Entrepreneurship is defined in Wikipedia as the process of starting a business or other organization. It has been my experience that entrepreneur’s are a different breed or subspecies of the rest of the human race. They tend to exhibit several or all of the following character or personality traits. They are naturally curious, passionate, assertive in their areas of interest, bold, skillful, diplomatic, love to push the envelope, hopelessly optimistic, committed, natural leaders, energetic and visionaries.
It is my opinion that entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of a capitalistic society. They are the energy, drive and commitment that starts the businesses that creates the products and/or services that drive the foundation of the economy. They commonly create something from nothing whether it is introducing a new product or service to the marketplace or “building a better mousetrap” and innovating an existing product or service to a new level or into an existing marketplace.
I am a serial entrepreneur myself. I had my first business at age 6 when, much to my parents horror, I cut the back out of a comic book and become a door to door greeting card salesman. That “gig” was relatively short lived, thanks to grandma and other family members buying all the cards to get me out of the hole I had dug for myself. I went from that to my own paper route from age 9 to 11, and increased readership and collections by 27% during those 3 years. Then from age 12 on I worked full time every summer in various local businesses.
I understand the entrepreneur’s dilemma of wanting to manifest those creative and sometimes crazy ideas that occupy our consciousness. I understand the risk it takes to venture out on your own and create something from nothing. I understand the commitment and dedication it takes to fall down or get rejected and believe enough in yourself and your products, services and ideas to get back up and carry on. Quite like Howard Shultz who was turned down by 242 investors before Starbucks took off.
I also understand what I have come to call the entrepreneur’s itch. The entrepreneur’s itch can be described as that “restless” feeling that comes from within when we feel we are not contributing enough to humanity or making a big enough difference with the life and gifts we have been given. it is a gnawing mildly annoying “feeling” that I represent as an itch that you just can’t scratch. Therefore it continues to bring your awareness back to the “problem” you feel inside, which is you are not playing big enough with your life and in your business.
Commonly the entrepreneur will then start to “ramp up” in some way, shape or form in their business and put in more focus, energy, intention and physical time in the business. This then results in one of two scenarios.
- Increased production in the business which leads to a new level of “comfort” which acts to “scratch the itch”, and as a result the entrepreneur starts to “coast” again in the business and spend more time with family, friends and hobbies. This in turn results in less focus on the business which tends to lead to the business growth subsiding and the entrepreneur’s itch coming back, AND ….. the cycle continues.
- The business does not grow and the entrepreneur gets frustrated and tries harder, pulling them out of balance with their family, friends and hobbies. This in turn leads to a “tension” inside the entrepreneur to get those areas of life back in balance, which leads to a de-emphasis on the business and …….. the itch returns and the cycle continues.
If you are an entrepreneur I will bet you have experienced this cycle several times in your life. So the question that begs to be asked is ……. WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT THE ENTREPRENEUR’S ITCH!
The answer lies in your core values and the expression of those values in your life. If you have done the work to actualize your core values and have clearly defined how you define success for yourself in every area of your life, you can answer the phenomenally tough question of “how do you know when enough is enough?” How do you know when enough time with your family is enough? How do you know when enough time at the office is enough? How do you know when enough marketing is enough? How do you know when enough money is enough?
Answering these questions from inside out allows you to live a life driven by your definition of success and no one else’s. It allows you to live a life of fulfillment and peace KNOWING you are a phenomenal success in your ideal …… which is the only ideal that matters. No more second guessing yourself, no more wondering and worrying if you are contributing enough, no more “cycles” of the entrepreneur’s itch.
If you have not invested the time to define success in your ideal so you can answer the tough questions of “how do I know when enough is enough” simply click here and you can download our “I Know I am Successful When” tool that will walk you through this important exercise and allow you to scratch that entrepreneur’s itch once and for all.
All of this would not be possible without being glaringly aware of your core values. We just packaged our extensive core values exercises and created our 2 part Core Values Analysis Program. Define your Core Values and get professional feedback from one of our associate coaches. Check it out here.