Not often are these two words, poet and entrepreneur, used in the same sentence, or even in the same paragraph. We usually don’t expect the sensitivity of poets to be mixed with the razor sharp logic of men in business. After all, even Rimbaud gave up writing poems in order to start his own business. However, there are some individuals with this rare combination. One of them is Felix Denis who is the creator of Maxim magazine and other successful projects.
In an article dedicated to the above mentioned remarkable businessman who had also a penchant for poetry, the bmmagazine.co.uk website offers us some thoughts about the relationship of the world of poetry and the world of business.
Hard work
There is a stanza by H.W Longfellow (from The Ladder of St. Augustine), that says that successful men, men who meant something, did not succeed all of a sudden, but that there was always a great deal of effort and toil behind their achievements.
The heights by great men reached and kept
We’re not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
We’re toiling upward in the night.
These few words sum it up quite well. Successful entrepreneurs have tireless work ethics and they don’t regret waking up early to have some extra time to work with no distractions.
Fears
Another poem mentioned in the article deals with a topic especially inspirational for an entrepreneur – the fear of failure. Being in business equals facing many horrors and menaces – cash flow and competitive threats being good examples – but a tenacious businessman will control his fate by calculations and making right decisions. Taking actions that are based on such calculations and the art of overcoming hardships and fears are important assets for an entrepreneur.
Rapid changes
We can get the feeling of rapidly evolving and changing reality today in a stanza from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “A Dream within a Dream”. Nothing lasts forever and today business strategies adapts and develops in a fast pace.
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