If you’ve read Jim Collins’ Good to Great, you’re familiar with the concept of the Flywheel Effect.
The basic gist is that starting anything of magnitude requires tremendous effort at the beginning. You push and push on this giant wheel, and it barely moves. In fact, at first, it doesn’t move at all. Then, as inertia starts to give way to momentum, the wheel creaks forward an infinitesimal amount. The magic happens when you keep pushing. As momentum builds, the wheel starts spinning faster and requiring less effort.
Anything worth doing requires not just a strong push, but an ongoing push. It may feel like you’re not making progress, or that the progress is too slow to justify the effort, but you need to remember that you’re fighting inertia. You’re creating change.
The different between an entrepreneurial mindset and (20th century) employee mindset is focusing on a longer timeline. Yes, you’re working hard for little payoff right now. But you’re building something. Never forget that.
