Recently, I spent time walking a labyrinth. It is supposed to be a spiritual experience as one slowly walks on a pre-set path, attempting to reach the end goal (prize) which resides in the centre. There are many analogies that one can make to the entrepreneurial journey. Firstly, the path to success is never direct; it always seems to veer off in a different direction. Sometimes you are so close to the prize (whatever that might be for you) and yet you are required to go back on your direction and even further away from the prize in order to ultimately get there. Don’t you often feel that way? Don’t you instinctively know that it should be a whole lot easier than it is in reality,that the prize seems to elude you for what seems to be the longest time? And when you meander back and forth, sometimes moving away from the prize, don’t you sometimes question if the path you are on is indeed the path to the prize?

My experience was even more symbolic, for when I eventually arrived in the centre (the prize) I could not stand still for more than a few seconds as it was the home of a nest of viscous red ants that proceeded to bite my toes and ankles the second I stood in their territory. So, the best part of the whole experience was indeed the thoughts and ideas and revelations I had on the path and not the fleeting second of standing in the centre. The cliché became apparent: it is the journey that’s important.

I must admit that, as I approached the prize, I asked myself whether an entrepreneur would traverse the labyrinth differently from, say, a non-entrepreneur. So just before the end, I understood that I could quite easily step over the boundaries of the labyrinth’s borders and move more swiftly to the prize without obeying the notional borders with which I had been presented. Cheating – perhaps; entrepreneurial – for sure!

But is it really a labyrinth that represents our journey, rather than a maze? You see, in a labyrinth there are no options. You are presented with a long path and choose to walk or not walk it (or in my case to jump the boundaries). In a maze, you are constantly presented with a choice to turn left or to turn right or indeed to move straight forward. Each of these decisions will affect your probability of finding the centre (prize). Some paths will lead to dead ends where you will agonize as you backtrack on your exact path, back to where the decision was erroneously made and then choose again, with a little more wisdom. Often, you will find yourself back at this same juncture a few times, and it is those who are wise enough to mark the direction that resulted in a dead end that will not repeat the same mistake. Those without a learning strategy will remain, for much longer, lost inside the maze seeking the prize.

Whether your journey is a labyrinth or a maze, or a combination of both, be fully present in each moment for maybe you too will realize that the centre is nothing more than an ants’ nest