There's an assumption (yes, an ASSUMPTION) floating through the entrepreneurial community that unless you're a successful entrepreneur, or at the very least, own your own business, you cannot live well and have a good life.

That's simply not true.

Does entrepreneurship and self-employment provide more freedom and opportunity? Theoretically, yes it does. Because it lends you the ability to leverage more of your time as you choose, than a structured work schedule of employment.

But what's also true about entrepreneurship is that not everyone has that freedom in the very beginning, and some never attain it all.

I've been an entrepreneur for over 15 years, with both online and offline businesses. Some successful and some disastrous failures. And what I can tell you with full certainty, is that the freedom and opportunity I have now was EARNED through years of hard work. And by hard work, I'm talking about putting in long hours to figure out the ins and outs of business, and trying to find the best business strategy that would lead to the levels of success I wanted. Which was to eventually shift into venture capital and investments. (Which is where I am now.)

Could I have made my way into venture capital without entrepreneurship? Yes I could. To get into venture capital, all one needs is to attain a certain level of income and net worth (maintain an average income of $250k for 5+ years or have that in assets). That could have been attained by working a job, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to get into entrepreneurship simply because I knew it would allow me to generate multiple sources of income, from the same amount of time a single job would. Basically, I wanted to be able to better leverage my time to earn more, so that I could reach my goal.

It wasn't because I hated working for someone else, because I didn't mind working for someone else. In fact, despite popular belief, there are actually, some people who enjoy their jobs and live quite well because of it.

But exactly does it mean to live well? Does it mean being your own boss and choosing your own schedule? Or does it mean simply having the means and resources to live as you see fit? Truth is, it could mean either of those things and more.

Living well simply means having a work/life balance that is best for you. It means being able to take time to hang out with friends and family, to vacation, to pursue hobbies, to volunteer or whatever else makes you happy. For me, living well is being able to have the freedom to have at length opportunities to read when I want to, do more with my writing, conduct research for clients, and spend more evenings out with my better half. That's just me. It will mean something entirely different to you.

Living well isn't only about being happy outside of work, though. It also requires getting satisfaction from the way you make a living. Balance requires that you are happy with both sides of life and spending the best ratio of time doing each. And the best way to do this, is to put your priorities first. It means putting your NEEDS ahead of your wants so that you have the time (and hopefully money) to do and have more of the things you WANT in life.

Living well can be accomplished by anyone, any time. Your employment status is irrelevant. What do I mean by that?

A lot of people assume "self-employed" means to be your own boss. In the technical sense it does, but in terms of lifestyle design, working for yourself is essentially working so that you can do more of what you want. I'll give you two, VERY REAL examples. On one hand, we have a woman who works an office job at a cubicle processing data for her company. She earns a modest salary, and is awarded 3 weeks of vacation time a year. The work is extremely boring and sometimes tedious and repetitive. However, her car and mortgage are paid off, and she has enough savings to cover several months expenses. When she's paid it all goes to savings and investments. She has the freedom of how and when to spend her money. On weekends, she takes small trips to getaway from the city.

On the other hand, we have an entrepreneur with a growing business. He's generating several thousands of dollars of revenue a month, but he's yet to turn a profit. And when he does, he has to repay loans and pay down other expenses such as his car and apartment. He doesn't vacation often, and rarely has time to spend with his friends. He loves his business and gladly works the long hours each day to make it work.

In these scenarios, who is working for themselves? The woman or the man? Technically speaking, the man because he has his own business. But in terms of lifestyle design, they both are. Why? Because they are both doing the work that gives them fulfillment. They both have a firm understanding of what they do, what needs to be done, and trade-offs involved. One trades a few hours of boring work to be able to spend as she chooses, and another trades free time in favor of building his dream. Both are happy, and both are two very real people. The woman is a friend of mine who works for the US Department of Treasury, and the man is me 8 years ago.

You see, it's not about what you do, so much as it's about managing your priorities. It's about doing what needs to be done to achieve the outcome you desire.

A person is truly working for themselves when their personal priorities are being served first. For some people, that may mean slaving for long hours so he can retire wealthy one day or hit his financial/monetary goals. That can be considered working for yourself. It could also be considered entrepreneurship. Someone who's just opened their first business may have to work some very unusual hours in the beginning in order to maintain a steady stream of production and revenue. And just as there are employees who earn barely enough to sustain themselves, there are just many entrepreneurs, online and off, living this way too.

My point is, while self-employment does offer a person more opportunity to create a sustainable work/life balance, it doesn't guarantee it. And the only thing that will offer that guarantee is you. It depends not on the work you do, but the level at which you do it, the benefit you get from it, and the value it creates in your life.

You can take big steps towards living better even if you’re not looking to change careers or start a business. If you feel like your work controls your life, take a moment to ask yourself why. Is the work you're doing leading you somewhere, or is it work for the sake of work? Are you trying to reach a certain level of revenue and profit in your business? Or are you working to maintain a lifestyle to impress friends and colleagues? There's a reason you're doing what do you, and if that reason isn't adding real, tangible value in your life, or at the very least, leading you to it, then you may need to find something that will.

Return some balance in your life by reevaluating your priorities and thinking about how to structure your work around those priorities. Define what living well means to you, then consider asking for whatever you need to start living well. Maybe you need some extended time off, or maybe you need to work part-time. Maybe you need to stay in the job you are and manage your money better, or maybe you need to restructure your business. It could be that you just need to work at home one day a week, or that you need to work one extra day of the week.

Whatever it is, figure it out, and find ways to incorporate more of it into your work routine. Don't assume a good life will come to you once you've earned a certain promotion or have started a business, because it won't.

Your employment status has little to do with your quality of life. It's all about how you manage your priorities, leverage your time and money, and how well you fully understand the trade-offs associated with your decisions.

Be blessed!

Ra

Protection against inadvertent release

Availability of safety due to its immediate extinguishing performance at the site of a fire!-

Broad operating capability by being suited for Classes A, B and F

-Ability to provide full extinguishing performance at any orientation (upright, upside down, on the side = 360°)-

High extinguishing performance despite the small size of the extinguishing system-Intuitive, easy and safe usage even for inexperienced users-

Ergonomically designed handle that allows operation by either a small child's hand or by large hands and firemen’s gloves-

Protection against inadvertent release (operator error)-

Spraying performance is almost constant over the entire extinguishing period -


Easy to use by use of lightweight plastic parts, minimum weight-

Applicable for electrical installations up to 1000 V (minimum spray distance 1 m)-

No maintenance and no maintenance costs within the service life of 3 years


Re-usable Fire Extinguisher
http://bethelmendels.com.ng/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=308&search=fire+extinguisher

Hmmm...Eye opener,quite a lot to ponder on. Thanks for the write-up.

Kezzy24:
Hmmm...Eye opener,quite a lot to ponder on.
Thanks for the write-up.

Thanks! I'm glad it helped! Feel free to ask questions if you ever have any.

Be blessed!