The Secret Life of Inhibitions.

On inhibitions and social entrepreneurship.

As an entrepreneur, I’m often asked “How did you get started?”

A lot.

The truth is, I have no idea.

When I think of an idea, I rarely think about its feasibility. Rather, I think about desire and process. Thinking about failure defeats us. So I think about success instead. I’m referring to success on a wider sense—not If I do this, and get it right I will be rewarded with this other thing that we believe will complete us and make us happy—but success in terms of allowing ourselves  to let go of the inhibitions that truly have no place in our lives. I think about letting go of unnecessary inhibitions—inhibitions derived from thoughts, thoughts derived from memories. And oftentimes these memories can fit in two categories: manifested and un-manifested.

When we look back at our memories and consider our choices, do we see ourselves having acted from a desire to become complete? Or do we see ourselves having acted from a realization that we already have all we need—that we need nothing but choose to engage in a process that directly impacts the world in a positive way? And a tertiary question: how does this conversation make you feel? You know, the one happening in your head? Light? Heavy? Indifferent? Pick two and rely on neither—the answer is always mislead by thought.

So. How do we start something?

We first identify our inhibitions and dismiss them.

We then ask if what we want to start is something that impacts the world in a positive way. If the answer is yes, all that’s left for us is to go kick some ass.

Joshua-Scott Onysko, a longtime friend to elephant, is founder and CEO of Pangea Organics. You can read more from Josh here.