Years ago, I thought entrepreneurship was nothing but risk.
I once thought running a business was crazy: registering a company, hiring employees, waiting for clients to pay… Being an employee was better. A monthly paycheck was safer. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I was young and naive. I had to be fired only once to change my mind.
Recently, to debunk all myths about entrepreneurship, I’ve stumbled upon two simple definitions—I’m paraphrasing them to practice the 7-word summary:
#1. Solving problems
From Purpose and Profit by Dan Koe, entrepreneurship is solving your own problems and distributing your solutions to others.
You don’t need to stare at the ceiling waiting for the perfect idea. If you have solved one of your own problems (losing weight or overcoming burnout, for example), you can share what you did and make some profit.
#2. Making extra money
Recently, during my feed-free week, I picked up Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier. Apart from early-retirement tactics, his definition of entrepreneurship resonated. He says entrepreneurship is simply finding other income sources.
You don’t need the LLC, employees, or fancy systems from a business coach, but to make money on the side. As simple as that. Of course, he advocates investing that extra money so you can retire before your 60s.
With those two definitions, entrepreneurship feels less intimidating. Maybe you’re already an entrepreneur without realizing it.
I’ve had only one job that fit all the definitions of a toxic place. Inexperienced management, competing deadlines, scope creep… To cope with the 9-5, I hung out with coworkers, worked out, and engaged in hobbies. That kept me sane. But it wasn’t the job that burned me out. It taught me enough lessons for a book.
The way to the exit door was clear.
Lesson:When the pain is real. So is the urge to leave.
The job that burned me out
A few years later, I landed my best job.
I was working from home, learning new subjects, and making a good salary. It wasn’t Silicon Valley, but it was where most coders wanted to be. It turned out more painful than my “worst” job.
Everything was good until the honeymoon ended. Another project doing the same tasks. No new roles for me. All seats were already taken. Same grind, same story.
This time, the way out wasn’t that clear. Updating a CV to play the hiring game made staying seem tolerable. “The pay is good.”“I don’t work overtime.”“I’ll wait until I finish this project.” Meanwhile, hiring trends were tougher and tougher each year.
The next thing I knew, I was rushing to the bathroom. It wasn’t to throw up, but I’ll spare the details.
My job became a burden. I rushed to finish my daily tasks and skipped my meals. Painful mistake! That brought stomach issues. (Eating when stressed out isn’t a good idea.) When I least expected it, I was sick and burned out. The way down was slow. But the way up was more painful and slower.
Lesson:If it makes you sick, you don’t need more signs to leave.
My most painful and expensive career mistake
Not having a career plan was my biggest, most painful, and expensive mistake.
I didn’t stop to think what I wanted out of my career. Money, title, connections, challenge? Maybe my only plan was to gain experience and make some money. Whatever that meant for my past self.
Lesson:Choose wisely. Or wait to leave when sick, bored, fired, or burned out.
A plan or intention would have made me move out and saved me a lot of pain. But like a frog in a pot, the water wasn’t boiling, it was slowly heating up. By the time I noticed the exit sign, the damage was already done.
If you liked these lessons, you’re going to like, Career Lessons From the Trenches, my free 7-day email course where I distill 10+ years of career lessons into 7 short emails–to help you navigate your coding career.
AI speeds up code generation. Everything else is as slow as it has always been. And more code means more reviews, builds, approvals, and bugs. More paperwork.
I wanted to quit blogging for a while. But I reminded myself: like an athlete, a writer must practice daily, or at least consistently. And stumbling upon Seth Godin’s 10,000 daily posts inspired me to keep pushing. I know I’m far from hitting that number.
For these last 100 posts, balancing health and writing wasn’t easy, but it taught me the value of doing nothing and resting after a sprint of intense work.
For the last phase, I offered free copies as gifts to “advance readers” in exchange for an honest review.
As a fan of 10-idea lists, I wrote a list of 10 e-friends, ended up messaging 12, and heard back from 6. Two read it but weren’t eligible to review. (Amazon requires $50 in purchases within the last year.) Two managed to leave reviews. One was rejected, the other approved. A 5-star review. Hooray!
Here’s the review on Amazon:
Short but sweet
One sale plus one review. Proof that the experiment is working.
“Short but sweet” shows you don’t need thousands of pages to write a book that matters.
