by Austin

September 9, 2010

Sept. 8th, 2010

Challenges

Today was quite interesting. I had the opportunity to interview my friend, Cheni Yerushalmi, who is one of the co-founders of Sunshine Suites. Sunshine provides office space and co-working opportunities for entrepreneurs of all kinds in NYC. The interview was pretty awesome, as Cheni really touched on some of the key issues that all entrepreneurs face: failure, financial stress, work/life imbalance, and several others. It was interesting to see that his view of failure was the same as mine. We both believe that success in business and in life usually only comes after we have learned from many failures. We agree: Failure is inevitable (especially for entrepreneurs), but what you do with that failure makes all the difference. The goal should not be to avoid failure, but rather to fail faster and therefore learn faster as well.

Connecting the Entrepreneurial Spirit to Freedom

I asked Cheni what he thought about the connection between entrepreneurship and individual freedom. He thought that the two concepts were inseparable in that entrepreneurs have more personal control over their work/life balance and daily choices than anyone else. Interestingly, these same people are usually in far more danger of work-obsession than non-entrepreneurs. I suppose it is because they are so passionately connected to their work; they own it! But the well balanced entrepreneur has more opportunity, not only to balance life, but also to bring incredible experiences into that balance than most. I think Cheni would agree with me, when I say that independent thinkers in general will have more freedom than people prone to following, regardless of their vocation. This is because freedom starts inwardly and works its way out. It is a choice to think autonomously, and the more free and self-directed our thinking, the more our actions will mirror that sentiment.

Dillon and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to sit down with Cheni, and we are looking forward to heading back there next week. Sunshine has an “Ideas Club” meeting every Wednesday morning at the Hudson Square Cafe in downtown NYC. We are going to be there to do a little more documentary filming and to meet some pretty famous entreprneuers… More info. soon. 😉

Some Explanatory Info. for Fans

We didn’t do any skating today, as our time was completely tied up with meetings. For those of you how might be a bit confused, we started skating in NYC on Labor Day, but we will not depart from the city until September 27. Our investor, Dan from American Pioneer Ventures, is helping us to setup speaking opportunities at a bunch of sweet venues: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wellesley College, and MIT. I know; I’m name dropping a bit here, but the man has some great connections, and this message is both needed and timely. We believe it will help us as we move across the country to build some serious buzz on the east coast before we really start moving.

You Rock!

Thanks so much you guys for all of your continued support. I’ve said this before, and I will keep saying it: This is not just a journey for me. It is a journey for all of us, and your continued support is what makes the huge endeavor possible. Exciting things are on the horizon for the Freedom Skater team, and I’m going to make sure that you are a part of it. Don’t forget to like this post and spread the word to your friends! Also, Dillon has posted the RV pictures to facebook. Go checkout the awesome work done by Signarama out of Brighton, MI. They seriously helped us out a ton.

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About the author 

Austin

From a 3412 mile inline skate across America for Freedom to a pilgrimage halfway around the world, speaker and life coach, Austin Szelkowski has lived an intrepid spiritual journey. Over the last 11 years, he has skated across a continent, built 3 successful businesses, been enlightened by a mind-bending spiritual awakening, and endured a terrifying dark night of the soul journey in 2017. His story brings courage in the darkest places – providing a sense of spiritual adventure and hope.

    • Glad you enjoyed it, Renita! I do my best. It’s interesting: I seem to have the most inspirational thoughts mid-skate, when I’m halfway to exhaustion. – Austin

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