The Expanse is easily one of the most incredible TV shows ever made. It’s redefining sci-fi and I’m sure we’ll also see a lot of technology advancements based on the show as well. Today I want to share a surprising lesson I learned from The Expanse and how it can transform the way you see your journey as an entrepreneur.
The rest of this article contains spoilers from Season 2 of The Expanse.
The unexpected lesson I learned from The Expanse
Season 2 of The Expanse put the pedal to the metal in the first episode and didn’t let go of it until the very last. It’s a fast paced season with a lot going on, the universe at stake and some memorable moments.
One of these moments comes later in the season when a fight breaks out over Ganymede Station and some of the domes are destroyed. Doctor Strickland is taking one of his patients, Mei Meng, out of the facility – not so much to save her but to take her to a protomolecule research facility where they plan to experiment on her.
Obviously, they don’t tell her any of this and she’s wary of leaving. After a while, she gets scared and refuses to go into a creepy passage without her father.
Dr. Strickland then shares a story that not only convinces Mei to keep going with him, but it can also help you do the same.
When Mei refuses to keep going, Dr. Strickland pauses and takes out a leaf from his pocket. Thinking it’s just another game of guessing the plant species, Mei initially declines to play and insists that she wants to go find her dad.
Dr. Strickland points to a chrysalis on the leaf, mentions that a butterfly will emerge from it soon and shares a story to inspire Mei.
Dr. Strickland: When I was a little boy, I was about your age, I saw one trying to get out. But it was having trouble so I tried to help.
Really carefully, I split open the casing and the butterfly came right out. But it couldn’t fly. It was supposed to struggle.
Squeezing its way out of that tight casing pushed fluid from its fat body into its wings…
Don’t you want to be able to fly one day?
The struggle is part of your journey as an entrepreneur
Ignoring the fact that Dr. Strickland was up to no good, his metaphor can help you if you’re an entrepreneur still struggling in your chrysalis.
When you started your online business you knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task but a good challenge never scared you. However… you started following all the gurus and they kept telling you how easy peasy lemon squeezy 
it is to grow your business.
That you can go from buying your domain to living out of a yacht working 2 hours a day in a few months. That it’s YOU who makes things hard on yourself.
But this made you question yourself:
“Am I doing it right? “
“Why don’t I have any clients yet?”
“Where’s my yacht and my appletini?”
“Why am I struggling so hard?”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be easy?”
“Am I not meant to be an entrepreneur?”
Those entrepreneurs are right to an extent (except the domain-to-yacht pipeline). It doesn’t have to be THAT hard when you have a roadmap to follow. But, just like the butterfly, you are meant to struggle so you can fly.
When you start your business, you don’t know how to do it. You spend time learning, growing, figuring things out. You are in your chrysalis, preparing to get out.
When the tech gives you a headache, or nobody joins your email list, or you teach a class to an empty Zoom room… All of those struggles are preparing you to succeed. You need to follow your own path and fall a few times so you can truly learn and find what works for you.
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Avoid overcomplicating things or willingly staying stuck
I just said struggling is necessary to succeed. But, don’t take it the wrong way. Struggling too much or staying stuck for too long isn’t right either. Just like the butterfly will perish if it can’t make it out of the chrysalis or we help it out too much.
Fear of success, feelings of not being good enough and other limiting beliefs keep us from making progress. This can result in self-sabotage to keep you in your comfort zone.
Self-sabotage can look like:
Procrastinating on creating a product or service by tinkering with your website or your branding until it’s perfect.
Staying stuck in “research mode” and taking a dozen courses instead of implementing what you already know.
Getting overwhelmed by future potential problems or “what ifs” to the point you don’t take the next right step out of fear of reaching that point without being prepared.
Doing something new always comes with a learning curve and a lot of challenges, but it doesn’t have to be an impossible quest.
If you’re feeling like you’ve been stuck for too long and it’s high time you got out of your chrysalis, ask yourself these questions:
Journal on these questions and see what comes up when you listen to yourself!
Over to you – What was your biggest takeaway?
I hope this has helped you see that it’s okay to struggle, that it’s an important part of your journey as an entrepreneur and course creator. You’re not less than or a worse business owner just because taking your biz off the ground hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies.
You are going through the challenges you need to face to become a resourceful, creative and powerful entrepreneur and course creator. With these skills, there won’t be obstacle in your way capable of slowing you down.
Give yourself grace as you learn, mess up and figure things out. You’re on an incredible journey, friend, and I’m rooting for you!
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