Struggles of the Entrepreneur: Settling Down

Do you have a problem settling down and putting focusing your efforts? Are you a job hopper, trying to find yourself and what you're good at? Do you enjoy creative endeavours and often jump from one thing to the next?

It's the struggle of every entrepreneur.

Do you know how many books I have started?

How many jobs roles I have had?

The number of times I've started something, only to quit a few weeks later and try something else?

We are innately curious about life and what we have to offer.

But there is a problem with that.

We can never settle down.

Settlers are the people who will get to a comfortable zone in life, and they stay there.

They'll settle for what they have. They'll stick by their home towns, their first loves and their first job choice, with no resentment or feeling that they need to do much more.

They are happy to go home after a day at work, watch the TV, have a family and be satisfied with what they have.

The problem with entrepreneurs, at times, is that they can never settle.

They always want more.

More responsibility.

More meaning.

More to life than what they currently know.

There is no right and wrong.

They are just different lifestyles.

Different personalities.

Different mindsets.

And that's not a bad thing. But it's something we must contend with.

Recognising your creative spirit

You might be a creative.

And that can be hard.

Especially if you want to monetise.

We hear this all the time:

"Everyone is creative in their own way."

And it's wrong.

Many people are simply not creative at all.

And few people create everything.

Look at the data if you don't believe me.

Most people produce zero.

Zero books.

Zero music compositions.

Zero business ventures.

And what does that mean?

It means that some people, through sheer dedication, create the world we live in.

And the rest of us simply live in that world, consuming what is thrown at us.

Innovators, painters, musicians, artists, they are the ones who push the culture forward.

The few who create give the rest of us enough to contend with to keep us busy.

And that's not a bad thing.

It's just the way it is.

Stepping outside the evaluation structure

School? Forget it.

And being able to measure the effectiveness of a 'creative piece'?

It's impossible.

Why?

Creative people step outside of the structure of evaluation.

When you are so outside of the values of the conventions, how can you be assessed?

Think about this, to measure people's effectiveness in a domain, you must measure what is common among all of them.

And when there is a structure of rules, you are not going to succeed as a creative.

Administrators, managers, anything with a set of processes and policies... forget it.

Being misunderstood

Have you ever met someone so wacky that their ideas seem so out of the field that you laugh them off... but then one of their ideas sweep through the organisation and boom, it hits home...

This guy is a genius.

Creative people have many ideas.

And to be able to come up with an idea that is executable at this moment in time, that someone else hasn't already done?

That's hard to find. It's doubtful that will ever happen.

Very few creatives make it with their endeavours.

And those that do often go insane with their success.

Think about the rockstars and artists that succeed and make an impact.

Which one of them wasn't wacky in their own right?

And how many of them have died or become highly depressed due to their fame and success?

Many.

And how many of them were laughed at and scoffed at when they presented their ideas?

The world is round.

The theory of relativity.

Anything that is groundbreaking? It's completely absurd to the 'normal' mind, and often takes decades to come into fruition and become accepted as the norm.

Even many renowned artists, scholars and writers were only given their credit many years after their death.

And what does this mean?

It's completely sensible to tell someone who is creative that it's not the right thing to do.

And it's right.

But the problem is, creative people, they don't have a choice.

Could you ask an introvert to become extroverted?

Could you tell a smart person to become dumb?

And you can't ask a creative to become less creative.

It's impossible.

It's about finding a balance.

Finding a medium in which your creativity can be focused on.

And it's not always going to be monetised. At least not at first.

You have to hone your skills and focus to become great at something. Creativity is not something that offers you an innate, valuable talent that can be utilised well within the current society we live in.

It's something you must put some thought into.

And the best way to do that?

It's on the side.

Find something you love doing. And do it as a pastime.

And become great at it.

Work to earn yourself a living.

And find a creative endeavour to do in your spare time.

And if you can monetise on your creativity in the long-term?

Go for it.

But first? Remove the expectation.

Unleash your creative energy on things you are passionate about.

And hopefully, your career can compensate for that.

Look at me.

I am continually writing blogs, every day, about abstract ideas such as this.

And in my day job, I work in marketing.

Luckily for me, I found an endeavour and career that allows me to utilise my creative energy.

And you can do that too.

But it takes time.

Time to discover yourself. Your passion. Your skills. Your dreams.

And then you can move forward with a vision.

But first off?

Become self-aware enough to recognise that you need a creative pastime.

And be grateful for who you are, and who can have the potential to become.

If you are creative and infected with this madness, I am with you. And together, we can change the world.

Entrepreneurs.

Artists.

Musicians.

Painters.

Innovators.

Know... that we will fail.

But with every failure, plants with it the seed of equivalent success.

We get to know our boundaries... and we push past them.

We get to know our skills... and we improve them.

And we get to know ourselves and realise our dreams... and we pursue them.

And one day, we have that one idea.

That one idea that changes our lives.

It gives us the drive to move forward, in the face of all the uncertainty, in all the doubt, into the darkness...

And we see the light. The light at the end of the tunnel.

The light that no one else can see.

And we bring it from one dimension, into this world.

For everyone else to enjoy.

And for that, we are applauded.

Go ahead.

Find your passion.

Pursue your dreams.

Unleash your creative spirit.

But first, settle down and find yourself a job that puts food on the table.

Recognise that this will not happen overnight.

But one day... one day in the future.

You can unleash your creativity on the world in full force.

And that's when you can change the world.

Good luck, fellow creative.

I believe in you.

And now it's time for you to believe in yourself.