My biggest fear was to live a life of mediocrity, to settle. Becoming an entrepreneur never occurred to me.
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It sounds a little overdramatic, to be sure, but I was always stumbling around worried that I was never going to live up to my fullest potential. There is a multitude of reasons for that, not the least of which is because I was trying to live a life that wasn’t even meant for me.
It’s comical really, I was so worried I was going to live my worst nightmare, but I was calling it my true potential. What do I mean by that?
I was called to be an entrepreneur.
We’re a different breed, there’s a great saying that only an entrepreneur works 80 hours to avoid working 40. And that is definitely the case for me.
But for years I was going to school to be a teacher of all things. In my head, it gave me summers off, and I would be home when my kids were, maximizing the time I would get with my kids.
Except, I HATED public speaking. Like with a burning passion. So there I was in school to be a teacher and I wanted to shoot myself in the foot to get out of giving a presentation. Every single time was like ice picks being shoved under my nails.
Why was I forcing myself to do the thing I hated the most?
Why does anyone do anything? For the first 20 years of your life, you do a lot of things because your parents tell you to. I’m no exception, and while I selectively listened, becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t something I had ever considered.
Who thinks of that anyway? We’ve all been programmed since birth (in the last 50 years or so) that you have to graduate, go to college, and then join the workforce of your choice. What a linear, boring way to be.
I always thought outside of the box, but never too far. If I thought too far I always feared being rejected by my family. Well, that happened anyway, so I said screw it let’s live my own life instead!
Becoming an entrepreneur was gradual.
As many things are, especially when you’re breaking out of the norm that society expects of you. It started with an introduction to a direct sales company. And there I was again, doing things I hated to make a living. Who walks up to strangers in the mall just to talk? I don’t know. I speak to my best friend in my whole life once a year basically. It’s not necessarily on purpose, I just don’t talk that much.
Then as I was attempting to build an empire doing things that I hated, I was repelling my own success. You can’t hate sales and think that you will make a living doing sales, you’re fighting it with your every breath.
That was when I was introduced to blogging, which I learned was combining a few of my favorite things. Writing, which I loved, and having people come find me to work with me. That was awesome!
Just keep reaching for the next right feeling.
That’s what Gabby Bernstein says about getting higher on the emotional scale, keep reaching for the next right feeling. The same can be said about being an entrepreneur.
There is no manual, and there is no boss to tell you what to do or when to do it. You just have to keep searching for the answers yourself, finding the solutions, and finding the next best feeling.
Beginning my journey as an entrepreneur was a journey in finding myself. What was I most passionate about? I was not one of the lucky ones who simply knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. That’s what led me to write my first book though, the next best feeling.
I don’t have being an entrepreneur all figured out yet.
But I won’t stop now! There is a huge learning curve that is mentioned but only briefly among the elite entrepreneurs. No one tells you that you are an entire corporation in one person for the first few years.
Until you can hire someone to run the day-to-day operations for you, it’s all on you. Until you have a direction you can aim for, it is all on you. But it is so worth it!
Tell me, have you considered becoming an entrepreneur? Let me know below!
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