Many entrepreneurs end up being slaves in their own businesses. Are you ready to live on your terms? Here are a few key points you should know right now.
When Scofield entered the bank with a gun, he had a mission.
The first part was to get into jail.
The second? Get out, with this brother Lincoln.
And that’s exactly what he did. But along the way, he ended up taking a ton of baggage with him. The extra inmates who escaped with him either slowed him down, or got him into more trouble.
But all the same, he kept moving forward. The end result wasn’t just to escape jail time, but to become free. To make this happen, he had to get rid of some baggage. He had to make friends with the people he hated.
In fact, he almost lost the most important people in his life. But in the end, did he become free?
Yep! Even though he didn’t stay alive long enough to enjoy the freedom.
What am I driving at?
Many people become entrepreneurs with the intention of becoming free.
Unfortunately, a lot die still serving jail time. We move from day to day trying to manage the extra baggage, instead of actively getting rid of the extra baggage.
The result? We end up building businesses that control us. We end up being employees in the very thing we created.
We become inmates while our businesses become the jailers, determining when we sleep, wake, go on vacation or have visiting hours with loved ones.
Pathetic!
Is it possible to be free from such an alteration of purpose? Yeah.
What Does It Mean To Live Intentionally?
Michael Scofield had a mission. He went into jail with a purpose. His activities were defined by that purpose. Every step he took and the friends he made were already pre-defined.
He did what he wanted to do, not what the jail cell confined him to do.
That was how he was able to break out.
Living intentionally simply means doing only what you want to do, every day of your life. It means defining your daily activities by the end goal you’re working towards. It means being the boss in your business, instead of it being the other way round.
It means ensuring that everything you do brings a result that takes you closer to your goal.
As newbie entrepreneurs, many of us don‘t have the luxury of living intentionally. Why? I believe that’s because we’re still learning the ropes.
We’re still trying to see if we’re a good fit in the world of entrepreneurship.
But the good news is that thanks to the age we’re in now, things have gotten a whole lot easier.
One key to living intentionally is being able to do more with less. This would involve getting things moving without your full interaction.
It would mean forming relationships at a fast pace without you actively contacting them one by one.
It would mean being able to live a particular lifestyle without being tied to low pay and strenuous working conditions.
It would mean having the ability to dictate when you want to work and when you want to have fun.
With content and social networking, this is what digital media has created. And it is what many individuals have taken advantage of to create that intentional lifestyle that enables them live on their terms.
Tattoo Your Mission Into Your Life
Of course I don’t mean that literally. But if you’d be okay walking around with long sleeves, then it’s allowed.
In order to stay true to the reason why we became entrepreneurs in the first place, our end goal has to be very clear from the very beginning.
It has to be defined by every activity we find ourselves doing.
Sure we’ll carry some baggage along the way, like being active on social networks that don’t contribute anything to the result.
Or writing posts on guest blogs that don’t have our audience.
But we really can’t afford to lose sight of why we’re doing it.
Sometimes, we’ll have to modify the road to our destination based on what we encounter along the way. After all, Scofield had to be flexible, despite the road map he had tattooed on his back.
But the end goal is always the same — to be free.
That may not come in one year. Not even two or four years. But the length of time it takes is determined by your daily routine. It is determined by what you do online.
It is determined by the service you sell, the business model you’re building with and the clients you have. It is also determined by the connections you make and the audience you build.
But most of all, it is determined by those you surround yourself with. When you associate with the right people, you’ll realize that even their activities would take you closer to your goal.
That’s why it’s important to surround yourself with people who are on the same mission as you.
So look for people wearing the same tattoo you have on.
Make A Decision To Stay On Track
Because it’s very easy to fall out of line, having a ton of clients may create the delusion that you’re on track.
But you have to satisfy all those clients. And if you don’t have a team, or the right team, you’ll end up doing everything yourself. You’ll become an employee in your own business.
You don’t need a multitude of clients. You only need the right kind of clients.
Ideal clients, I think that’s the word.
Those that will value the service you provide them. Those that will allow you express your creativity without trying to micro-manage you.
So for every activity you do, ask yourself if it would help you live on your terms two years into the future. And if it doesn’t, don’t discard that activity. Find a way to make it suit your purpose.
If handcuffing your hand to that of a serial rapist and killer would slow you down, then you could either remove the handcuffs…
Or chop off the hand of the rapist and move on (I felt really sorry for T-bag in that scene).
That’s one baggage left behind.
The crux of the matter? Just stay on track. It’s a long road we’re travelling on. Some of us don’t even know what we’re doing. Or exactly how we’re going to get to our destination.
But at least, we know where we’re going.
I think that’s a good thing. Don’t you?
(By the way, the movie is Prison Break, just in case you’re wondering :)).