Something that no one ever told me before I started this journey of being an entrepreneur is just how much I would work.
I mean to tell you; I get about 4-4:30 almost every morning and get right to it.
Then I pause when everyone else gets up and spends a little time with them. After that I get back at it until late in the afternoon. I pause again to spend time with my family (the really important thing in life.) then I do a little more before I head off to bed.
Not only that but how much faster my mind moves than it used to.
I remember when I was working for others, I would wake up thinking about breakfast. Grab a lunch to take with me and head out the door.
During the day I would think about some issues that were going on in my life. Maybe daydream a little about where I wanted to take the family.
In the evening I would tune into a TV show after dinner and spend some time thinking about what my kids were going to do when they grew up.
My thoughts were nothing like they are now.
Now I wake up with thoughts about how to improve the business. How to stay closer to God, how to provide for not only my family but also the families of those who work with us.
My wheel also spins on what I need to get done today and the rest of this week.
A little fear trickles in that I forgot something important. And also fear if I have upset any of our clients.
And all of that happens before I grab a cup of coffee.
Now my mind never stops.
The other day one of my guys, Sam, was with me for a meeting with some new clients that we just signed on.
Sam and I have been working together for a little over a year. So we know each other pretty well.
After the meeting, we spent a little time chatting about a few things.
Then before I left he looked at me and said, “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” I replied.
“How do you keep your brain from exploding? I could see your wheels turning the entire time we were in the meeting. And as soon as they left you got your phone out and started taking notes like a mad man for 3-5 minutes. Your brain must work about 1 million times more than mine does!”
First off, my brain is not FAST. If anything, it is slower than molasses in the dead of winter, in Alaska! Now that’s slow. Lol
He just memorized the ideas that we came up with from one little meeting and how we could change the way we deal with clients to better serve them.
He was also shocked at the amount of action we took the next day after the meeting to start making these changes.
Being an entrepreneur or business owner is not about how to make a TON of $$$$.
It is 1000% about how to serve your tribe better tomorrow than you did today.
So many people don’t get that.
All they want is to build a business and sell it for piles of MONEY so they can be rich!
That is not a REAL entrepreneur.
In my opinion, an entrepreneur is someone who takes personal responsibility for a problem and does everything in their power to make an easier solution for others to use.
No one ever told me just how much I would LOVE giving back to our clients.
Recently we have been giving custom hand-drawn pictures that we get printed on a canvas to our clients.
I have gotten so much joy out of giving these pictures away.
Another thing is how much joy I would get by helping others to grow and giving them an amazing opportunity to learn new things.
Being a leader is HARD. And having to make sure that there is enough $$$ in the back for payroll can be a little stressful at times.
But the joy I personally get from having an amazing team to work with is worth every ounce of stress that I have.
There is someone out there right now saying, “You just like telling others what to do!”
The truth is that I hate telling others what to do.
I LOVE asking them for help with a new project and then watching them work through the situation.
We are full of fear the first time we do anything for the first time.
But the joy it brings me to watch someone who just navigated something new and scary is amazing. Their newfound confidence is unrivaled.
Here is the moral to this whole story.
When you get the feeling to do something, DO IT NOW!
Don’t hesitate.
The rewards are 100X what the pain is.
And Pain is short for
P – Pleasure
A – After
I – Initial
N – Nightmare
