constructing my life based on what I assume someone else desires or finds admirable, completely disregarding my own desires and sources of admiration. In essence, I'm building a version of someone else's life in my mind, and I can never find true satisfaction because I've made their fleeting reactions the sole indicators of my success or failure.

Every time I sense their disapproval, I immediately perceive it as a personal failure.

Now, onto trying to save someone.

In reality, the task of saving oneself lies solely with the individual, as they are the only ones capable of accomplishing it. This doesn't imply that we cannot offer occasional assistance, but it should be within the context of the person already being actively engaged in the process of saving themselves.

We tend to think that all it takes is resources and money to give them a better life. But we completely disregard the inner work that needs to be done, the mentalities that need to be adopted, the soul searching that needs to happen, and the correct motivation that they need to adopt to keep moving forward.

As entrepreneurs, we are no strangers to all of the transformation that needs to happen within to actually shift our outer results permanently. Personally I believe entrepreneurship is the fastest self expansion tool.

With this said, it has to be understood that people can only truly be saved by their own self expansion. From the outside, we do not know what that journey is going to look like for them.

We do not know what it’s actually going to take to save them.

We should regard anything that we desire to give, like money and resources, as just a temporary fix and a helpful component to the journey they are already on.

#2. You prolong and make your journey more difficult

When we make choices in our entrepreneurial journey just to impress or help others, it often leads us away from our own goals. Let me give you an example:

Imagine someone you love needs $10,000 by next month. So, instead of selling your digital art online, you switch to high-ticket coaching, thinking it will bring in more money quickly and allow you to help your loved one. Plus, you hope it will impress your parents to see you making big bucks.

After a month, you manage to make the money and your parents are proud of your financial success. Encouraged by this, you keep going with the high-ticket coaching. But here's the problem: you hate doing sales calls, you're working long hours—even on weekends—and you don't enjoy serving the clients you have. It's draining and unfulfilling.

And to make matters worse, the same person you helped before needs more money, and you overhear your parents complaining that you're neglecting your family for work.

In this situation, you've abandoned your own desires and made choices based on what would save someone and impress your parents. Even though you're making more money, you hate what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for.

You end up despising the life you've built, so one day you decide to start over.

This time, you commit to only doing things that energize you. You go back to selling your digital art, gradually building a fan base, and end up making slightly more money than before.

But the best part is, you love your work days.

You love what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for.

Work becomes a source of energy and fulfillment for you.

But you wonder if you could’ve been here sooner if you decided to keep following your own desire vs trying to save and impress others.

#3. You can impress and help more people when you’re energized and fulfilled by your life

Most of us become entrepreneurs to build a life that nourishes us, fulfills us, and energizes us. We want things on our own terms and through self awareness, deep transformation and expansion, we achieve the freedom we’re seeking. I think the true purpose of the entrepreneurial path is to unfold our own soul.

That can’t happen if we are making decisions based on other people’s judgements or circumstances.

This journey is for us and us alone. It is our own personal journey and should be respected as such.

Ironically, when we build a life that genuinely energizes, fulfills, and nourishes us, it becomes inherently impressive to others. Furthermore, when we are empowered and living authentically, we have the capacity to help others in a more impactful way.

That sure beats being left with a shiny, plastic life that dazzles others but imprisons you.

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