THANK you Jon! This is exactly why I don’t bother to call myself a Business Coach! I really don’t care HOW people fulfill their purpose and express their individuality.

Can you be financially free with out being self employed? Yep.

Can you set your own hours without being self employed? (in some cases) Yep.

Can you spend more time with your kids/partner/goldfish without being self employed? Yep.

In fact, most reasons that people say they MUST ditch their 9–5 in favor of self employment are driven by this stigma you describe Jon. The belief that somehow you’ve “arrived” if you’re an entrepreneur. Quite often, unless you l-o-v-e running a business (or hardcore delegating), the only thing you arrive at by becoming an entrepreneur is exhaustion. There are plenty of things in life that are more fun than managing a business, OR talking to the people you pay so that you don’t have to directly manage the business.

The missing point is that it is Entrepreneurship, not Entrepreneurism that drives growth in life. You can think and act entrepreneurially in any situation, and absolutely should. When you master THAT and everything that comes with it — negotiation, money management, persuasion, discipline, THAT’s when you’ve arrived, whether your income is listed on a W2 or a 1099 at the end of the year.

Great points, Jon.