So you don’t want to work for the man?
I don’t blame you. America the great allows you to do that fairly easily. But don’t get caught in the ignorance trap. There are a few things that come with self employment and entrepreneurialism that are not for the faint of heart. I have been on this journey for about 10 years now. This is my attempt to take a stab at creating a simple and logistical map for success. It outlines some of the things to expect when punching the time clock one last time. But it’s never finished. Its . Never . Finished. You have to be ok with that. You will constantly be changing directions, plans and adjusting your overall narrative. Being resilient and learning from your mistakes is the first step in paving the road for your own future.
Sacrifice. This shit is not easy. When you take this dive you are going to wholeheartedly sacrifice one of these things if not all. Money, love, relationships, time, vacations, kindness, parties, play, friends, hobbies and sometimes even your happiness. I know this sounds rugged. But it really doesn’t even scratch the surface. Business and life itself is literally like a struggle anomaly. It attracts difficulty and stress. But it also counteracts it. When bad things happen life has recovery antibodies that fight off the pain and bring the pleasure. The difference in being successful and not, is simple. Those that are crazy enough to push through the inevitable misery and are willing to sacrifice enough, will eventually break the business bubble and come out the other side. This won’t happen overnight. In fact you have to be willing to work years to get to where you eventually want to be.
The people that know me well are often concerned with the stress and struggle that business has caused. But it fuels me man. It stokes me like a cowboy stokes the fire. It is important to love what you do. I often feel more love for working hard and accomplishing goals than just about anything else in life. I get much more satisfaction from working late and being creative than I have ever felt from partying or nightlife. Even the worst situations and biggest sacrifices level themselves out. The feeling of self employment and accomplishment on a macro and micro level is worth every single strand of hair pulled out or lost from the mind numbing challenge of what we know as a modern day “Business Owner”
There are a few key things to plan when thinking of jumping off the 9-5 cliff. The first and foremost is to establish a vision. You cannot take action without first having a plan. A good and simple thing to think about is the what, the how and most importantly the why. Every good business owner can easily tell you what they do, and most likely how they do it. But defining the reasons why your doing what you do is the most important. This is described as your purpose. It’s really hard to find passion without it. If you are doing it for the money which most do, that’s fine. But I have found that when your consumers get a wholesome feeling from working with you or choosing to purchase your products, you have a bond and a movement which gives you a much greater feeling that money can’t buy.
One thing to remember… In most cases and for most driven people, you will never reach self success. Sounds negative, but this is the truest from of a perfectionist. As soon as you reach your goals, you are already working on the next. But damn the 1 day you decide to look back, you will feel that trail of sweat, tears, fears and sacrifice and you will smile to yourself and think, I am going to take a damn vacation. And you will. Guilt free 🙂 Good luck. I know you got this if you want this.
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