If I could somehow rewind time and choose my vocation, I would choose entrepreneur.
My real life story wasn’t a clean-cut path to entrepreneurship. Sure, I did a few entrepreneurial things in school, but I also tried my hand at traditional jobs. Somehow, fate pushed me into the entrepreneurial life. And I couldn’t be happier.
Life as an entrepreneur isn’t easy, but it is good. And there’s a difference. I’ve faced a lot of
challenges, but those challenges have grown me and changed me in ways that I couldn’t have anticipated.
The payoff of entrepreneurship is way beyond the slim chance of making it big and being rich. Big paydays come to very few entrepreneurs. Instead, there are life benefits that far outweigh any monetary reward.
What are those benefits?
1. You’re always learning and growing.
Entrepreneurs must either grow and develop or perish. There’s no such thing as an entrepreneur who succeeded while not changing, growing, learning, and developing.
Entrepreneurs are paragons of personal development. If you don’t know how to do something, you learn how.
If you don’t learn how to do it, you learn to hire and lead someone who can.
Entrepreneurs don’t settle for roadblocks. They find a way over, under, around, or through. With that pursuit comes knowledge, change, and growth of character.
Learning makes life truly rich. The more you discover about the world, about business, about people, about the mind, the more you get to enjoy that world, your business, other people, and the mind.
2. There is never a dull moment.
Can it possibly be boring, living the entrepreneurial life?
If you look at the micro-moments, maybe. We all have to do things that aren’t exactly exciting. Like brushing our teeth, perhaps.
Even that — the mundane moment of toothbrushing — proves my point. There is never a dull moment. The excitement of the entrepreneurial life doesn’t derive its excitement from specific activities, but rather from a mindset — a way of thinking, believing, and viewing the world that smashes boredom to pieces.
Take toothbrushing, for instance. An entrepreneur might choose to brush her teeth with her non-dominant hand. Why? To improve decision-making, willpower, and creativity. Or, while the entrepreneur brushes her teeth, she is brainstorming a new business venture, mentally crunching numbers, or even listening to an entrepreneurial podcast.
You may not be seeking non-stop adrenaline-pumping excitement. There’s only so much of that you can take. But don’t you long to avoid soul-crushing purposelessness, lack of direction, and pointless pursuits?
That’s the undying reward of the entrepreneurial life.
However the entrepreneur spends his time, it is never ever boring. The entrepreneurial mindset banishes such a mentality to oblivion.
3. You decide what to do with time.
For me, time is more valuable than money. Money comes and goes, ebbs and flows. Time, however, keeps on ticking whether or not we’re doing something beneficial with it.
As an entrepreneur, I choose how and where I spend my time. That, to me, is a privilege that makes every other entrepreneurial benefit a mere accessory. Time is where it’s at.
Deciding what to do with your time is the ultimate source of freedom.
4. Everything depends on your choice.
I’ll confess that I really like control.
And, no, I’m not talking about some deranged desire to control other people. What kind of control am I talking about? The ability to make my own choices in life.
Thankfully, I live in an area of the world where making my own choices is rewarded and allowed, not punished or repressed.
As a result, I can do what I love — creating change, producing opportunities, shaping industries, and driving technology forward.
If I want my business to grow, I make a choice and push forward. If I want to form a new relationship with a potential business partner, I pick up my phone and make the call. If I want to start a new business, I can.
Choice is a powerful thing. Entrepreneurship gives me the ability, authority, and freedom to make choices that make a difference.
Conclusion
Every list like this should come with the disclaimer you’re about to read.
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everybody.
Sure, entrepreneurship has tons of great things to commend itself. But does that mean that you should become an entrepreneur?
Maybe. I certainly give it my highest commendation and my strongest recommendation, but I also recognize that some people might hate entrepreneurship as intensely as I would hate working a corporate job.
You get to make your own decision. And if that freedom to choose gets you excited, that’s a pretty good sign that, just maybe, you’ve got some of the entrepreneurial spirit in you.
Are you an entrepreneur? What life benefits have you experienced? Comment below.
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