I Can Always Work at Walmart and Other Lies from the Creative Entrepreneur
Mary Kurek
I sometimes wonder why there isn't a 12-step program out there to help ease the frustrations and heal the heart of the ''creative entrepreneur.'' If I were to stand up at a meeting of fellow sufferers, my story might go like this: Hello, my name is Mary, and I've been a creative entrepreneur all of my adult life. In my efforts to chase the dream and figure my role in this world, I have changed careers more than ten times in 25 years, started and restarted self-employment about 3 times and spawned financial stress significant enough that I'm pretty sure sent my husband to the hospital with chest pains. It would be almost laughable, if it weren't so debilitating.
The sanity of a creative entrepreneur or ''CE'' is tested regularly, as we drown ourselves in each fantastic new idea only to emerge half eaten by piranhas. We do it over and over again, because we believe we will eventually birth something amazing for the world to enjoy, utilize and maybe even pay us for. It actually does happen for some of us, but not until we learn from our own history book, which exposes the misjudgments, guilt-driven decisions and the lies we tell ourselves and others.
I'm not saying we lie on purpose, nor do we intend to hurt anyone with our excuses, but we often come up short on our promises and our well-meant plans. From my own history book, I can pull up a fat chapter on ''how to get out of a job you should never have taken in the first place.'' Here's another juicy chapter: ''The number of times you can get away with telling your spouse that you'll find a real job if your new business idea doesn't work.'' And, then there's my personal favorite: ''Why it's not a good idea to tell everyone about your plan of action before you've attempted it.'' Perhaps you can relate.
I have a friend who admits to being attracted to network marketing businesses. He believes that managing a network marketing business will give him security, allowing him to pursue his real passion. The ''lie'' he's telling himself is that he will have enough motivation to build a business in something for which he has no passion, when he already knows his passion. Along with direct sales involvements, his resume is stacked with periods of self-employment, part-time and full-time employment. The magic formula for a happy marriage of work, mission and money has eluded him, even though he's identified his passion.
In the absence of a plan, we fall to what we feel is expected. The pattern my friend has set up is a familiar one. We do what we must until we cannot stand it anymore -- then comes the sabotage; what we do in order to get back to our real creative selves. Our initial buy-in to commit to a regular job diminishes to a state of misery and non-productivity. That's when we say: ''It's just not working out. The boss hates me. The money isn't what I was promised and the work is too stressful.'' Clearly, enough of this can run a family, marriage and sense of self right slap into the ground.
As challenging as it is, survival as a creative entrepreneur need not be depressing. Our relentless nature to give birth to that which is needed or never been done finds its space to do so when we are most at wits end. While between regular jobs, some of us have founded non profit organizations that build homeless shelters, mentor youth, strengthen communities and rehabilitate abusers. Charitable works are special to the ''CE'' because connecting our heart to our work is important, if not critical. It is in this work that we find our first truth. Our work must have meaning . . . it must serve a higher purpose.
The second truth is that we like leadership. We want to own our contributions. Part of it surely has to do with ego for we are like any artist with their creation. The rest is all about the need to ''pay our rent on planet earth.'' With such basic truths, you'd think it wouldn't be so hard to make a living doing what we love. But, our constant search for creativity attracts us to change and exciting opportunities often to the point of distraction. Ultimately, what we do succeed with has to have us so completely in love that it can maintain our focus for the time it takes to get accomplished. Almost all of us have had some successes, but those who have come to embrace themselves as creative entrepreneurs experience more, and their successes tend to be bigger.
A fellow ''CE'' who is a friend and motivational speaker came by my house one day. He sat at my dining room table talking about the life path that has taken him from the inner city of New York to traveling the world as a professional basketball player and then on to starting a family. I know of his struggles in trying to define his post-professional sports role. Undeniably talented and determined, he wrangled through years of mistakes and reinventions, trying to fit the professional mold, until finally; he let his creative entrepreneur loose. ''Mary,'' he said, ''There isn't anything about me that I can't share. I'll let people see all sides of me, now. I've gotten to the point that I'm just going for it, because all I have to do is get to just one person and change them.''
My friend's reinventions have made him stronger, and give him a platform with his audience. His mistakes have torn away his cover, making him more authentic. He knows and honors his need to play with new ideas. The same part of him that caused confusion and lack of sleep in the past, he now relies upon to inspire and entertain others with his presentations, products and media vehicles. He has a network of supporters and he stays true to his passions by streaming his creative energies in that specific direction. I guess you'd say -- he's a recovering ''CE.''
I think the first step for a ''CE'' in getting off of the resume roller coaster is to simply quit fighting nature. Let go of regrets and expectations. Get organized. Find or build yourself a support network of other ''CEs.'' Don't just share your upsets; share your contacts, advice and resources. You must be willing to let go of the old pattern and the lies that go with it in order to make a workable plan. Quit the guilt, quit making thoughtless decisions, quit trying to do it all alone, and above all, quit telling yourself and others that you can always work at Walmart. Nobody believes you anyway . . . least of all you.
About the Author
Mary is a Visibility Consultant. Services include professional networking, executive coaching, and public relations (business writing, online viz push, offline marketing, and social media training/management.) A former Chamber of Commerce Executive, Mary authored the nationally endorsed book, Who's Hiding in Your Address Book? (the first mainstream book to promote Chambers of Commerce in a specific way.) Mary's writing has been published in NC Coast Business Journal, NC Women's Business Journal, Homes and Land Magazine, Wisconsin Board of Realtors Magazine, and other business and career sites. She has been quoted on msnbc.com, CNN.com, HGTV's frontdoor.com, in Real Estate Executive Magazine, and more.
The Ideal Chamber Newsletter (Free first issue and a resource center at http://www.marykurek.com/idealchamber.html)
Mary Kurek may be contacted at http://www.marykurek.com.
Click here to view more articles by Mary Kurek.
Reprinted with Permission from IdeaMarketers.com, your source for free content.
Read
More At The Work
At Home Business Blog
|
Psst!...Have you Heard the Buzz? 
