This blog post is to celebrate all of the emotions that entrepreneurs experience as we fight the fight to live our dreams and to pursue our passions against all odds.
Core Values vs Shareholder Value
Let’s celebrate the fact that we get to shape the world around us. We get to live our core values, our personal values instead of bending to decisions that drive shareholder value.
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- Our personal values determine the type of business we start
- They shape who we serve and how we serve
- They shape who we hire and how we work with them
- They shape our every motivation, interaction and reaction
When we feel strongly about something, we can use all of the resources available to us to live our values. We can choose to make a poor financial decision if we know we are making the “right” decision. It is our core values that lead us to our work. Embrace them. Live them. Trust those gut reactions that come from deep down inside of you.
Personal vs Professional
We didn’t start our businesses with a detached coolness. We started with a drive and a passion, and everyone around us is on that journey with us. For those lucky few of us that make it, it’s in large part because of that passion, commitment and sacrifice that our businesses are able to to survive. We may be criticized for our displays of emotions, but the reality is that it’s nearly impossible to remain emotionally detached when you consider our:
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- Financial obligations
- Time investment
- Impact on our family & personal life
- Responsibility toward employees, clients and vendors
- Limited number of peers to lean on
Impacts to our businesses are very personal. They are deeply felt. Our feelings don’t punch out at 5pm. I celebrate all of those feelings and emotions and sacrifices. I celebrate our attempts to remain professional in the face of it all, and I celebrate the times when we crack and our humanity and emotions break through. It is our intensity that led us to entrepreneurship in the first place.
“Work to Live” or “Live to Work”
It’s an immense privilege to be able to live to work – to have the freedom of choice and the means to be able to choose self-employment. I realize not everyone has this privilege or this capacity. I want to celebrate the lucky few who have chosen this path and can live for their work. This work isn’t just a paycheck for us. This work is our life. It is our family’s life. It is our children’s lives. It is our employees’ lives. Our live to work attitude got us started, and it is what gets us through.
Happy, Emotional Entrepreneurs’ Day
I celebrate my fellow entrepreneurs and all of our passions. If it weren’t for our quirks and our whims, our deeply held beliefs and undying stubbornness, the world would lose nearly 50% of its’ employment opportunities, not to mention the countless ideas, inventions and services. May we all continue to feel all of the feelings and continue to harness those feelings to leave our impact on the world.