On Parents and Entrepreneurship

What makes an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur? I once read research that said that entrepreneurs are unique because discouragement leads to encouragement. In other words, entrepreneurs enjoy proving other people wrong.

This description of an entrepreneur has certainly fit me before! My mom is very traditional in terms of her views towards education. She moved to America when she was seventeen years old. Through a lot of hard work, she was able to complete college, something that she considers one of the most major achievements of her life. When I was born, one of her major goals for me was to graduate from a prestigious college. Consequently, she has always wanted me to get good grades so I could go to a good school and she supported me very heavily towards this end.

As I became more interested in entrepreneurship in high school, my mom started to see my business as a threat. At first we got in arguments over it, and after awhile I vowed not to talk about it with her because it hurt so much to have something I was so passionate about be shot down by somebody so close to me. In the back of my mind (and partially in the front), one of the major reasons I wanted to succeed was to show my mom and others that I could follow my own path and be successful. While this isn't my main motivator anymore (I think), it definitely served its purpose.

Now, my relationship with my mom is better than it has ever been before. Growing up it was just my mom and I, and arguments were a way of life for us. Our relationship going so well now is so new to me. I'm realizing a love for her that I didn't know existed because it was covered by years of mean things I wish I hadn't said. Even though we have some very different beliefs about the world, we are now connecting on our similarities and I can feel this new change rippling out through my entire world view in a good way.

I have often heard others say that the people closest to you will try to stop you from following your passion because they love you and want you to be safe. It is one thing to understand this intellectually and another to feel it. I feel it now.

This feeling definitely helps me appreciate other students who have 'sacrificed' their own goals to keep the family together or to keep loved ones happy. While I generally believe that 'sacrificing' your own goals hurts everybody in the long-term, I can definitely see how there is a lot of gray area and that decisions that go against the grain can be difficult to make.