Tag: reality

Impatience and Reality

Come on, Come on, when will I get off hold. Impatience enters stage right.

That was me this past week. I was on hold forever, listening to a narrator tell me how important my call was. My self-talk kicked in and I began to justify my impatience. Isn’t there a law that you can’t be put on hold for more than 20 minutes?

The point of this post is not about call center hold times. I really want to drive home this photo I got from my friend, Jim:

Jim's Image

 

Our plans in our head are so pure and linear. I’m not writing anything you probably don’t already know-in your gut. But if you’re like me, the first drawing is very seductive. Not to mention, how tough reality can really be. Reality is the ultimate equalizer and humility pill. I’m thankful for it.

Years ago I was advised of the volatile pattern of entrepreneurism. Someone may have even shown me a graphic like the one above. My ego was too large. I convinced myself that I would be the exception. It was rooted in a desire to see something take root and fulfill a vision. That desire was very powerful. More and more, I treat my desires like a lion. The lion needs to know whom the master is. Absent that, I would be torn apart by a desire turned into an obsession. That’s a story with a disastrous ending.

What I do is a calling (from God). I have to do it. I can’t turn around and go back. I have only one option. Regardless, you should join me in accepting, if not embracing, reality.  The business of “your plan” should be held onto lightly.

The Reality of the New Year 2012

About right now you've probably been bombarded with marketing and advertising messages around losing wieght, starting a business or how to find more work-life balance. This is after all the reality of the new year 2012. All of those ideas I mentioned could be the right thing for you. But before you take the dive, ask yourself the following:

Do I know where I am going and what it will really mean when I get there?

Remember, marketers can sometimes be like our current crop of politicians. They feel compelled to say things motivated by a desire to take something from you…your money more directly. Parting with your hard-earned cash is inevitably a part of the process, but beware of any message that is contrary to reality. For example, not every woman was meant to be a size 4. And very few goals are supposed to be easy-really

Go and find out where you want to be. Once that's done, don't let go because it will be your compass.

The Idea and Reality of Self-Employment

Dollar 

I never became self-employed because of some ache to be my own boss or the next producer of a killer app.  Far from it, I had a mission and corporate America had no interest or desire to fund it.

Most people I know who are great at entrepreneur pursuits have a mission.  I mean they have this burning in them that won't go away.  Even after trying to kill it, they continue onto the unknown, scary and sometimes insane world that is the mission.

So in the end self-employment is merely a vehicle.

This past week two big things came down the pike for me.  First, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple and Andy Frank thanked me for some unintentional advice.  Andy's thank you was the bigger of the two.  Andy is working on his "thing" and was lamenting the process of incorporating.  I told him that only a mission could make it worth the price paid.  It was like holding up a mirror to my own face.  A gut check with gusto.

I am on a mission.

For clarity, let me explain my thoughts on the difference between the idea and the reality of self-employment:

  1. Everyone's self-employed.  The gal working at the bank, the guy serving the latte and the partners waiting for their first round of funding.  If you haven't noticed we live in a self-directed world. It's scary ironic that more don't get this.
  2. What you do for money can and will vary.  The world of going to one place and doing one job are gone.  It's our freaking obsession with comfort that has us unwilling to give up that life.  Our work and life will morph and contract in different ways.  This is especially true in an ever-changing global economy.
  3. Infatuation with output is killing us.  We see the car, the press release on the millions in funding and we want it!  Funny how we choose to ignore the near-collapse experiences of most entrepreneurs.  Quite frankly, I don't think I could trust someone who hasn't lost big.  Losing big is, or should be, a refining fire.
  4. Self-employment should produce humility.  That's all that needs to be said.
  5. Our (America) economic woes would be lessened, if not cured, by putting more emphasis on helping entrepreneurs versus the bloated manipulators.  Ever notice how many of the big boys manipulate things like lay-offs, write-offs and revenue to produce a shiny result for a group of people they hate.  That's not growth, that's Vegas.