One Thing That Is Even More Fulfilling & Meaningful Than Being an Entrepreneur

Ever wonder if you’re burning out? If someone had told me six years ago that I would become a statistic I wouldn’t have believed them. When it happened, I blamed the long hours, the pressure to deliver, the work overload, my managers’ leadership deficiencies, the low levels of job fit and the toxic culture on the work-floor, etc. It was “their” fault. They were demanding too much of me. They were instilling in me the fear of missing out; Conditioning me into competitiveness. It was their expectations that caused me to go into overdrive. Them! Not me.

And, so I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time. I left them. I threw in the towel. I resigned. Not just from several jobs; I resigned from the concept of employment altogether. I became an independent contractor instead — a self-employed, self-empowered Solopreneur!

For me solopreneurship felt like a “playground for my schizoflair”. It was great! I got the chance to flex and sculpt my entrepreneurial and value-adding muscles in a variety of projects and roles. I wore different hats and filled different-sized shoes. And I was indeed very much enjoying my newfound independence and the larger degree of freedom than I could have ever experienced in a nine-to-five job.

Four years down the road, just as I landed one of my most exciting assignments, just as I thought I had reached the apex in my career, just as I thought that I was finally reaping the rewards that I had worked so hard for… there it was. The burnout. Rearing its ugly head, second time around.

This time, I couldn’t blame cultural toxicity — I worked from my own office. This time, I could not blame the long hours — I managed my own schedule. This time, I had no boss — I was in charge.

Once again, I was forced to step out of the game. Forced to throw in another towel.

Over the months following this burnout-encore, I became so determined to get to the bottom of it, that through it all, I managed not only to write a book on the subject, but also to get a US publisher excited about it. I was living the “American dream”… in a state of total exhaustion.