The rat race
Barriers to entrepreneurship
☀️ Happy Monday from Tuscaloosa, AL ☀️
Welcome to the sixteenth week of Louis’ Learnings!
Last week, I shared 17 ideas from an incredible podcast with Elliot Bisnow. You can read those ideas here.
This week, I share a teaser to a long-form essay I wrote about barriers to entrepreneurship. If the teaser catches your interest, read the full essay.
Thank you so much for being a reader and following along with my journey.
Enjoy!
Having Fun… At School???
My favorite course this term is an honors seminar about “Work, Play, and Meaning.”
As a small group, we read and discuss a variety of perspectives on the development of American work values since the 1500s.
Early into the semester, I noticed that I’m the only student in the class who vocalizes an entrepreneurial attitude about the various topics we discuss.
I was confused. Maybe my perspective is distorted by my entrepreneurial echo-chamber (podcasts, Twitter, books), but I was truly stunned by how drastically my opinions on work differed from my classmates.
Last week, I was tasked with writing a paper about how my thoughts on Work, Play, and Meaning have matured based on the first six weeks of the course.
I took the prompt as an opportunity to answer the burning question in my mind all semester, “why am I the only person in this room visibly passionate about entrepreneurship?”
In the process of answering that question, I identified three main hurdles to entrepreneurship.
The first hurdle is awareness.
Some people do not know that they are pawns in a bigger game of chess. They either have not been exposed to alternative career paths or have been taught not to take them seriously by their family, teachers, friends, or the media.
The second hurdle is motivation.
People know entrepreneurship exists, but they do not want it badly enough. Either the pain of tolerable mediocrity is not sharp enough or the pull of entrepreneurship is not compelling enough to recharter course. They lack hobbies and passion.
The third barrier is education.
Individuals do not know how to succeed as an entrepreneur. They lack the mental tools for success (beliefs, habits, frameworks, financial literacy) and subsequently lack the confidence to go out and try their luck in business.
The full article, a 12-minute read, shares more nuanced thoughts on the subject.
LK Content Updates
LK Podcast #56 with Nicolas Cole: We discuss The Art and Business of Online Writing, Cole’s personal journey as an entrepreneurial writer, how to become a top performer in any skill, how to manage obsession, and what he hopes to accomplish in the future with both Ship30for30 and his own writing projects.
LK Podcast #55 with Robbie Crabtree: Robbie shares the most important skills for performative speaking learned from his career as a trial lawyer. This includes detailed breakdowns of storytelling, emotional communication, and active listening.
LK Interviews Coming Soon!
Dr. John Jaquish, author of Weightlifting Is A Waste of Time
Scott Young, author of Ultralearning (an epic book, IMO)
Ryan Robinson from RyRob.com
Jake, anonymous content creator
2 Quick Clicks
(1) Controversial Book: Weightlifting Is A Waste of Time by Dr. Jaquish
Dr. Jaquish shares some UNCONVENTIONAL perspectives in this book about variable resistance training, the carnivore diet, fasting, and other topics in health and fitness. Couldn’t put it down.
(2) Awesome Email List: 50 Days of Writing Advice from David Perell
Viral writer David Perell curated a free email campaign where he shares great writing tips every day for 50 days.
Photo of the Week
I AM SO CLOSE TO A FULL MIDDLE SPLIT. SO CLOSE.
It appears that I’ve also become too flexible for my Yoga mat.
That’s All For This Week!
Let me know what you’ve been up to. You can reply directly to this email 😃
Cheers,
Louis Shulman
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