Importance of Fear in the Life of an Entrepreneur.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises is one of my favourite movies ever. Even though the direction and cinematography are top-notch as usual, there are some scenes that convey deeper meanings than what’s on the surface. And the one that’s most significant to me in terms of my entrepreneurial journey is the scene in which Bruce Wayne climbs out of The Pit.
Just for context, Bruce (Batman) has his back broken by Bane and is thrown into a prison which is often called “the worst Hell on Earth”. The Pit features a well-like structure which the prisoners are free to climb in order to attempt their escape. After recovering from his injuries, Bruce starts making plans to climb out. The final step in escaping the prison is a gigantic leap to a ledge, where freedom awaits. It is a jump which has been attempted by many but only one has succeeded. A child.
Bruce too tries to make the jump numerous times, but he never reaches the ledge. He’s saved each time by a safety rope attached to his waist.
Ultimately, the oldest prisoner in there tells him that the child had escaped by making the jump without the safety rope. Bruce does the same, and he manages to escape.
There are several takeaways from this story, but I’ll share the one that resonates with me the most. While choosing entrepreneurship as a career path, we’d often need to make such leaps as well, without the comfort of having a safety rope around our waists. Yes there’s a chance we might fail and not reach the safety ledge, but I believe such choices provide us with the impetus to do things that might seem to be beyond our normal capabilities. Having a backup plan would most likely lead to us not giving 100% in our pursuit, and that would in fact contribute to us not reaching our desired destination.
I was advised several times by people close to me to at least have an MBA degree under my belt before going down this path. Their reasoning was that an additional degree would help me land a job if I fail as an entrepreneur. Although I’d love to pursue another degree at some point if it compounds my interests in entrepreneurship, right now I don’t want to. The decision to go without the safety rope leaves me with no choice but to succeed.
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I do have fear, but it’s controlled and I’m learning to use it to my advantage. Some of the decisions we make have tremendous consequences and one misstep could cause us to (figuratively) fall into the chasm. But I believe that having that fear of failure in the back of our minds would strengthen our spirit and give us the will to succeed. Of course, we should take care to not let our fears keep us second-guessing or afraid to act. It’s a fine line indeed!
One related quote that I absolutely love is as follows:
“Fear is like a fire in your belly. Controlled, it warms you and keeps you alive. Unleashed, it burns and destroys you.”
This topic also reminds of the concept of “Death Ground” that I learned at YE Stack when I had just joined. It is one of the most interesting strategies taught in Sun Tzu’s Art of War. It tells us to enter unknown territories and place ourself on “death ground”, where our back is against the wall and we have to fight like hell to get out alive. Adopting the same principle in entrepreneurship will help us to engage in the present and not waste precious time worrying about the future.
The story of Hernan Cortes burning his own ships to cut off his men’s only hope of retreat and leaving them with no option but head inland to win the war is also relatable.
Fear is not a sign of weakness. It is one of the most powerful tools that we possess and an emotion that should be used to our advantage. I hope you can also harness your fear like Batman did, and make that leap towards whatever it is that you desire.
This is kind of a polarising topic and I’m sure many of you would have different perspectives. I can’t wait to hear them. Share your thoughts in the comments and we could have meaningful discussions.
Thank you for reading!
