Employee to Entrepreneur

Final thoughts

When you near the end of your journey and, reflecting on the life you’ve lived, ask yourself, What do I wish I had done differently?, will it be that you had challenged the status quo more? Will you wish you had challenged yourself and broken out of your comfort zone more? Will you regret not spending more time with family and friends and on the important relationships in your life? Or not being more adventurous in exploring the world?

I doubt you’ll regret you hadn’t worked harder. But entrepreneurship isn’t really about working harder. It’s about living life on your terms; it’s about spending your life doing work that matters, work that makes a difference in the lives of others and leaves this world just a little better than you found it.

Here’s what I won’t say during my final days:

‘I wish I had spent more time watching Netflix.’

‘I wish I had spent more time shopping.’

‘I wish I had spent more time on social media.’

‘I wish I had spent more time watching the news.’

‘I wish I had spent more time drinking.’

‘I wish I had had more stock options.’

‘I wish I had bought more real estate.’

Yet this is how so many people spend their ‘spare’ time today. On stuff that is easy and comfortable in the moment, but leaves us feeling unfulfilled and miserable later on, with all the trappings of wealth but devoid of the joy that the simplest of things can deliver.

Polishing off an entire bag of potato chips might give us a fleeting pleasure high, but it leaves us feeling not ...