My Purpose for Being An Entrepreneur
After I realized that the purpose of being an entrepreneur is NOT to be an entrepreneur, something changed. I try to capture the change here.
Most entrepreneurs tend to behave as if being the entrepreneur is THE goal. I did it as well. I was so proud that I finally made the leap from imagining myself ‘being an employee’ to imagining myself ‘being an entrepreneur’. It felt so great — as if I accomplished something. It felt as if it was THE major step.
And as hard as it was, I know today, it’s just one step on a very long journey, and if this step isn’t followed by other similar important steps, I won’t be successful as an entrepreneur. I define success as being healthy, emotionally stable, financially independent (my goal: recurring monthly net income $5k) and be free and location independent (working from where ever I want, with whom I want).
I certainly don’t want to downgrade the first step in any way in retrospect. It’s extremely important to make this mindset shift from ‘having an employee mindset’ to ‘having an entrepreneur mindset’.
But we as entrepreneurs need to be aware that though we are extremely proud to have made the leap finally, it’s just A step. It’s just THE beginning — and it’s not the end. This is how I felt.
I felt so proud to give myself an important title. We label ourselves as entrepreneurs, startup founder, even worth CEO or CTO. But it really doesn’t mean anything. Being the CEO of a two persons project isn’t impressive.
And we shouldn’t feel impressed by the titles we give ourself.
We rather should be impressed by and proud of the problems we solve. What impact we try to create. Don’t give a shit when it comes to titles.
For me, survival (making a living) is not the goal of being an entrepreneur, but rather significance (making a difference).
My purpose of being an entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur is much more than making money. It’s a way of life. It’s a calling. And like every other calling, it’s people-centered. It’s never about you, it’s all about others.
It’s a calling to serve. It’s about what you can contribute. It’s about the value you deliver; it’s not about the money you accumulate.
A calling is a strong urge to do something or to follow a particular path. And be aware of the sacrifices you need to make as an entrepreneur to ultimately work on making a difference.
I haven’t met a single entrepreneur that didn’t sacrifice something when they were first starting out.
What would you give up?
What sacrifices would you make to become an entrepreneur?
Share your ❤ below — and respond with your thoughts.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
About Danny: Hi, I bring ‘BE YOURSELF’ to my next level by sharing unfiltered, no BS thoughts here. I started StartupGeist to help students and recent graduates build a business — and have a good life.
Originally published at dannyholtschke.com on April 1, 2016.
