Number one is great – so many people have ideas but don’t act on them. As you point out “Some may even be doing this and not even realize it.” I think what separates an entrepreneur from a hobbyist is the willingness to take risk. People are usually bad judges of risk, however, thinking something is riskier than it actually is.

Number 2 is called flow – it’s magical when you are so focused on something, hours can seem like minutes.

Number 3 is why so many people hate the corporate life – managers don’t seem to listen to your ideas. It’s frustrating.

And number 4 is what so many people lack – the big picture view as you point out “some sacrifice now will benefit them later on.”

The hard part for me is picking one idea and sticking with it.

As for inquiries, it’s all a numbers game (as our most things in life lol). Try focusing on just paid ones and see who bites. Eventually you’ll be able to totally brand yourself out of one nucleus like I do with Grad Meets World – that way clients start coming to you.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions or need some guidance

Right then and there I knew that I needed t control more of my life and that I didn’t want to deal with any of that anymore. So, I knew in my head that I wanted to have the opportunity of working for myself and controlling my life in different areas. I really don’t like the idea of doing that entire process of having a headache about work before I even come to work. So, today I focus on trying to be a better entrepreneur and really just be consistent with my life.

Entrepreneurship is easy if you don’t b.s. around but if you’re lazy and don’t understand time management then your not going to make it.

Great post.

My first job was in retail, and I swore I would never go back…and I haven’t . I couldn’t stand the rude customers or the ever-changing schedule. I have worked in the legal field on and off for the past 10 years, and my current job is my first salaried position. Salary definitely has its perks, i.e., I always know what my paycheck is going to be. I have been in positions where I came in early or worked late, but our office manager is really good at crediting our paid time off; however, I don’t have a benefits package, and my salary is below par. In my case, “stability” means a paycheck twice a month and specific hours with a designated lunch hour. I don’t sit in a cubicle per se, but I do have an office with no door and no windows. (Actually, my office is the only one in the building without any windows.) I’ve had to come up with some creative ways to organize my files and office supplies so that I don’t drown in paperwork every day. I work in an “At Will” state, and I agree with Tatiana that most employees are the ones who take advantage of this agreement, quitting with little to zero notice, or just refusing to show up to work.

While this is certainly not my dream job, I am constantly looking for new/better opportunities. I am trying to get back into writing (ideally full-time), and have taken “breaks” at work to peruse various opportunities online. I have been fortunate enough to come across two social media sites that enjoy my writing enough to keep assigning me work. They aren’t paid gigs, but they’re something upon which I can build a portfolio, which will hopefully lead to paid gigs in the future.

Ugh, sales! *runs away* No thank you. I always feel lazy because I don’t find certain types of challenges very thrilling. But I guess it’s like you said: personality. Yes. I find corporate job to be more stable when we’re talking about hours. Having varied hours, like in retail, is very frustrating for me and it’s difficult to really plan. And while I haven’t worked extensively (or at all!) in corporate USA, in retail it’s difficult to control your hours and while managers try to be helpful in creating your schedule, sometimes they just do it by seniority WHICH SUCKS. Because the same people are always opening or working mid day and you’re stuck closing all the time. I hate it. Whereas my idea about corporate work is that you work from 9 to 5, maybe you will stay late but generally you can plan for other activities in the evenings and on the weekends (unlike retail where it’s really random).

But again, another preference. Some people seem to enjoy that and I don’t. I like knowing my paycheck is pretty much going to be the same every two weeks (salaried sounds nice right about now!) and I looove knowing what my hours are. I don’t have this kind of stability now and it sucks. But, I understand what you mean – stability in the sense of permanence. I know in my previous jobs, they’ve had At- Will agreements, meaning they can just fire you whenever they want for no reason. This is what the concept is but how much employers use it is debatable. What I’ve seen the most is people quitting without notice or just refusing to show up whereas employers only seem to fire people when they’ve made repeated offenses. I don’t know how much they use the At- Will agreement. : /

I think it’s all about personal preference and in many cases personality types. I interview people everyday who would rather work in retail sales or primarily outside sales because they love the challenge and love people. They are typically much more outgoing. Others completely cringe at the thought of this.

I also meet people who think corporate office job equates to stability. Unfortunately, these days nothing really equates to stability and sure, you may have a salary and a benefits package, but you’re working longer hours than ever for the same amount of money. In fact, I have some people come in here who are actually AFRAID of a salaried jobs because they feel like they’re going to be abused on the sole basis that they are salaried.

So really it just all depends on what you find to be important in your career.

You’re right about the cushy mentality thing though – unfortunately many people don’t realize it’s just that, mentality. They think that’s just the way it is.