Defining fortitude
Fortitude is the attribute that gets every new venture going.
Fortitude is the backbone of achievement and at the heart of disappointment. For as long as it takes to build momentum or rebuild hope after a false start or harsh lessons. It’s about testing yourself for real.
Fear and its subconscious partner procrastination are our natural inhibitors. Fear of the unknown, fear of the truth, and fear of failure.
Fortitude is the tipping point where fear is overwhelmed by the thrill of the possible.Where thinking turns into action. It takes fortitude to bet the family jewels on an untested idea. Knowing when to give up often takes more.
Finance institutions soliciting savings from the edge of their graves shows how cruelly fortitude’s sword cuts both ways.
We think of entrepreneurs as ideas people. It’s their fortitude and aptitude in executing the idea that counts for most. Overcoming fears of making mistakes, then urges to make excuses for them. Every excuse is a mistake we never learn from.
Market bubbles follow a familiar pattern – easy credit, inflated asset prices, then greed, risk, excuses and disappointment. Early birds who fly against the winds of opinion reap bigger rewards because that takes more fortitude than being amongst a mass of followers.
Entrepreneurship and leadership in all walks of life is about credibility that comes from foresight and tough love at your own expense. Asking the right questions of yourself and others and dealing with the answers. Big picture vision.
- Personal honesty.
- Tough self-critiques.
- Swallowing your pride.
- Taking calculated risks.
All are keys to productive fortitude. Do you have the humility to own up to your weaknesses? The foresight to empower others to do a job better than you ? Have the authenticity to share kudos where it’s due?
If so, you’re proving yourself a real leader. Your collective balls (ideas, reputation and capital) have likely been on the line for some time now. For these qualities are learned over time.
I’ve procrastinated over writing this column for a while. I could say I’ve been too busy but that’s an excuse. Words posted from safety behind a computer screen is hardly fortitude. But it is a beginning. Confidence and freedom of choice grow from acts of doing and connection.
The art in creativity is not the work you produce, it’s the specific expression you choose to show the world How others connect and respond will define your success or future path.
If you’re still summoning the fortitude: It’s not the thinking, it’s HOW you’re thinking. Plus good timing and a dash of luck helps too.
