In 1953, the now deceased Isaiah Berlin wrote an essay on “The Hedgehog Concept”.  The Hedgehog concept details the life of a fox and a hedgehog. In this blog post, I’ll write how it relates to business, then in our individual lives. Finally, I’ll give detailed instructions on to how discover your life purpose in 5 easy steps so that you can be successful at anything you attempt.

Finding your life purpose

The fable details the life of a fox whose pursuits are to no ends and see the world in all its complexity. Yet, he is scattered, moving on many levels, never unifying his thinking into an overall concept or his entire vision.

Hedgehogs on the other hand are narrowly focused creatures. Regardless of the complexities of the world, the hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas into simple ideas. This is where it gets interesting because anything that does not relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance — this is why when hedgehogs and foxes are pitted against one another, the hedgehog always wins!

On many levels, we can all be classified as either a hedgehog or a fox. Just like the hedgehog and the fox concept, I also like to think that there are two unique types of people in this world – people who own their passion and find a job or a business to monetize what they love. Then there are people who don’t have any
 concept of thriving in a world with so much opportunity so they panic and instead try to “survive” by making a living any way necessary by doing things they don’t love.

Five Traits of Hedgehogs in Business:

  1. They know what they are deeply passionate about.
  2. They know what they can be the best in the world at.
  3. They know how to make money with their passion.
  4. They are disciplined.
  5. They are great leaders and/or know how to lead themselves.

Five Traits of Foxes in Business:

  1. They are scattered, going from one business idea to the next.
  2. They have very little discipline.
  3. They may be good leaders but their leadership style is egocentric and self-centered. They take credit for success while blaming others for failure.
  4. Their passions are not narrowly defined. They go any direction that opportunity leads.
  5. Instead of finding their passion, they find opportunity first, and then build passion second, which usually leads to feeling unfulfilled and dejected.

Did you know that less than 10% of the world’s population owns 90% of the wealth? These rare individuals could not have done it if they were foxes. Even if you’re not an Entrepreneur or someone who aspires to be an Entrepreneur someday – from self-employed to employee, they all fall into one of the two categories.

How to Discover Your Life Purpose in 5 Easy Steps:

  1. What do you enjoy doing the most? Make a list of 5-10 things that rock your world and bring a smile to your face.
  2. When you compile this list, search for jobs that are oriented around this topic. If instead of a job, you want to start a business, perhaps you can be an expert on the topic and teach others what you know and make money at the same time? (This is what I am doing now!)
  3. Ask yourself – am I really great at [whatever you chose]? If you’re not that great now, can you learn to be? If so, then you have a winner!
  4. Are there jobs related to your chosen path and does it pay well? If this is a business idea, have you got a plan to monetize it? Is there a market for your idea? The more people in the field of your interest, the better!
  5. What new skills must you learn in order to get this job or launch this business?

The Pitfalls to Avoid:

  1. If money is your biggest motivation, you will lead an unfulfilled life. However, if you can put your passion first, the money will come… Eventually.
  2. How are you increasing your tool chest? What skills are you learning that are tailored to your “chosen” profession? The more skills you have, the more valuable you’re.
  3. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. After you work so hard finding your passions, create goals and a step-by-step action plan to achieve your desires.

I hope you learned about the Hedgehog Concept and how it relates to not only business but also to life. Please comment below if you agree or disagree. I would also like to learn what your passion in life is or if you’re on your way to finding one.