In my day job, I coach and mentor digital entrepreneurs. These are individuals who have made the decision to start, and develop, their own businesses operating through the medium of the internet.
The types of business are many and varied. Some work online full time, some part time. But they are all regular people who have one thing in common: they all had a desire to improve their lives, and they acted to make it happen.
I can relate to that. I did the same myself. Now, I talk to a lot of people in the early stages of the process — people with a broad awareness of the possibilities offered by self-employment, who want to know more before they jump. That’s OK. It’s normal. We’re human; we’re cautious by nature, and we’re resistant to change.
The questions they ask are generally of the “how?” variety. How do I start? How do I find customers? How do I make sales? With respect (and I understand the mindset), they’re asking me, and more importantly they’re asking themselves, the wrong questions. The first question should always be “why?” — as in “why should I be doing this?”
For me, the answer to that was surprisingly easy to find. I worked for other people, training their people in the arts of sales and negotiation. The work was steady, and it was interesting. It was rewarding, financially and emotionally. In short, I had the sort of job most people would think themselves lucky to have and be reluctant to give up. It just didn’t excite me.
Audit Your Life — The Results Won’t Surprise You
Deep down I always knew that I was living a job rather than a lifestyle. The larger part of my time on this Earth was being lived within constraints set by others — others who set both my goals and my limits and who commanded my (almost) every waking hour. I could do the job with my eyes shut but I couldn’t get a buzz and there were no new challenges. I just wasn’t fulfilled.
So now I work to my own rules. I still work long hours, but I get to choose which hours, and my horizons are much, much broader. I’m a citizen of the world, you see.
For others, the reasons will be different. Some will want to escape a career structure weighted against them; some will see their industry in decline, or their job insecure. Some will want, simply, to earn more and some will recognize a specific opportunity that they just can’t miss. Our choices are grounded in the pursuit of happiness, but we get to define “happiness” however we like.
For those who find a satisfactory answer to the “why” question, we live in the golden age of opportunity. It’s never been easier to take control of your own future. How so? Because the new digital environment offers a universality of opportunity not previously available.
It does so largely because of inherent flexibilities which are similarly unprecedented. It can be accessed with little or no requirement of capital. For each individual, the pace and degree of involvement is a matter of personal choice.
A digital career can be undertaken part-time, in parallel with an existing career. It can be scaled. Most importantly it offers, but does not demand, significant lifestyle change. The extent, and the effect, of that change is likewise within the control of the individual.
The “old economy” skills are entirely transferable to the new, digital economy. The digital revolution hasn’t changed the market in goods and services. Rather, it has changed the methodologies by which that market is served. And the practical efficiencies of a highly connected world don’t just turbocharge commercial opportunity, they offer enormous scope for lifestyle management. Time freedom was the single most powerful driver of my own choice.
If You’re Asking Yourself a Question, You Owe Yourself an Answer
The course of our lives is set by the decisions we make. These generally come down to a simple question. Do it or don’t do it. Act or don’t act. If you can make those decisions from a clear understanding of why you’re making them, then the rest is easy. The “hows” can be taught, and learned. And if you decide against, you won’t spend your life regretting an opportunity lost.
It’s a simple truth that if you’re looking for something better in your life, then that of itself means there’s something missing from your life as it currently is. Recognize that, and it’s a natural progression to make the change. Natural, yes, but it doesn’t come naturally. It takes courage — we’re cautious by nature and resistant to change.
We wait for the perfect time, or we wait for a sign. Don’t. The perfect time never comes, and the sign you’re waiting for was there all the time — it’s the fact that you’re looking for something better.
No, if you understand the “why” then do it and do it now. I never met anyone who said “I wish I hadn’t changed my life for the better so soon.” It’s always “I wish I’d done it sooner.”
Featured photo credit: Charlie Marshall via flickr.com
