“Are you a Warrior or a Slave?” This is the question you should be asking yourself. Are you doing something you love and that gives you freedom and true enjoyment? The majority of the working class can’t even begin to imagine how it would feel to have the freedom to do what they love and at the same time get handsomely rewarded for doing it. The feeling of being stifled with added stress and saturated with risk factors is often accepted by the ritual rhythm of the working class, because the road of least resistance is the path that most people will chose, never considering what would happen if they took a chance and grasped control of their own future.

When you consider the amount of risk we encounter every day as employees, employed by an employer, repeating the same action on a daily basis is nothing short of gambling away your own future. As a white-collar or blue-collar worker, you’re subject to having others decide your fate or job advancement, and the stress/fear of being terminated without benefits – especially as we get older. We wonder, will I be replaced by a younger man or woman who is willing to do the same job for lower wages? Or we experience a constant fear of being restrained by someone who may or may not be as qualified as we are but is telling us what to do. Most people can’t even process the risk factors that exist. They’ve never stepped out of their comfort zone and examined the realm of the possibilities, of taking a chance and choosing to take responsibility for their own lives and what that could bring them.

Entrepreneurs have made a conscious decision to be in control of their fate, to do something they love and have the freedom to grow by choosing to take responsibility for their own lives. Understanding the relationship between risk and reward is very important. There is a fine line that separates us from becoming an entrepreneur, engaging/encountering the fear of survival by taking action. Having to depend on one’s own efforts for revenues, i.e. … can I really do it? You’ll ask yourself over and over. The answer to that is, if there is a will to succeed then you’ll find a way. You have to want it more than anything else you’ve ever wanted. And you have to keep your head in the game by staying focused on your goals and having an ongoing plan of action that keeps your business moving forward in the right direction.

All entrepreneurs want to maximize their potential efforts for maximum success and minimize their failures that constitute a return on their time in the form of remuneration. Risk versus reward isn’t what a true entrepreneur is thinking about. The entrepreneur knows that there will always be risks. But when choosing risks, there comes the potential for greater profits and rewards in life that increase exponentially. For the entrepreneur it’s the chase, adventure, challenge, excitement, creativity – the passion he (or she) possesses and wants to share with the world. This empowers him as a true entrepreneur with a mental attitude that his ultimate destination is obtainable and has a level of credence that is no less than a force to be reckoned with.

How does one make the decision to become an entrepreneur? It’s not something you decide to do one morning while drinking your coffee. I’m talking about a spontaneous internal combustion that suddenly you are compelled to make a choice to be in control of your own fate and learn from your mistakes. It’s like a burning trait of resoluteness, undiscouraged, undeterred, recklessly determined and filled with passion about the one thing that you believe and desire and want in your entire life. If you truly desire to succeed, you will allow no one to eradicate your dreams or stop you from obtaining your ultimate goal. So you see … it’s a decision that has been cultivating within you all along, and at the right moment you reserve a time for you to be the master of your ship. Suddenly, you realize you’re at a specific time and place (a favorable or even unfavorable combination of circumstances that have occurred), which often acts as a catalyst that causes an internal spark that ignites an emotional reaction, causing an uncontrollable explosion within you to move forward. One might call it a “burning desire” to succeed at what you are passionate about no matter the risk.

Pamela Clark

Your destination is no less than the ultimate goal for which something is done by your own choosing. Let’s examine just exactly what this means to a typical business owner in a little shop or the typical business owner of a larger shop who is a fledgling entrepreneur.

Choosing what type of business you want to be in is like selecting the make and model of a vehicle to climb into to reach that final destination really doesn’t matter … because when you compare the idea to the experience, it’s like shopping for a new or used vehicle. That vehicle serves as nothing more and nothing less than a vessel to help reach your destination.

It will always come down to the kind of man or woman who’s in the driver’s seat of that vehicle. The choices you make and how you drive and maneuver that vehicle will ultimately determine your destination.

Let’s talk about that “ultimate destination/goal,” keeping in mind that there are a few rules you should know before you venture into the unique, solitary world of the entrepreneur. First, you have joined an elite group of individuals. The majority of people, friends and family members will sit back and watch, finding many reasons why you shouldn’t venture into uncharted territory; in fact, you may find that some of your best friends not only try to discourage you but actually root for you to fail because they don’t have the courage to take responsibility for their own lives.

Failure is possible, likely, and can be expected. However, how do you expect to learn anything on a daily basis if you can’t observe your own failures? Let’s look at the word failure. It’s defined as an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose. So what! So the entrepreneur must realize that there is more than one way to solve a problem. So I will say it again: If you never take a chance and fail, how will you learn? So if you have fallen seven times, you’ll get up an eighth time. You will observe your mistake and know how to play the game better in that exact moment. There’s no hidden secret here. There will always be a way to get over onto the other side of that fence, no matter how high one must climb. It comes down to doing what others are not willing to do. In most cases you’ll find very little competition, and therefore you mustn’t stop before you get started.

Taking action is a prerequisite, something required in advance if you’re going to become a member of the elite club of entrepreneurs. Always be willing to do what others won’t do to succeed – remembering that one key element to succeeding is not repeating the same mistakes over and over. Learn to play the game of life to your advantage by observing each and every mistake you have made. Don’t repeat and rewind the last failed attempt and think you’re going to get a different result, because that is the definition of insanity. If something doesn’t work, find a different way to play that particular situation; keep it moving forward and observe your mistakes. From the “department of redundancy department”: Always remember, “Don’t Rewind – Just Push Play!” AXS

Contact Pamela at excelpamclark@hotmail.com