04.19.09
Feeling The Flow
I have been working on the launch of another business venture. This time I am acting more as an advisor. It is exciting.
As I talk to people in my regular job, I find that quite a few employees wish to be something more than employees. For those who have never been owner-managers, it is important that they understand that when you work for someone else, you can generally expect to get paid for the hours you put into it (assuming you’re on an hourly wage). When you’re “the man”, there is no pot of gold sitting around. You have to be willing and able to risk going without some cash if your business activities have not produced enough return for that time period. If you have employees, you have to ensure that they get paid for the hours they work, even if you do not get paid.
In other words, if you are craving security, if you think that owning your own company will insulate you from the ravages of financial pressures, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Business ownership is risky, it can be stressful, it can be financially difficult, and it can be time-consuming.
There are two, and only two, good reasons I can think of for owning your own business. First, you find it tremendously stressful to have someone else’s decisions be the deciding factor in how much you earn, whether your employer will stay in business, whether the company will continue to produce the product or service that you are employed to create, or what tasks you will be assigned. If you crave self-in-control and hate others-in-control, you should be looking at starting your own business.
The other reason? You cannot find a job, cannot find a job in your field, or cannot find a job that will pay you enough to keep a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your stomach. That is, economic necessity is driving you to take control of your own destiny. If this is true, then perhaps you should be looking toward owning a small business, at least until things change and you can get the job you want.
You have to have an internal locus of control, but not to the extent that you ignore the one who made you. No matter what else goes on, God is still in control. You do the work, attempting to make your business profitable, God enables your work to succeed.
Locus of control? What is that? Think back to your childhood. You and Jimmy were running in the backyard and you tripped and fell. Did you say, “I tripped and fell” or did you say “I tripped because Jimmy was chasing me”? Do you believe things happen in your life because your actions make them happen, or do you believe that others’ actions decide your fate? If someone else’s actions decide your fate, as far as you can see, control of your life is located outside of yourself. If your actions are the primary determinant of your fate, your locus of control is internal to yourself.
With an internal locus of control, you believe that you are able to make it happen. Therefore, you are far more willing to step up to the plate and do whatever it takes to make things happen. An external locus, on the other hand, leaves an excuse–that major retailer refused to carry my products, so I had to go out of business–and makes it easier to wimp out of doing what it takes.
I am pleased to be allowed to have some part in this enterprise. I’m hoping that it also gives me a reason to spend extra time with my granddaughter (her parents are involved in the venture).
So why did I call it “feeling the flow”? Because if you cannot feel excitement at the prospect of getting in the race and competing, maybe you should turn in another application to your local Gree-C Burger or the nearest nationwide retailer. You should feel excitement about being in control of your own destiny, your own wallet, your own future.
This isn’t for the sit-around-waiting-for-handouts crowd. This is for people that want to work hard, work long, and work smart. Working smart cannot happen when you have no control over what you do and how you do it (e.g., if you are like most employees), because someone else decides what you must do and often how you must do it. You have to be the one who asks questions: Is this the best way to perform this task? Is there another task that might better fulfill the purpose of this one? And you have to be willing and able to change your tasks and how you perform them if the result is better at accomplishing the purpose behind the task.
Here’s something else: This isn’t for the sit in front of the television crowd. If you are passive, if you are consumer-oriented, if your mind and actions are controlled by what the media promotes, go back to Gree-C Burger or that Big Blue retail chain.
If you are trying to launch your own business, get in the flow. Let yourself be excited at the thought of being in control of your life and your future. Then, get out there and do something about it!
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