My Life Mission

Whenever the calendar year turns over, people tend to get introspective. Some use this as a time to reflect back on the past year. Almost everyone chooses new resolutions, commitments to make them better people.

I am taking the occasion of this new lap around the sun to put down on digital paper my personal mission. Maybe making it public in a post makes it more official and binding?

Help many people start lots of businesses.

That’s it! I love entrepreneurship to my soul. I believe it is one of the most virtuous callings, and that creating your own business and watching it grow is something that makes you feel most alive. I want to give this gift to as many other folks as possible. In 2018 I helped my wife start Perennial City Composting, and got our first independently-owned Food Pedaler neighborhood rolling. Getting to work on these projects, and essentially be a mentor, has been a huge joy and helped my find my mission.

I don’t care to own the most businesses, I want to empower many other people. Making as much money as possible is definitely not what I’m striving for. It would be my highest honor to help scores of individuals and communities thrive economically through entrepreneurship.

Considering this lately, I’ve realized it will pretty much affect any meaningful decision I make. Presumably, this is what good personal missions do, and why they are so powerful. One example: designing a helpful, unique tool, to do a specific task. Should I build it exceptionally well and sell it for an affordable price, or put up a GitHub page and open source the plans? What will empower the most? Maybe both?

My personal mission is a lens to see things through. A scale to weigh decisions on. A level to balance choices and directions.