Sometimes you come across some words that just “nail” it.
And sometimes you have to let somebody else take “the stand” to say it like it is.
Today that someone else is Dean Alfange. If there was ever a mantra to the self-reliance, self-responsibility and freedom that sits at the heart of what we entrepreneurs stand for, it has to be these words from Alfange.
I came across this powerful passage recently. It spoke to me. And in a world where socialists, entitlement leeches, authorities, institutions, governments and other monolithic control mechanisms are seeking to increasingly dissolve our personal freedoms, the words of Dean Alfange, ironically a politician who left us just short of 20 years ago, are more prophetic than ever.
I share them in the hope they speak to you as much as they spoke to me.
“I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon.
I seek opportunity to develop whatever talents God gave me – not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any earthly master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and face the world boldly and say, “This, with God’s help, I have done”.
Freedom isn’t what most people think it is.
It’s not some distant financial utopia, an endgame or destination.
Freedom is a state.
A choice.
A today-play.
Christian Simpson is the UK’s leading coach and mentor to business owners and entrepreneurs. For COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS to tried, tested and proven entrepreneurial success strategies, click here
