How to pass the point of no return (Heart-Centered Tech Tip)

I recently visited Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where I watched a movie in the new Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater. Yep, it’s actually named that. I’m even linking to it to prove it’s true.

Anyway, in a filmed introduction to his eponymous theater, Mr. Nimoy himself said something like “The event horizon is right here, it means the place that something is happening.” And I thought to myself, “Oh come on, Mr. Spock should have a better understanding of what event horizon really means.”

According to astronomers, the event horizon is the invisible boundary surrounding a black hole, the boundary beyond which gravity is so powerful that even light can’t escape. It’s more or less synonymous with point of no return, which is the farthest you can go and come back safely.

Aviators, for instance, calculate their point of no return based roughly on how far they can travel on half their fuel (the other half gets them back home), also factoring in wind speed and other conditions.

And what about us small-business owners and internet entrepreneurs? I happen to believe that most of us face our own points of no return on a regular basis. In the old days when you had to do things like raise capital and invest in infrastructure to start a business, it was more visible: When you spent all the money, it was gone, and there wasn’t a second chance.

Today, when you can start a blog for free, sell digital products with a few clicks of your mouse, and broadcast to the world in real-time, we don’t have some of those physical markers of “going into business” (or for that matter, “going out of business”).

So we get to make them up. We get to decide, yes, I’m really doing this. I’m going to create something, market it, find people who need what I’m selling. I’m going to think of myself as more than an unemployed freelancer, more than a work-at-home mom. I’m a real, live business owner with a real, live business.

That’s the first major point of no return.

But even after we decide, for ourselves, that we’re charting a new path, we face decisions every day that are miniature event horizons. Which marketing plan do we choose? What do we name our product? Who do we hire to coach us or advise us? When is the launch date? What’s next?

And that can get daunting, and even discouraging. So much to do. Such a full calendar. So much fear that the path we’re choosing will become a dead end.

As I was considering this predicament, synchronicity struck: I happened on a Twitter conversation that went like this:

I tweeted that I was loving this conversation, that I was thinking of doing a blog post on the topic. And Imran tweeted back to me to encourage me, and then followed up asking me if I’d done it yet! Which I chose to view as a cue to actually do it (instead of putting it off to next week as I was thinking of doing).

See? Right there: Point of no return. I’m about to reach it right now, as soon as I hit the “publish” button on this post. If you’re reading this, I’ve passed it. I can’t go back to the stage where I was waffling about what idea to post on the blog, and which week I should write about which topic, and would anybody read anything I write anyway?

And I love being past that stage, utterly unable to return. Sure, there will be future opportunities for waffling and worrying. And I’ll do my share. I may even whine about it here on the blog (it’s my blog, and I’ll cry if I want to…but sometimes I’ll sing!).

But each time I take action — whether it’s posting, tweeting, connecting with a colleague or client, sending an email, launching a product — I’m passing another one of those points of no return. Because face it, as Imran so wisely pointed out, those points are going to show up whether we want them to or not. Whether we’re ready or not. So why not face them consciously, make a decision, take a step, no matter how small?

What step can you take today to take you further along a conscious path? What heart-centered way can you use technology to smooth the path for you? Mine will be hitting the “publish” button (and responding to comments and tweets). Care to leave a comment to share your journey? Hitting the “submit” button on the comment form is a point of no return — I invite you to step across your own event horizon!

Until next week,

Wendy Cholbi, your friendly neighborhood swim-goggle-wearing technology-to-English translator

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