‘The duality paradox’ of being a founder
One year into my entrepreneurial journey, it dawned on me that as a founder, I must simultaneously believe in two conflicting beliefs: the sense of agency and humility.
- sense of agency — a sense of control that’s the subjective awareness of initiating & controlling one’s own actions in the world.
- humility — the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance
😎 Founders need a sense of agency to show up. Day in, day out. We must believe that everything is in their hands. We control it. We can make things happen with sheer willpower, wit, and hard work. We look into the future with optimism.
🙏🏼 At the same time, we can’t forget that many things happen by chance. You’re a product of millions of events that happened in the past. There are countless things that we can’t control.
🤔 If you lean into any of these belief systems too heavily, I believe you’d fail. Overconfidence leads to costly mistakes and clouds your judgement. Resignation & humility alone make your actions feel inconsequential. You must espouse both.
