These days it’s kinda cool to say, “Yeah I’m an Entrepreneur, I got a start up…” or whatever else the kids are saying.
However, the reality is, it’s not “cool” to be an entrepreneur, not a real one anyway. You will try 100 times before you hit a home run, and that’s in a good year.
If you are worried where your paycheck is going to come from, or if you need a sure thing and don’t want to take risks all the time, then being an entrepreneur is not for you.
Following are 3 things that every entrepreneur comes to realize at some point in their journey:
1. You will fail, and you will fail multiple times
If you have not failed, then you have not Entrepreneured—these go hand in hand. You will get better and better at mitigating failure down the road, but when you are starting out be ready to get a punch in the face, nuts, throat and bank account on a regular basis. If you’re not ready for this, then it’s not for you.
2. There is no such thing as a steady or regular paycheck
When you are first starting out you often have to decide if you’d rather pay $1000 a month for good health insurance or get groceries, utilities, and rent paid. Gone are the days of “what kind of 401k and health benefits do you have?” Because you don’t have any of that–not at first, at least—when you work for yourself.
We are taught from a young age that a steady paycheck is a goal to aim for. That it’s what’s best for us, for our future. That stability, that steady paycheck becomes an addiction that we could never imagine breaking away from. For entrepreneurs, the paychecks always look different. But, as an entrepreneur, I could care less about that because I’m happy. I’ve learned that the size and consistency of a paycheck does not determine who I am as a person. I am happy regardless if the paycheck is 34k that month or 2k.
3. Gone are the days of caring what people think about you
The person or friends/family that have had the same desk job for 5-10-30 years will never understand what the hell you’re doing. They will think you are flakey, always jumping around, sporadic, and not dependable. If they think this of you, you only have one option, don’t listen to them. These people are often dream killers, and you will never become a successful entrepreneur if you are giving your haters and the negative people in your life the time of day. You don’t need to allow them to sublease any space in your brain to feed you negative thoughts. They are either with you or not.
Being an entrepreneur is about so much more than just making money, or being able to work from the beach. It’s about creating something. It’s about taking an idea and making that idea a reality. It’s about recognizing that, although you may fail, and then fail again, and again, you will always get back up and keep trying. THAT is what being an entrepreneur is all about. Trust me, I know.
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