I've been an "entrepreneur" since 2007. I put that in quotes because whilst I did have a fairly successful business for around 10 years, in the 6-7 years since that wound down, I have been struggling. I've been guilty of flitting from half baked idea to random shiny object idea and never really settling on anything solid. I had faffed around, procrastinated and been endlessly distracted, for years!
I was "lucky" that I had a large amount of savings from the sale of a house and from that previous business but again I put this in quotes because in my case I don't actually think that having the money in the bank helped me. It made me lazy and gave me no sense of urgency. Eventually, I spent it all, and more; I ended up taking out a loan and racking up a small debt on credit cards when I ran out of money because I was too stubborn to get a job because I had this elitist idea that I was an entrepreneur, and therefore above having to get a job. #facepalm
But I'm not a complete idiot so after realising what I was doing to myself I sucked it up and did what I needed to do. I got a damn job! And you know what? It's been the best thing! I've been lucky enough to find a really nice part time job where I work mainly in the evening. The evening is what I call my "dead time" as I'm more of a morning person so I work best on mental work earlier in the day and by somewhere around 6-8pm, I'm done with my work and the rest of the evening is really just lost on Netflix or some other mindless activity.
My job hours are 5-10pm which is awesome. I'm earning enough to cover my bills on those hours and I still get almost all my day time free. And what I never expected is that having less time to work on my business is actually making me more productive! I've focused in on a single idea, I have begun the execution, I'm doing the work, I'm close to the launch, and I'm just feeling a whole lot happier!
Sometimes I feel bad when I see posts about people making their millions and here I am surviving on a £12 an hour job, but I am in this situation because of the poor choices I made earlier in life. I've owned it and done what I needed to do. At least now I know I'm taking responsibility and I can sleep better as a result.
I don't know if my new business will be successful or not, but even if it isn't, I know my bills are paid and I also have that spare time to see family & friends, go to the gym and do the other important things in life that don't involve business and money, and that's enough.
So, I don't know if this post helps anyone out there who's not yet making their millions but just wanted to share something that I would normally be too scared to admit to.
I was "lucky" that I had a large amount of savings from the sale of a house and from that previous business but again I put this in quotes because in my case I don't actually think that having the money in the bank helped me. It made me lazy and gave me no sense of urgency. Eventually, I spent it all, and more; I ended up taking out a loan and racking up a small debt on credit cards when I ran out of money because I was too stubborn to get a job because I had this elitist idea that I was an entrepreneur, and therefore above having to get a job. #facepalm
But I'm not a complete idiot so after realising what I was doing to myself I sucked it up and did what I needed to do. I got a damn job! And you know what? It's been the best thing! I've been lucky enough to find a really nice part time job where I work mainly in the evening. The evening is what I call my "dead time" as I'm more of a morning person so I work best on mental work earlier in the day and by somewhere around 6-8pm, I'm done with my work and the rest of the evening is really just lost on Netflix or some other mindless activity.
My job hours are 5-10pm which is awesome. I'm earning enough to cover my bills on those hours and I still get almost all my day time free. And what I never expected is that having less time to work on my business is actually making me more productive! I've focused in on a single idea, I have begun the execution, I'm doing the work, I'm close to the launch, and I'm just feeling a whole lot happier!
Sometimes I feel bad when I see posts about people making their millions and here I am surviving on a £12 an hour job, but I am in this situation because of the poor choices I made earlier in life. I've owned it and done what I needed to do. At least now I know I'm taking responsibility and I can sleep better as a result.
I don't know if my new business will be successful or not, but even if it isn't, I know my bills are paid and I also have that spare time to see family & friends, go to the gym and do the other important things in life that don't involve business and money, and that's enough.
So, I don't know if this post helps anyone out there who's not yet making their millions but just wanted to share something that I would normally be too scared to admit to.
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