Perhaps everyone isn’t meant to be an entrepreneur
“You know what”, he said. “I guess I’m just one of those people who needs a boss”. I couldn’t believe it! Here I was, having lunch with a colleague who worked for one of my former employers. A man who I have the utmost respect for and who I admire in so many ways. As we sat in the sun drenched restaurant sipping on our colas, he basically admitted to me that he would always be an employee and would never be an entrepreneur. I sighed to myself…I guess perhaps everyone isn’t meant to be an entrepreneur!
I hadn’t seen my colleague for some time (several years in fact) and we got together for lunch to catch up on old times. He was asking about what I’d been up to since we both left the place where we were formerly employed. I was telling him about what I was doing: doing architecture projects, managing some real estate holding, looking for real estate to buy- believe it or not (that’s a whole other discussion), speaking and writing to encourage people to find their potential. He was telling me about the employer he is with currently and the one he’s hoping to go to next.
Serial Employee
You see, my colleague is what I call a “serial employee”. I know this because I was one of them. A serial employee is one who is always looking for the next best “gig”, the next job that will somehow fully satisfy the longing in the heart to find fulfillment; to find your purpose, your calling, your reason for being. As a serial employee myself, every five years on average, I would get “an itch” to go somewhere else to find my calling. Actually, it was more like a wrenching feeling in my gut that would compel me to seek greener pastures. Inevitably I would look across the aisle to the adjacent desk and see someone 15 or 20 years my senior doing the exact same job as me, with the same responsibilities. It wasn’t that I disliked my jobs – in fact, I enjoyed most of the jobs that I’ve held – it was just that I didn’t want to be doing the same work, the same activities, the same routine, for the next 15-20 years! And this is what led me to leave.
So my colleague was telling about the advantages that going to his next employer would bring: how much better the responsibilities would be and how much more satisfied he would be at the next place. Then he shifted gears a bit and told me that he had tried being an entrepreneur several times. He had tried and had come to the conclusion that the life of an entrepreneur was not for him.
The areas that he couldn’t address to his satisfaction were as follows:
Setting Goals
My colleague said that he couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he needed to set some “big, hairy” goals (I didn’t coin that phrase). He said that his goals were not compelling enough to move him to make the necessary “sacrifices” that he needed to make in order to keep going at those times when it seemed as if the results were not coming. He said that he set goals, of course, but they just didn’t “move” him. (Napoleon Hill called this a “burning desire”. It’s definitely something that entrepreneurs need).
Setting Priorities
My colleague also confessed that during those times when he had “too much on his plate”, it was tough deciding which task needed to be completed first. We’ve all been in this situation: the To Do list is 3 pages long and you don’t know where to start. Entrepreneurs MUST be able to make the tough decisions on a daily basis – it’s a prerequisite for the job.
Setting Deadlines
Finally colleague confessed that he wasn’t good at giving himself deadlines. Procrastination was simply too comfortable for him. I told him that I too suffer from procrastination quite often. Architect practitioners are taught early on – not formally – but by example and by the sometimes unreasonable workload that is piled on unsuspecting underclassmen, that “all nighters” are to be expected. So I’ve developed the habit of sometimes doing things at the last minute. I confessed to my colleague that there is a certain adrenaline rush that comes with finishing with a flurry, however! I told him about a friend of mine who said that a trick she employs is to overcome procrastination. She said the way to overcome this ailment is to set an “unreasonable” deadline for yourself in order to recreate the adrenaline rush associated with accomplishing tasks at the last minute. So, for example, if I know a project will take 3 weeks, I should give myself 1 week to accomplish it. This way, I take immediate action and I focus on the critical elements of completing the task.
My friend admitted that he had tried similar ideas, but he just could not perform when he was one who set the deadline. If he set a deadline in this way, he always knew that it was arbitrary and that the “real” deadline was further out. If, however, he needed to meet a deadline that someone else had set, he would perform as required. That’s when he made the “confession” that started this blog.
My Disappointment
You see, I’ve been operating under the assumption that everyone can be an entrepreneur. Or at least anyone who wants to take control of their life can be, if they really want it. My mission, in fact, is to get as many folk as I can to “cross over”, to “take the leap” as it were (hence the title of this blog) from the life of bondage to a life of freedom. Freedom to decide how you want to live your life, spend your time and to spend your days. So, the question is, “Are you meant to be an entrepreneur?” Let me know.
For the thrill of the jump,
Dino Herbert
www.dinoherbert.com
“Passionate about helping people find their potential”
