Tackle the Impossible vs. Navigate the Impossible
The qualities that interest me the most in entrepreneurs are those in direct conflict with each other, like the tension between making money and doing good; between altruism and selfishness; or between naiveté and experience. The fascinating effect of these contrasting traits is that they breed a tension that is vital to success.
Can you be both naive enough to tackle the impossible head on and experienced enough to know what to risk and when?
Can you simultaneously hold the tension between charging forward into the future and patiently navigating it? Age can often be highly correlated to the opposite poles of this binary: the younger rushing forward and the older patiently navigating with battle-worn knowledge.
The only truthful resolution to the conflict that emerges between competing values is self-awareness. Self-awareness allows you to put your ego aside, understand where you are on the spectrum of any binary, and to bring the opposite into the room creating the needed tension.
Tension breeds solutions. Invest time in knowing where you are today (not where you want to be), accept it and bring on the countervailing voices to create the necessary tension. Your business and your conversations will be better for it.