Every entrepreneur begins with a dream, a vision that feels timeless, much like creating a classic album. When Smashing Pumpkins, the band behind 'Siamese Dream', started their project, they were sure they were creating something classic.
In the world of entrepreneurship, this conviction is your starting point. It's the belief in your idea's potential, in its ability to stand out and make an impact. But how do you nurture this belief, especially in the face of doubt and uncertainty?
[00:00:30] about the album that we made and my perception of it at the time. I was pretty sure we'd
[00:00:37] made a classic. So when we made Simon's Dream as a unit, we went inward. We stopped looking
[00:00:44] to the outside world for confirmation. We found confirmation within ourselves. We went
[00:00:48] to sources like the guitar sound of Tom Schultz from Boston or Brian May from Queen.
[00:00:55] We created something grand. We created something far greater than ourselves. We lean into a belief in
[00:01:00] a faith about ourselves. If you are an irrigation professional, old or new who designs, installs,
[00:01:11] or maintains high-end residential commercial or municipal properties and you want to use technology
[00:01:17] to improve your business to get a leg up on your competition even if you're an old school
[00:01:23] irrigator from the days of hydraulic systems, this show is for you.
[00:01:29] Welcome back to The Sprinkler Nerd Show. I'm your host Andy Humphrey and this is...
[00:01:35] I think this is just going to be a jam session. I do have one more episode that I plan to release
[00:01:41] before the end of the year which also reminds me that the end of the year this year is 1, 2, 3,
[00:01:47] 1, 2, 3. I'm sure you guys all knew that but just as a reminder it's kind of cool. 1, 2, 3,
[00:01:53] 1, 2, 3. So this is the jam session because it recently heard a quote and it resonated with me.
[00:01:59] It was actually on a video interview so I screen-captured it on my iPhone and then put it in a folder.
[00:02:06] Well, I tagged it I guess made a note so I could revisit it later and I just revisited it and it
[00:02:13] made me think of a bunch of things but I thought I could do a short episode on this topic that
[00:02:19] calling kind of the inner harmony looking in. That's why inner harmony, the entrepreneur's journey
[00:02:27] to self-belief but not just for entrepreneurs because you may be listening to this and I'm not
[00:02:32] an entrepreneur and that is true so this is just the... let's just say the journey to self-belief
[00:02:40] where we can explore kind of the entrepreneurial spirit and the challenges and maybe triumphs that
[00:02:50] that you have to go through when creating something truly remarkable. Now creating something truly
[00:02:56] remarkable doesn't mean inventing the iPhone. You could be building a valve manifold and it could
[00:03:02] be the best one you've ever done and it could be truly remarkable so I want you to remember
[00:03:07] that the truly truly remarkable can come in all different shapes, sizes, forms. It's all about what
[00:03:14] you think is truly remarkable so today I'm going to take kind of a unique turn in this podcast
[00:03:20] going to draw some inspiration from an unexpected source drum roll. The music industry I'm going
[00:03:29] to talk about a little bit about the iconic album, Syeme's Dream maybe it's iconic for me because
[00:03:37] of the age that I was when Syeme's Dream came out and the fact that I was learning to play guitar
[00:03:43] on my own and I really like to play this song today so Syeme's Dream and how it's creation mirrors
[00:03:49] a lot of the entrepreneurial journey. So let me dive in. So I think first of all let's
[00:03:55] let's call this segment the power of self confidence and I feel like every entrepreneur or every
[00:04:06] project, every business startup begins with some sort of a dream. A vision that feels sometimes
[00:04:14] feels timeless and which could be like creating a classic album. And when the band behind Syeme's
[00:04:24] Dream, smashing pumpkins started their project. They were sure that they were creating something
[00:04:31] classic in the world of entrepreneurship. This conviction is kind of a good starting point. It's the
[00:04:37] belief in your ideas potential. It's the ability to stand out and make an impact. But how do you
[00:04:45] nurture this belief? Especially in the face of doubt and uncertainty. What if this were the first
[00:04:54] pondless waterfall you've ever installed? How do you nurture that and have the confidence
[00:05:02] that you can do it. So let's explore using this Syeme's Dream album as a metaphor creating an album
[00:05:12] like Syeme's Dream is a journey inward. The band, smashing pumpkins stopped looking for external
[00:05:20] validation and they found confirmation within themselves. And in entrepreneurship this inward
[00:05:28] journey is so critical. And you think you may have heard me say, if it's meant to be it's up to me,
[00:05:37] meaning you, you guys out there listening, me, me talking here, if it's meant to be it's up to me.
[00:05:46] And this so this inward journey is super critical. And it's about trusting that intuition,
[00:05:52] trusting your intuition and your, your unique perspective because no one else in the world has
[00:06:00] the perspective that you have. So you could be spot on right about something. You've got this vision
[00:06:07] but if you go and you ask somebody else they might not know what you know. So how could you expect
[00:06:14] them to say, John that's such a great dam and you're going to crush it. You have to look
[00:06:20] at inward at your own intuition, your own unique perspective. And it's all about understanding
[00:06:27] that while the feedback is important, the true validation of your vision comes from within you.
[00:06:37] And I feel like one of the hard parts is balancing this. How do you balance this kind of internal
[00:06:45] focus with the necessary external points? Because it's just speaking for me personally, I do
[00:06:58] well, I don't know that I need external validation. It's actually good. I am now thinking inward.
[00:07:03] But I like it. It feels good. Why does it feel good? It can be scary living in your own head
[00:07:09] of possible uncertainty. So you know, it's this balance. Do you need the external world to validate
[00:07:16] it or can you look inward for your own validation? So let's dive into that.
[00:07:26] So you can take some inspiration from others around you. Some of the greats look in your local area.
[00:07:35] Is there a business great who's done what you want to do before? Can you take some inspiration
[00:07:41] from there, from them and in smashing pumpkins quest for this unique sound that they were looking
[00:07:48] for, the banjo inspiration from legends like Tom Schultz, Brian May, Queen. As entrepreneurs,
[00:07:56] week two can look for the giants in our field. Find somebody at a manufacturer, a distributor,
[00:08:03] another contractor that you look up to that you can learn from. Let me get my thoughts together.
[00:08:18] But there could be a catch because I don't think it's about copying what they've done before.
[00:08:29] You don't want to say, hey, how did you do this and do it exactly the same way because it's not
[00:08:35] about imitation. It's about inspiration. So find those people that instead of imitating them,
[00:08:46] you can use them as inspiration. So in that way, it's more about learning from their journeys,
[00:08:53] understanding their challenges, their triumphs and weaving that knowledge into your own unique
[00:09:06] tapestry if you will. So yeah, man some good thoughts rolling off here today.
[00:09:12] Okay, look outward for inspiration but then make it your own from inside. So yeah and in that way
[00:09:24] you can create something that as you'll hear in a second smashing pumpkins they created something
[00:09:29] that they felt was greater than themselves greater than oneself. Okay creating something grand,
[00:09:37] something that outlives you and that might not be really relatable to a project but if you are
[00:09:46] starting a business, how can you create something that outlives you the creator. So I do think it
[00:09:56] resonates with the entrepreneur world and it kind of just translates into that building of that
[00:10:02] business that not only serve your personal goals but also can contribute to just the town around
[00:10:10] you. Society are industry to greater good if possible. So what does it take to create that legacy
[00:10:20] for for yourself, your family, your business? How do you ensure that your business is not just about
[00:10:26] profit but also about purpose and there is a fine line there because profit can, although it
[00:10:37] is the fuel that keeps the business alive, it may not be, it may not last if there is no purpose
[00:10:47] because profit can be here today gone tomorrow but purpose can last a long time. Purpose may be more
[00:10:57] sustainable perhaps. So for entrepreneurs kind of like you got to have your anchor an unwavering
[00:11:04] belief is like an anchor, your bow anchor in the stormy seas of business because business is
[00:11:12] stormy. There are lots of storms out there and so your inward intuition and that unwavering belief
[00:11:21] that you can do something could be looked at as your boat anchor for the stormy seas of business,
[00:11:29] it could be what keeps you grounded when those challenges arise. So how do you cultivate? How do
[00:11:36] you cultivate that type of faith in yourself during tough times? Through I would say strategies and
[00:11:48] mindsets. So the entrepreneur journey is one of self-discovery inward reflection, it's about
[00:11:55] finding harmony. There you have it, it's about finding harmony within yourself, balancing your
[00:12:02] inner voice from the lessons from the world around you and just like Siamese Dream is this classic
[00:12:14] you're creating your business as a reflection of your inner harmony, your belief, your vision. So
[00:12:21] keep believing, keep dreaming, keep creating and I will see you on the next episode.