The joys of working for yourself.

 Running a business can be exhausting - there is no such thing as 9-5! If you’ve cracked that, then hats off to you - but for the vast majority of small biz owners, the idea of a 9-5 will forever be  the elusive dream. 

We battle to find a balance and set boundaries - which is even harder if like me you live sleep and breathe work. It can feel truly relentless at times when you’re busting a gut to try to earn enough income to pay your team, never mind cover your own bills.  

And if you have an off day or come down with a genuine illness, taking restful time off to recover and come back stronger is no easy thing - for some, it’s frankly impossible.

I wanted to share something positive that someone passed on to me earlier this week; if you’re going through a challenging time running your own biz, then stop. Stop, breath and trust in life. There are forces at work in the universe taking care of you - things *will* be OK.

That client might not have paid on time - they might not end up paying at all - but there'll be another new client soon who will. That potential customer might not get the value of what you do and make you feel like you’re offering something inferior. Walk away. Don’t waste a moment worrying about them. There will be other individuals who will value and appreciate all the effort and energy you pour into the job you love.

It’s also perfectly OK to say ‘no’ when people are asking you for more. Discounts, freebies. Trust in life, trust in yourself - you don’t need to justify your fees or the way you do things to anyone.

In my experience, the more of a positive and accepting attitude I have when things get a little tough, the more things work out for the better in the end. Trust that they will for you too.

 "Or even starting any business at all. It means finding the challenges you have in your life, and determining creative ways to overcome those challenges."

Entrepreneurs choose to forego the security and familiarity of a 'regular job' to live an uncertain and insecure lifestyle. It takes a lot of bravery to make that tradeoff, but for icons like Walt Disney, the potential reward is worth it.

Entrepreneurs are rarely out to seek fame for themselves. Instead, they're more concerned with the people they want to help or the problem they want to solve. This infuses their task with a layer of meaning that can be the difference between success and failure when things get tough. 

Since they're in the business of creating new products and inventing new ways of doing things, much of what entrepreneurs do can't be taught in a classroom. They know that the most important lessons are learned through living, so throughout their lives, they remain open, flexible, and curious in order to absorb as much as possible.

They never give up. For most of us, the fear of failure is entirely paralyzing, but for entrepreneurs, failure is something to embrace. It's an indication of pushing the limits, and inevitable when one is constantly trying new things.

Entrepreneurs want to do more than indulge their own interests -- they want to solve a problem or create a product that satisfies a need and pleases their customer. 

Entrepreneurs execute when for many others, an idea simply fades into the past. They are masters of turning the abstract into the concrete. This seemingly simple action is one of the great challenges of life and in the end, it's what defines an entrepreneur.