Sometimes, the nights just seem to go too long. Even the ceiling isn’t visible in dark, winter nights, as you look up to it wondering if you are doing it right.
Am I in this for the long haul? Is this really what I had set out to do? I don’t care what I was taught in school and college. I respect what my parents thought or planned for me but I live my life; not theirs. If I am happy, I assume that’s pretty much what they want from me.
We all go through these thoughts. We more or less have the same aspirations, dreams, and the craving for freedom. Yet, we spend more than 83% of our time doing things we don’t like hoping to claim 17% of whatever is left of our life back.
That isn’t life; that’s basically nothing. You are living right through it if you aren’t going to do anything about it.
As we pick and read about the journey of every successful entrepreneur — while making sure that success isn’t measured by venture capitalist funding inflow, size of the company, revenue, or sales – we are certain that success means different things for each of us.
Pure. Simple.
Whatever it is (we are hoping you’d let us know in the comments below), it’s certainly not living the life you don’t want to. So, what can you do about this? Here are a few tips for you:
Define what you want (but make place for changes)
Living life is hard as is it is. You don’t want uncertainty to add to the trouble. Sometimes, uncertainty is fun – like when you have no freaking clue as to when you’ll squat on a beach and sip martini while money flows into your account. Or on a much smaller scale, you set off with a backpack without knowing where you are going.
We — especially the entrepreneurs among us — all have friends who’d come up to us and say:
“Why don’t you grow a Fortune 500 company?”
“Why don’t you hire, grow, and scale?”
“Do this. Do that. That is hot. This is cool”
You could be caught thinking:
“Thank you very much but I don’t want a huge company.”
“I won’t ride opportunities just because they show up”
“I suffer the daily struggle with productivity, opportunity spoiler alerts, and other shit that I have to live with. “
What does entrepreneurship really mean to you? If it’s about money, you are likely to be on the wrong path since it rarely makes you happy. If it’s about passion, go make candles. If it’s about doing something for the sake of doing, go ahead and get a job. Ok, we were just kidding. Do think about what you really want from all this “Quit your Job, and do something cool” thingy.
Note: You could change your thoughts later. Account for those changes.
Work on the side; greatness comes from it
We’ll repeat it until we can’t: don’t jump the job yet. If you had a choice, you wouldn’t want to get back to working in a cubicle farm or a knowledge factory, ever. If you are doing it, you might have your reasons. But freedom doesn’t come from doing what you are doing right now (unless you are already blessed with freedom, in which case we should catch up).
If you have a day job, work on a side business. If you have a business, grow your business (however you’d want to do that) or start another one. As you work on your side projects, you’d know when to quit. Do tell us about the feeling of walking into your boss’s chamber and giving him the first invite, flyer, or brochure.
Learn to write. Then go write.
You might have a job. You could be self-employed. You might own a small business. You could be doing nothing. No matter what, you should learn to write and then start writing. You don’t have to know what you get from writing. Just start – and that’s hard enough. Online businesses depend on written content (content marketing, anyone?). So, do offline businesses with an online presence.
Writing is communication. Communication skills are universal winners when it comes to desirable traits. Companies don’t desire anything for nothing.
By the way, since this blog is about ecommerce, business, and a whole lot more, remember that writing is the single biggest task that’s recurring and sometimes challenging. Either write or find someone who can. The marketing, branding, and ultimately your business success depend on the content you’d produce.
How are you living it up? Share your journey with us.
Img Credits: Leland Francisco