The Hidden Entrepreneur
Has your entrepreneurial spirit always been obvious, or were you surprised by it sometime later in your life, like I was?
My son is one of those kids who has that obvious spirit, and the drive to go along with it. He has a fully conceptualized map of his future plans, which eventually lead to early retirement in order to travel. At the young age of 15, he has an extensive and valuable coin collection, a youth investment portfolio, and his own seasoning company, which he researched, developed, and sells at farmers markets. He is a true entrepreneur at heart and I am excited to see him pursue his dreams.
Me, on the other hand? I never felt like I had that vision and spirit. In no way does that mean I didn’t want to succeed. I have always been determined and hard working. But honestly, when I was younger and deciding what to do with my life, I chose what I felt like was a SAFE career. As an actuary in a corporate insurance company, I would always know what I was supposed to do. There were formulas to follow and data to rely on. Even product development (which I liked) relied on past experience and market data. If I worked hard and did my job, there was less chance of failure.
Even in the past couple of years when life took some drastic turns for me and I was looking for a new direction, I sort of followed the crowd. Not that I didn’t have aspirations, but rather, I wanted to succeed by working hard and smart at opportunities provided by others. I kept telling myself the lie that “I’m just not a visionary”. Give me ideas and point me in the right direction; I’ll learn quickly and get us where we need to go. But please don’t rely on me for the vision.
Does this resonate with anyone? Have you ever thought “entrepreneurs are born with it and I just wasn’t”?
Here’s the funny thing that happens when you get to midlife and decide to do some deep digging and personal development and healing: you discover hidden things you never realized were there all along. Does people pleasing sound familiar to anyone? (probably half of us raised our hands). People pleasers are afraid of failure, because that means someone might dismiss us. We are afraid to take risks because risks introduce unknown, while pleasing others brings the desired outcome of being liked.
But stepping out on a limb and taking that leap as an entrepreneur? That could lead to failure, or worse, disapproval!! No wonder little visionary Jen stayed hidden. But then, midlife happens. If we do the work in deconstructing our patterns, and we stop caring what others think so much and find our own dreams, sometimes we are surprised by what we find.
For the first time in a long time, I feel alive and impassioned to create something of my own and see where it goes, despite the risk and the hard work I know lie ahead.
So, my question to you is this: have you always known you would own your own business someday, or did you grow into it…or….did the vision and passion come as a complete surprise later in life?
It is never too late to forge your own path. In fact, studies show that 70% of ventures started by 50+ entrepreneurs are still in operation after 5 years, compared to 28% of those started by younger visionaries! As a 50 yr old starting my own business, I’ll take those stats! How about you?
