The story of most entrepreneurs starts with a frustration of the 9-5. Or in London (where I live) the 8-6. Add in a commute and you have a few quick moments to grab some questionable food, scroll past a few memes and get ready for the grind to repeat the next day.
Until one day you wake up and wonder to yourself. What the heck am I doing spending all this time working for someone else when I could slave away from day to night on my own projects.
Well no, perhaps that’s not the thought that crosses our mind.
We imagine this carefree life where we lie in, take an extended lunch and finish early whilst our business accumulates wildly passive income. All whilst you swan around in Bali.
Now neither of these two extremes are healthy.
We all know that passive income isn’t passive. Despite what the content creator influencer types are telling us – they’re spending tons of time very actively creating passive income.
And whilst sunning ourselves endlessly with the occasional mocktail sounds delightful, in actual fact it’s very boring.
Why do you think the super rich make such terrible life decisions? They’re bored of course.
An escape to paradise can be fun for a few weeks. But after a while you’ll crave the normality of home-cooked meals, church community (yes even the weird sort of friends you accumulate along the way) and the ordinary daily rhythms.
Whilst so many are trapped in the endless demands of the corporate life, just as many make the jump to start their own business only to find that their new boss is even worse.
Yes that’s you of course. Instead of enjoying and embracing the flexibility, left to our own devices we tend to overwork and never stop really.
Which leads me to my conclusion.
16 hour days are really for idiots.
(Bless you if you’re working 16 hour days – I’m not really calling you an idiot. But I am making a point that it’s not super clever. And not being super clever can sometimes be described as being slightly idiotic. Ok I take it back, I just might be calling you an eejit).
Who wants to work all day? Life is so much more than work. And by the way, I absolutely LOVE my work.
My favourite moments of this year have been:
- Playing chess with my 9 year old daughter
- Going on a mini skiing trip with my wife and friends
- Playing ridiculous games (remember spoons?) until late at my friend’s house
Can you see the thread?
All of the best moments in life involve other PEOPLE.
Money can enable us to create great experiences and level up our quality of life.
But true freedom is the ability to be present with the people we care about.
This is where the paths of the corporate robot and the adventurous entrepreneur often converge. Neither of them know how to switch off.
And both are trapped by work instead of released by it.
But what if you could build a business that makes legit money AND figure out how to unlearn your toxic work/life behaviours.
Wouldn’t that be worth fighting for? What about investing in?
That’s exactly the life I’m living right now. I work hard. But I enjoy this beautiful thing called freedom.
Would you like to live that sort of life? That’s exactly what my coaching services are about. Find out if you’d be a good fit for coaching by clicking here.