Whether or not you want to fall into a turkey coma this month, it’s always worth using Thanksgiving as a reminder to think about what’s going well in your life and count the things you are thankful for.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for 12 years and would never trade it in for an employee again, even if my salary quadrupled. If you’re a business owner like me, here are five things we can both be thankful for:
1. You will never have a crazy boss again
I think we all have stories of bad bosses, don’t we? For me, my stories are about a former boss who was happy to loudly and publicly humiliate his coworkers and another who never cherished his coworkers’ lives or thoughts.
Being an employee is a bullshit. You could get your dream job, but if you need to reach out to someone who is unable to lead a team or who is spending their bad day with their co-workers, what can you do? Probably won’t stop, at least for a while.
As an entrepreneur, however, you are only exposed to your own peccadillos. You may be that crazy boss to others – no judgment – but at least your boss can’t be one of the things that make you unhappy.
2. You make the rules
No open shoes. Employees have to work eight hours a day with a one-hour lunch break. Employees have to work 8 to 5.
Do you remember all the damn rules we had to follow when we worked for another company? You may still feel the pull of running your own business, but let me ask: what is stopping you from working, say, from 7am to 10am and then from 6 to 9pm? Who says you have to work eight hours a day? Who said you can’t wear pajamas to work?
When you are in charge, you decide how things are done. Of course, it’s easier when you’re a micropreneur like me and no other people are waiting for you to set these rules for you. If you are just making rules for yourself, you can also make rules that suit you. For me, this means that I do all of my shopping during the week during work hours when the stores are empty (because Saturday shopping sucks). It means working maybe only five hours a day when I don’t have a more demanding workload. It means when I go on vacation, I’m on vacation, not on call.
3. The sky is the limit
I’ve been running my content marketing company for over a decade, and honestly, I thought I would until I retired. But now I’m starting a second business venture (more on that in a couple of months), and it feels amazing to have this fresh energy that gets me excited about something completely new.
You can run your business until you die, or you can run a business for a few years and then switch completely. You can even run multiple companies at the same time. Again, there are no rules other than the ones you made for yourself. So be open to where this journey will take you.
Other items from AllBusiness.com:
4. You do what others only dream of
Do you ever tell people that you are an entrepreneur and that they get that distant, dreamy look on their face? (“Wow, I wish I could do that,” they sigh.)
They know that starting and growing your own business is a lot of hard work, but you need to pat yourself on the back for a moment and realize that you were that person too. You didn’t believe it was possible and now you are doing the impossible. Kudos to us.
5. You use your passion to create something great
The phrase “doing what you love”, while overused, aptly describes what entrepreneurship means to most of us. Not everyone is so lucky. Sometimes people have skills – things they aren’t necessarily passionate about – that translate into better attitudes.
I know a creativity coach who used to be the director of an art therapy program. Sure, there was some creativity, but she felt choked in the company’s work environment. Now she is a free spirit. I know others who have left high-performance finance jobs to start vineyards. Sometimes there is a difference between what you can do and what you love. Anyone willing to pour blood, sweat, and tears into growing a business has to love what they do, right?
Let’s be thankful
Hope your list of things to be thankful for is much longer. And I hope that every day you find something to be grateful for on this wonderful and wild journey through life.
CONNECTED: Do you have a business or a job? How to be successful as an entrepreneur
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