First of all, this is my “secret life”. I don’t speak for ALL Entrepreneurs out there! Peace out!
I have been in the digital business for like 12 years now and I could say life as an Entrepreneur is like a roller coaster. It’s a jungle, it’s a zigzag road, it’s a deep blue ocean.
Most people will see the time freedom you have when taking long vacations or the things you can afford. People see the successful moments.
So what are the secrets of an Entrepreneur that they do not want you to know about?
Secret # 1: Fear of Failure
Sometimes, we Entrepreneurs don’t tell people about our struggles and failures because we don’t want people to see we are weak and that we are failing.
For me, I post about my successful projects, new deals, but I never talked about failed campaigns and lost clients. In fact, only a few people know my failures. Losing a lot of money on failed startups and not talking about them in public social media because we all think failing is a shameful experience. Though for us Entrepreneurs, failing is a learning experience but it is a secret code to keep it to ourselves.
Entreps usually tell their fail stories when they have succeeded. Success stories are more acceptable and interesting.
Failing can cause depression to an Entrepreneur friend, you may not know it because they won’t talk about it. So if you think your Entrep friend has problems, just talk and be a friend that listens. If you are that Entrepreneur who failed, find someone who can uplift your spirit again. Support from family and friends are the key to success.
Like for me, I don’t want everyone to see my failures. I don’t want my parents worry about me struggling because I want them to be proud of me. Though eventually, I opened up my failures to them. And at least I have my sister and a very few close friends whom I can talk to about it.
Secret #2: We have different lifestyles and we want to share them
There was a saying that Entrepreneurship is not a job, it’s an everyday lifestyle. If you have an Entrepreneur friend, you can see their secret lives. You see Entrepreneurs taking vacations every month, some work whenever they want, wherever they want. Some at home, some at cafes, some at the beach. Some can get lazy all day.
Entrepreneurs live their passion and do things that they love. The work lifestyle is different to every Entrepreneur. We make it fun, exciting, but sometimes it could be boring.
Some Entrepreneurs share their successes and hard work. You can see us posting the next project we are working on.
Where else can we share them? At least our family and friends will see our successes and be happy for us. For me, those congratulations and likes on my few successes that I share on social media mean a lot to me. Because to be honest, they inspire me to work harder and encourage me to do better.
To some, it may be bragging, but hey, this is our little world! We worked hard to achieve them. Sleepless nights, 5 cups of coffee, missing out on some Friday night outs, and sometimes risking our savings to fund a startup.
Secret #3: Depression, Frustration, Anxiety
I kinda succeeded at a young age, only by God’s grace of course. You know, the sleepless nights, working on weekends and holidays, and just working smart because I believe I will reap the rewards later.
I decided to be an Entrepreneur because I don’t want to work for the rest of my life. I want to set things up until 30 years old and hopefully retire at 35, or max 40 so I can spend a lot of time with people who matter. I cannot wait for the day that I wont sneak in some work when Im on a vacation!
But of course, there are hard times in the business and I have gone through many ups and downs in my business life. I have experienced depression, frustration, anxiety, and I covered them all up. Coz like #1, I fear failure. I feel depressed when I fail, I get frustrated easily, and am always anxious on what’s gonna happen next. You know, the business world is a crazy world. But Entrepreneurs are tough, they thrive, they succeed. Failure to me, is just another step to success. I’ve dealt with it many times. It’s failing that teaches us how to deal with the situation next time we go through it.
If people think it’s easy to be an Entrepreneur, trust me it’s not always like that. It’s only by God’s grace that I have overcome depression, frustration, and anxiety, and I thank the people He used to help me conquer these 3 things.
This is why I think that Entrepreneurs must hang with good friends that can help them, even just for moral support. If you are an Entrep, find a mentor, or another Entrep friend who can be your accountability partner. Having the same passion to fulfill your dreams is helpful for success.
So, if you have an Entrepreneur friend, the best thing you can do is to be supportive of what they do. They have different battles. Telling them to quit will just make them feel worse but guess what, it’s sometimes our best motivator. You have nooooo idea how fulfilling it is to prove you nay-sayers wrong. lol. Entrepreneurs always strive to work hard for their own dreams.
And so cheers to all Entrepreneurs! We may have secret lives, but because of choosing this path, we can live a better life where we can pursue our passion and most of all, find our purpose.
I just posted this today on my Instagram I want to share this here too:
Caption:
We can always make more money, but we can never make more time. We all have 24 hours in a day. Time is the most valuable resource in life. #entrefeineur
I share this because Entrepreneurs know what their end goals are. They want to spend more time with their families. Just a little bit of sacrifice and they can make it through.
