Getting ready for only his third day of preschool, my pal Zack’s four-year-old son Joel looked up from tying his shoes.
“How long does this go on?” Joel asked his dad.
This happened quite a few years ago, and I still laugh my head off whenever I think about it.
It’s so perfect.
Isn’t Joel’s innocent question what most of us have asked ourselves one time or another while getting ready for a grueling day of work?
“Sheesh! How long is my life gonna go on like this?”
And yet, we continue to slog onward, unsatisfied and unhappy.
Survey after survey indicates that most people would not do what they now do for a living if they didn’t get paid for it.
Most people say they’re tired of working for bosses.
Most of them swear they’d love to quit their employment and follow their dreams.
But the minute they’re thrown out of their job, Joe or Jill Normal will usually get right back in there, resume in hand, and pound the pavement for a new job, a new boss, and a new routine of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
How come?
There are lots of reasons. And if you’re among those who say they want off the 9-to-5 job treadmill but can’t seem to take the leap, ask yourself these admittedly hardnosed and difficult questions:
1) What do I fear most about leaving my job? Risk? Failure? Success? The unknown? Loss of “financial security”? Worrying or upsetting my family?
2) Do I believe that I’m unworthy of finding success in my own business? (You’re not, you know.)
3) Do I think I’m too inexperienced to be in business for myself? (People a lot more inexperienced than you have launched wildly successful businesses.)
4) Do I think I’m too undercapitalized to move out of a job and into my own enterprise? (You’d be surprised how little money is needed to start most home-based and internet businesses.)
Only if you confront the emotional roadblocks that challenge you, will you overcome them and move forward.
