Glass Ceilings

Anatole France once wrote, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” It makes you pause, think and wonder.

Anatole France is a great French novelist, poet and writer. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his day, he was considered one of the finest minds in France. But many people did not know that he was diagnosed as having a brain that was two-thirds the normal size.

How does one continue to dream and believe? Many of us lose our capacity for dreams and belief the moment we get introduced into the difficulties of life, the choices we are forced to make, the compromises that seem easy to agree to.

I recently attended a small Bible study by young Christian men who belong to the Victory Fellowship. One man started asking me questions about dealing with choices, how does one make the right choice?

I remember a saying that author Atty. Alex Lacson once told me, he said, “God gave me the opportunity to become the man I always wanted to be.” It struck me and stayed with me. I came upon the reflection that God has a plan for me, for all of us. He affords us the opportunities to become this man, if we choose to. If we have a vision of that man in our mind and in our heart, if that vision is true to what God wants; we will be given choices, opportunities and trials in order to move us closer to that vision.

What does this have to do with entrepreneurship? It is the same principle. Entrepreneurship needs a lot of faith. To make the leap, assume the risks, and continuously push forward requires a lot of belief and faith.

I like to think that as we are faced with decisions and choices, we need to put a picture of ourselves in our mind. What type of businessman or entrepreneur do I want to become? That vision will guide us in making the right call.

Too often, many entrepreneurs lose themselves and their business by losing sight of that vision. We start spending the rewards of the present, trusting that the future will be taken cared of automatically. Or we lose hope in attaining that vision and start making compromises, which ultimately lead us further and further away from that vision.

Losing hope is easy to do because if we set a high enough goal, the road will seem impossible or unattainable. The secret is to set up our own glass ceilings and not to let others place it above us. If we set our own and work within our capacities and realities, we will soon discover that glass ceilings are meant to be shattered. As we break through, we then need to set up another one, in order to see what we need to do to shatter that too.

Martin Luther King Jr. started the ball rolling in leading the civil rights movement. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for his dream. His dream was not just to shatter a glass ceiling but a very real one set in concrete.

President Barrack Obama owes his place in history to this great man, and the choices that he made. History was not the by product of one big action, but through many small decisions that were made, all pointing to one vision.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, If you cannot fly, run. If you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, crawl. By all means, keep moving.” Always remember, glass ceilings are meant to be shattered.

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

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