What Kind of Entrepreneur are You?

While everyone has their own motivation for why they want to speak, I’ve discovered at least 1 common thread: Every single (self employed) professional speaker I’ve ever met, without exception got into the business because they wanted freedom. I think that can be said for any entrepreneur. The dream of being a business owner, and being your own boss is very alluring. For many, the dream and reality are miles apart.

There are 2 types of entrepreneurs I’ve met in the speaking world. One is the “Do-Whatever-It-Takes” kind of entrepreneur. They will get up early, stay up late, and work 7 days a week, 20 hours a day if need be. Then there are the “9-to-5ers” The one’s that just come in around 9:00 am, do what they can get done before 5 pm and then go home. Most speakers think that if you want to make a big impact as a speaker you have to be a “Do-Whatever-It-Takes” entrepreneur. I strongly disagree. Think about it:

If you’ve ever gone on vacation the 2 weeks before that vacation hit I’ll be you worked extra hard, super fast, and were more efficient than the other 50 weeks of the year. Why? Because you didn’t want to be hassled while you were on vacation! Well what if every single day you went on vacation from 5 PM to bedtime? Do you think you might be more efficient during the day if you knew no matter what you had to be done by 5 PM?

Contrast that to a day (or week) where you knew you were just going to keep working into the late hours. For me, anyway, if I know I’m working late, I can justify screwing around on facebook a little bit longer during the day, or getting distracted by watching YouTube… even having a longer lunch or more frequent breaks. Why? Because I have so many hours left in the day/week I don’t have the same sense of urgency.

Try this on. For the next 5 days don’t do any work before 9 am and after 5 pm. No matter how much has to get done, just leave it for the next day. See if you find yourself putting a bit more intensity into your day. A bit more focus. I’ll bet you will.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love your feedback.