Entrepreneurs do NOT have it easy
It’s been a long day working on the business. Just a few weeks back you quit your job and that steady paycheck is gone. Buh bye! For countless hours each day, you’ve been doing everything that you can in order to live out your dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur and also make enough cash to pay for rent, food, fun, and all those things that you need to…. you know… ahh… live!
Being an entrepreneur is not only rough on your mind but it can also be very, very rough on your pocket. It isn’t easy starting a business and trying to survive at the same time. When there’s no cash coming in and the bills are stacking up, the stress begins to load up and consumes your every thought.
Many people looking from the outside in will think that you’re making cash, life is so easy, and everything is dandy because you’re an entrepreneur running your own business. Blah… Blah… Blah… Boy, oh boy, how wrong they are. They have no idea how hard our lives can be trying to turn nothing into something – it’s a constant struggle being a young entrepreneur.
Sure there will be moments when we are on top of the world and everything seems to be going just perfect – those days are great! But there will be many more days when the lack of stability will start to chip away at your ambitions.
There have been many, many nights when I have gone to bed literally scared. Scared about my future, scared about whether or not I can close that deal, and scared about all the time, money, and effort that I have invested in myself and my business… thinking about the return on investment. Will there be a return?
It’s OK to be Scared
We’re human, not superheroes. Being an entrepreneur is definitely not for everyone. It really takes a special type of person who can endure the ups and downs of this lifestyle – a very cyclical lifestyle. Thick skin is a prerequisite for this game.
So What Keeps us Going?
In this game, only the strong will survive. In order for someone to put themselves through such drama, stress, and heartache, in order to fulfill their dreams and visions must be strong. If you lack the necessary strength to keep at it and to NEVER give up, you are bound to fall apart and revert back to the “safe” life you once lived.
You have to dig deep! Entrepreneurs need to really muster up that fire, that passion, and that love for what they are doing. If you don’t have that burning flame in your heart, then forget about it. The passion must be maintained – through good and bad times — in order to achieve success.
At the End of the Day
If you fight and push through all the stress, the empty pockets, and anxiety, you can really transcend and becoming as successful as you’d like. It’s all beings with your attitude and mindset. Just keep on reminding yourself of why you are doing this – we each have our own reasons – and never let go of that thought. Locate it. Mark it. And lock into that ball of fire and never let it go.
Rock on!
David-
Great post! Entrepreneurs like us don’t have it easy at all. The heartache, anxiety, ups and downs - are they all worth it? Of course they are, or else you wouldn’t have come this far. It’s what keeps bad golfers going back to the course. It’s what keeps gamblers addicted. That thrill of winning or hitting a great shot. That’s what we are after. That’s what makes it all worth it!
It’s all about risk/reward and in order to achieve that great reward we have to take that risk.
People in this world value 3 things:
1. Security
2. Comfort
3. Rich/money
95% of this world if not more work for other people. They value security. They want to make sure they will have a steady paycheck so they can have a roof over their head, food on the table and their bills paid. Only once we achieve this status do we then go after a comfortable lifestyle.
Everything that security brings plus being able to go out to dinner once a week, going on a vacation here and there, etc., etc., etc. Remember the majority of people in this world want a good, comfortable, safe lifestyle.
It’s people like us that want a GREAT, extraordinary life. We want to leave a legacy, we want to create things way bigger than us, we want to help people, we want to attain great success and most importantly follow our passions!
Unfortunately but fortunately for us, the only way to attain great success and reap the benefits of financial independence is by risking the secure, comfortable lifestyle. If it was easy then everybody would do it!
The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is being able to act rationally, not emotionally when we don’t have that secure, comfortable lifestyle with that steady paycheck. That is why a majority of the people that go out on their own return with open arms to a secure lifestyle.
Sadly enough they will get a business underway, acquire some customers, get the systems in place, spend countless hours working on their business but when the money doesn’t come rollin’ in as expected they go crazy. They begin to think irrational thoughts (which is very normal) and get scared.
What am I doing with my life? What if this doesn’t work? What if I can’t pay my rent? What if this fails? All of this is fear. Use it as motivation. Failure it not an option. Even if your business did fail, the experience you will gain is one that no one can ever understand, unless they too have been an entrepreneur. That experience and the intangible assets you will gain is priceless.
You will become that much more seasoned, that much more confident and are likely to realize what it is you want to do even more. Even if you had to go back to working for someone else, you will be far better off!
Remember this always:
It’s not that they didn’t have a great product or service, they just quit before the miracle!