26 Feb Free Your Entrepreneurial Spirit and Succeed!
My blog today is about freeing your entrepreneurial spirit so you can free yourself of the chains of being an “Employee”. Employees work hard at their job(s) for generally only modest life results. Meanwhile, Entrepreneurs work hard on their business(es) for financial freedom and unlimited life results. If you aren’t currently an Entrepreneur, then you are probably an Employee, and most likely you are stuck in the Employee mindset. The problem is, you’re in this mindset, but you may not know or understand what it means to be an Employee. You know and live the mindset, but you may not know you know, you know?
The Pitfalls of Being an “Employee”:
- you work for an employer
- you trade time for money
- you miss out on family time (because you work so much)
- minimal (if any) days off or vacation time
- paycheck security, (your check comes every 2 weeks)
- you feel undervalued and have no empowerment
- limited career growth opportunities
And lastly, you have NO job security because your employment is fully at the mercy of your employer. Reorganization and Downsizing are two of the most frightening words because you can lose your job in an instant, through no fault of your own!
Now that I’ve “pulled back the curtain” on the Employee Mindset, I have to make a confession. For most of my life, I was the anti-entrepreneur! I’m not proud of this, but I was the poster child for the Employee Mindset. My parents were “Employees” so, of course, they instilled the Employee Mindset in me.
I Have a Confession…
My confession continues, and it gets worse…my wife is the uber entrepreneur and we’ve been married for 26 years. So even having an incredible entrepreneur next to me for most of my life, I still bitterly hung on to being an “employee” and didn’t embrace the Entrepreneur life!
Here’s my story (and I’m sticking to it!); I’ve worked in the hospitality industry all my life. But it is an industry that is matched perfectly for the Employee Mindset, and I was an “exemplary” employee.
You name it, I did it. I traded time for money, but I was a poor trader! I was on a salary that paid me for 45 hours of work and I of course worked 60+ hours. Every once in a while, I would calculate my salary with all of the hours that I worked and one time I was earning $3.25 per hour, no lie, no exaggeration!
I worked hard, did extra work (for no more money), and hoped that one of my bosses would notice and give me a promotion or even *gasp* a raise.
To make matters worse, talk about job insecurity, due to the Covid pandemic, (no fault of my own) early last year I was furloughed down to 24 hours a week, effectively cutting my pay by more than half.
The Covid furlough gave me time to take stock of my life and our financial situation. I came to a frightening conclusion. If I didn’t make a change, I would never be able to retire, so I would basically have to work until I was 80.
Can I Leave my Comfort Zone?
So I was at a crossroads, do I leave my comfort zone and a 30-year career to become a *gulp* entrepreneur? The prospect of leaving my employee comfort zone was so scary, even with the furlough and a questionable retirement, I STILL wasn’t quite ready to let my inner Entrepreneur out!
I have to admit, that it was Kim, my wife, who had me listen to several Jeff Lerner podcasts about being an Entrepreneur. Jeff is an incredibly successful entrepreneur and has created the Entre Institute to help lifelong employees like me – become successful entrepreneurs.
I listened to Jeff define the differences between an Employee and an Entrepreneur, and the light bulb went on in my head.
The Light bulb went on…Finally!
After listening to Jeff, I said to myself, “Oh my god, I’ve been doing it wrong for the past 30 years!” I finally asked myself a defining question, “Do I play it safe (and have to work until I’m 80) or do I take a risk and embrace the Entrepreneurial Mindset?”
I chose to get out of my comfort zone and decided to take the risk because I want to define my own future. I no longer want to work hard to make my employer’s business successful. I want to be my own boss, make my own business successful so I can have financial freedom.
The Birth of The Biz Wizards
So what happened after that? Kim and I created our new business “The Biz Wizards”, and we haven’t looked back! We want to use our business to share guidance, tools, and advice and of course, our journey to help as many “Employees” as possible fire their employer and become successful Entrepreneurs!
So don’t be stubborn like me, get out of your comfort zone, let your Entrepreneurial Spirit fly, and set yourself up for success, wealth, and financial freedom today!
Ready to Start Your Side Hustle? We Can Help!
Start your side hustle today with this FREE ebook!