YOUR IMPERSONAL DREAM

Sometime back, I read Michael Gerber's book, "Awakening the
Entrepreneur Within," and this week I noticed it again.
Gerber makes a vital distinction between our personal
dreams for success, wealth, fame or whatever, and the
"impersonal dream" that lies behind every great business.
An impersonal dream is our knowledge (vision? mission or
purpose?) that what we do will make an essential difference
to the whole world. When he launched Microsoft, I'm sure
Bill Gates had a personal dream that included things like
money, influence, a nice house, a new car and so forth.
But he also had an impersonal dream that made all the
difference. He wanted "a computer on every desktop." He
dreamed of a world where ordinary people could harness the
potential of microchips to communicate and produce. He had
an impersonal dream that his little operating system could
open doors he knew nothing about on every desktop and in
every office around the world. Now that's a dream!
Your business needs such a dream. Gerber argues that
starting a business to make money or to employ people is
nice, but ultimately, it's not enough. To keep going when
things are tough requires a sense of mission, an impersonal
dream that your little shop, your book or factory or
restaurant will ultimately touch thousands of people in a
vital way.
Why do you do what you do? What's the "big idea?" If a
million people copied your idea or bought your products or
used your service, how would that change the world?
When managers and owners, entrepreneurs and inventors have
huge "impersonal" dreams their businesses flourish not
because that individual is a genius, but because their
sense of mission makes everything better.
What's your big, impersonal dream to make this small planet
just a little bit better? Find it and your business will
take on new meaning, and perhaps, new profits.