This is strictly meant for entrepreneurs, yeah you this is meant for you. Let me tell you a little bit about why I decided to write this blog today. I have been fascinated with being an entrepreneur since I held my first job at the tender age of 7. At 7 years of age I was a landscaper, cleaning person and I even sold pecans that would fall from my grandmother’s front yard tree. Through my school indoctrination camp grades 1-12 I was brainwashed into the whole job concept. Even though I was never much for following the directives of others, as an adult I did try the old get a good job thing Hell I even went to college. I’ve done everything from selling mortgages, selling cable, selling cellular phones and I am very ashamed to say I have also worked as a lowly customer service representative. Just typing about some of those past jobs make me want to throw up.
It would be very difficult to pin point the exact reasons why I hate the idea of working for someone else, but I’ll give it a shot. Let’s start with the fact that working on a job requires us to spend a ridiculous amount of time working hard to improve the well-being of someone else’s company. The average person spends a minimum of 40 hours per week at a job which is the equivalent to 160 hours per month totaling 1,920 whopping hours per year. Not to mention the anxiety everyone feels on their days off while waiting for a fresh work week. I personally hated this, I would sit in an office and hours would seem like years it was almost like I was in a jail in which I locked myself up. Most of today;s corporate jobs require one to have scheduled breaks, lunches and whatever else the company can think of to further let you know they are in control of you and you are pretty much a robot for their bidding.
Speaking from my own personal experience I found myself dreading going to work so much that I would count the seconds until I would have to return to work long after my day had ended. I thought that maybe if I were to work in different industries I would lose the sense of dread with what I was doing. You guessed it, not only was I wrong I ended up hating each job more than the other and the crazy thing is that it began to take a toll on my social life. Alcohol became a good option for me, it would allow me to not only forget about work but also pass the time quicker while at work. That wasn’t a typo in my last sentence I would find myself drinking a minimum of 2 days per week while at work starting during my lunch hour well my 30-minute lunch because a grown ass man was expected to eat a full meal in 30 damn minutes.
I always thought maybe something was wrong with me, maybe I have some deep ceded mental illness that didn’t allow me to see the joy of working on a job. The truth is there wasn’t a thing wrong with me, I was and still am not meant to be held to the limitations and restraints of a job. What does one do when he or she realizes that no job will ever make them happy? The first thing I did was start looking for a way out or else I was going to die, I am not bullshitting I would either die from alcoholism or die from a damn heart attack. I started my request for knowledge with Napoleon Hill’s “Think & Grow Rich”, I read that book in 2 days and realized everything I had ever been taught was a complete lie. Growing up poor I was taught go to college because that’s how you will land a great job and become wealthy. College was a scam and so was the debt it created which doubles magically every 5 years, this is what happened to me, so this is my reality though you may be the exception. Anyway, my apologies for drifting off task.
“Think & Grow Rich” launched me into a tailspin, I began to read and search for anything that will help me to become an entrepreneur. I won’t lie to you, becoming an entrepreneur can be frightening but one must realize that the only reason we have the fear of becoming our own boss is society has told us to be afraid. We must conquer our fears and do the things we are meant to do, there will be hard times there will be many failures but at the end of it all there is a breakthrough awaiting us we have to be steadfast in our vision. I have a gift and a purpose, it is up to me to bring my dreams to light and share them to the world. I am often reminded of a speech the great motivator Les Brown gave, in this speech Les Brown states that the ideal situation for a person to die in is with his/her family surrounding them with love as they head to the hereafter but what if we were to die and we were surrounded by the many hopes and dreams we have that we never developed and never shared with the world.
“My Creed
I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen.
Humbled and dulled by having the
State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
To dream and to build.
To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment
To the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done
All this is what it means
To be an Entrepreneur.”― Dean Alfange courtesy of goodreads.com