This month in the United States we celebrated the 4th of July, Independence Day.

As an entrepreneur, this holiday always make me think about the meaning of the word independence.

My Google dictionary defines it as:
 
“freedom from control or influence of another or others”… and gives as synonyms…

freedom, independency, liberty, self-sufficiency, self-support…

By serendipity, I was re-reading Steven R. Covey's “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” where I underlined the following quote:

“On the maturity continuum, dependence is the paradigm of you—you take care of me; you come through for me; you didn’t come through; I blame you for the results. Independence is the paradigm of I—I can do it; I am responsible; I am self-reliant; I can choose. Interdependence is the paradigm of we—we can do it; we can cooperate; we can combine our talents and abilities and create something greater together.

Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.”

I thrive through Interdependence 🙂

How about you?

I would love to hear your opinion.