I’m a little tired of articles about how to be an entrepreneur. Most of them are useful but a ‘5 Keys to X’ overdose leaves a nasty hangover. Sometimes you just need to stick your thumbs up at instinct and let it choose for you. Life’s short.
The mere idea that an entrepreneur can ‘never switch off’ puzzles me. Perhaps because I have fallen victim to this mindset over and over again. And I have seen the consequences of absolutely prioritizing work at the expense of everything else.
I’ve told myself, “Once I can afford to hire people I can delegate” – as if that were a solution! Once you have people working for you the responsibility increases. Not that this is a bad thing but… will I lie to myself all my life? “When I have a robot I’ll program it to do all my work-related things”…?
I might not even live long enough for the next “When X, I’ll Y”. Let’s face it; it’s the truth. If we don’t sort our priorities out today, we might never have them where we’d like them to be on our deathbeds.
Having just spent 10 days with my family and friends, I’ve seen what you really cannot switch off from, and it’s not business. Children.
At least when they are babies, their life entirely depends on you. Maybe that’s true for some businesses, but none of my clients will die if I reply to their email a few days later… Days that I will not get back if I lose them in front of a computer instead of playing with my nieces and nephews.
Now I’m back I feel refreshed. I will work hard, look after my clients, create and commit to visions for autumn, get feedback, and undertake a massive organization operation to be more effective.
Yet, I will also spend time with my friends, go to the beach, play and create music, write, go out… at least I hope to not let the work-obsessed (‘entrepreneurial’) side of me win. Come on instinct, let’s go!
espanglis 