Pondering Self Employment
The weather today is beautiful. I went out and took the dog for a walk and then just sort of soaked up the sunshine today. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and the temps are in the mid 70’s. I picked a good comp day for once – it’s usually rainy, or there is something pressing that needs attention. Today is just a nice relaxing ice tea sipping prop up your feet and take a nap on the deck kind of day.As per usual, my mind is going a million miles a minute though (I really need to figure out how to quiet my thoughts without the use of chemicals). I’m thinking I really need to be self-employed, to be my own boss, and that I probably am not going to be happy until I actually do just that. In assessing my current job, it’s probably "ok" because it’s relatively secure and I have certain freedoms. On the downside is the management and the pay. When you compare the whole package, it’s just “ok”. I just have to wonder if I could do better on my own, which has gotten me reflecting on other things that I have done on my own.
For the most part, I get some idea in my head and then study it enough to learn how to accomplish it as a goal. I have done this for many items in many areas, but I have never done it where it really counts – to be self supportive and not have to live on someone else’s determination of my monetary reimbursement value. I have been very successful in achieving individual goals, but I don’t know that I have really attempted to tackle something as on-going as my own company or corporation. I’m sure it is a matter of breaking it down into manageable issues and then attacking them as needed, but to do so in an environment where the variables keep changing and the stakes are considerably higher is something that I haven’t really seriously contemplated before.
I’m driven to consider this for so many reasons. One is that a good friend of mine has recently gone through many life changing events that have been anchored by a paycheck coming from his place of employment. Suddenly that place of employment has put him on notice that he will be “downsized” within the next several weeks, putting him in a state of mild panic as he searches for a new job to support his life and family. Putting myself in his place, I’m disappointed to realize that I would really be no different in that I too require the incoming sustenance of a paycheck in order to sustain my own lifestyle and family activities. Not unusual by any stretch, just annoying to consider that the power to maintain the current status quo is not even mine to control.
Another thing that drives me to ponder this topic is that of so many immigrants that come to the US without so much as a pot to piss in and, wind up building a business, and remaining in control of their own monetary futures. It isn’t an education that makes a difference because many of them don’t have a formal education past what is comparable to the 5th grade here in the states. They seem to chase a clear vision of what they want and are driven to achieve it. I have to wonder if as many Americans that move to other countries have the same drive to succeed as these immigrants do?
There are many other motivating items to think about other than these two examples but the point is clear: I’m feeling the need to run my own successful business to support my family and the lifestyle we desire. There have been other instances in the past when I have had my own business but the focus this time is different. Before, it was almost like a novelty that I had my own thing going on. A couple of them produced meager profits but nothing that would sustain me. I feel differently now and I don’t know how to explain it or why the change has come about, but it’s in my head now and doesn’t seem to want to leave.
What’s next? I don’t know. I’ll see where this lovely afternoon takes me.
posted by Bonzai @ 1:32 PM
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