Many entrepreneurs started their first businesses in a fit of independence-seeking … they wanted to be free of petty bosses, financial worries, earnings ceiling or structured hours. Surely, a business is a way to get away from those things and have something different.But the entrepreneurs who move from “success” to greatness … people who “make a dent in the world” (dontcha love that saying???) as Jobs would say … do so by moving beyond independence from the stuff they don’t like and to embracing and claiming themselves. They discover who they are at the deepest level, what makes them unique, what they care about … and then express that truth through an extraordinary business. Entrepreneurship, ultimately, isn’t a race against others but an opportunity to discover yourself.
Photo by Beer.Stein.
Mike on July 5th, 2006 at 8:37 am
For me you’ve hit the nail on the head and expressed very clearly why I like working for myself.
It is more than the freedom of choice and the avoidance of petty restriction. It is about finding and expressing your values as an individual.
And it isn’t just about entrepreneurship and the private sector.
I run a lot of courses for senior police officers and whenever I ask delegates those similar questions: what it is they stand for, what their beliefs are, why they are doing what they are doing, what they hope to achieve and how their personal brand reflects those beliefs and desires. It is clear that the thinking hasn’t been done yet. That they are so busy doing, they haven’t considered the wider questions.
The lessons are the same no matter what the sector.
Michael Cage on July 5th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Dane,
Thanks for the link. We switched to new software and my trackbacks are buggy, ATM. Sorry, will get a reference to this up ASAP. :-)
Be well,
Michael Cage