Why Entrepreneurs Must Follow Their Calling

The idea of working for someone else always seemed ridiculous to me; repulsive, even. 我讨厌它。 I just knew it was the worst idea in the world. So when I worked my dumb jobs as I was expected to, I was never really there. I couldn’t get into something that I had a fundamental abhorrence for, let alone excel.

So when I was inevitably fired, or I burned out and quit, it never really shocked me. Yeah, it sucked that I didn’t have money; but worse was the toll it took on my confidence. Each time my square-peg self tried to fit into a round hole, I identified more and more as a failure. That’s not exactly the attitude you need if you hope to be a self-starter.

Then, after about eight failures-to-launch -- leaving home again, coming back; leaving home again, crawling back -- Iwas a 24-year-old locked in existential crisis, succumbing to panic attacks up to 10 times per day, wondering what I was on this planet for if all I could do was fail. And my option was clear. Make something happen, or go full-on insane anddie of a stress-induced heart attack before age 30.

That’s when becoming an entrepreneurbecame my only path.

From that rock bottom I had to build my confidence, tear down my old limiting dialogue (which was a herculean effort in itself)and relearn how to be me. That process took two years, and luckily I had my parents to support me, or I would havebeen homeless. But all the while I was orienting myself day by day to become what I always knew I wanted to be: a difference maker. And I decided to do that through writing.

Two years into my self-improvement journey, I was fully supporting myself by writing what I wanted to write, on my own time, for myself, and making my work appealing to big markets. It was a dream, finally being a functioning member of society; but more than that, I was finally doing it on my own terms. That’s what made the experience magicand the impossible-seeming efforts of self-starting and self-improvement worth it.

Then I made even more money coaching others who read my articles how to rapidly and massively change their life circumstances andhow to break into their own work, too. Those entrepreneurial spirits make up about 10 percentof the population, I’ve found. And it’s funny, because when I started out, they all made 5-10 timesmore money than I did. But they didn’t care. And more than that, they conceded that I was much farther alongbecause I was doing what I wanted, when I wanted, irrespective of the desires of others, helping the people I felt called to help, all the while making money. I was 26; they were 40. I made $30,000 a year; they made $200,000. But they hated their lives because they were square pegs in round holes, too -- albeit in a much more comfortable existence than I knew. 58003 I was too uncomfortable to be anything other than who and what I was meant to be.

So now I’m asking you, how much more can you take? How much longer will you takethe orders of people who don’t careabout you or your family or your ambitions? How much longer will you say to yourself, “Working for others is the dumbest idea in the history of the universe,” only to put in half-assed efforts, earn half-assed resultsand feel less than half-ass of a human being?

If you like working for other people, I’m not talking to you. If you’re even okay with working for other people, I’m still not talking to you. Every inpidual has a purpose and a role in this world. 你猜怎么着？ Ninety percent of peopleare 100 percent, A-OK with working for others. They like it. They like being the go-to men and women for other people. They have ideas and passions and dreams, for sure, but when it comes to their work, they givea rat's left nut, so to speak, about how their money is made, just so long as they make it. They want a comfortable home life with a spouse and a couple kids. They want leisure activities and expertise in hobbies like golf and tennis. These people must exist because the world needs businesses to thrive, and businesses need people to function. plain and simple.

58003 We were not designed to work for others, because we have skills and talents and desires that only suit us to the self-employed life, which is how we will make the biggest difference, create the most jobsand feel best about ourselves. 58003 We are talented and inspired inpiduals who either “succeeded" but felt empty because we didn'tsucceed at being ourselves, or we were ignominious, barely-functional-to-non-functional disasters like I was. Either way, we know that working for others defies our constitution and makes our lives miserable, no matter how many creature comforts we do or do not have. And we each have a choice.

We can choose to be ourselves and be happy, taking the obvious risks of failure, but having faith in our destiny and our ability to succeed. Or, we can choose to be a walking existential crisis and to continue obeying orders bandied around by slobs who drink too much and don’t treat you well enough and to die knowing that you never actually lived or tasted the gift of life that was given just for you.

It's your choice.

So, to the workers of the world, I love you. You are my mother and father, brothers and sisters, friends andcaretakers. But to the entrepreneurial spirits, to the square pegs that never could shave off their edges, to the people whose cries for meaning and passion were never answered at the behest of an employer, it’s time to get to work. Stop abusing yourself. Stop being okay with what you’ve been doing. Come make the leap with me and the rest of our tribe into the unknown that has always been your home and destination resort at the same time. Make plans for your distinct purpose and follow through with them every day until you are not only capable of supporting yourself through your passion and on your own, but are making the biggest difference you can to the most people you can.

That’s your road.Will you walk it?