How I Overcame the Fear of Being My Own Boss

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“Life is the sum of our decisions” – Albert Camus.

One of the great obstacles I faced in deciding to walk away from my job to become an entrepreneur was fear. Fear of venturing, fear of being singled out, fear of failing. And probably the biggest: not being sure that, on the 15th, I was going to receive a specific payment.

Terror of thinking that months or even years could go by without receiving a single penny.

I felt judged by the stereotype of that guy in an expensive suit and a tight tie telling me that I was not going to achieve anything without having an MBA (sounds more complex and interesting in English) and a high position at some renowned firm.

I think of that man, who worked for years, perhaps decades, so that his office bears his surname; who decided one day to start the project of having a firm in which he could generate jobs while closing clients on the 5th hole of a golf course.

That office would not exist without the perseverance, discipline and dedication of that man who one day dreamed of having a successful company. I say someday because that is how entrepreneurs start. With the dream of growing our company, our baby. Usually against the tide.

To achieve this it is necessary to break the paradigm and venture before finding perfection. There are times when we like to wait to close a cycle, to be promoted; that three more years pass to be able to learn something and then start a business of their own. Maybe we also hope that the stars align.

The rat race, Robert Kiyosaki would say. Running and running, getting nowhere. All you need is conviction. The easiest way is to create habits that make it easier to meet your goals.

As an entrepreneur, you cannot have all the answers. You have to look for them, invent them and if necessary, reinvent them. Hunger for knowledge. Kiyosaki would say that an employee is a specialist avid for answers, while the employer has to be a generalist. Know about all possible topics even a little. Anyone, with some initiative, can become an entrepreneur. Everything is in the mindset you adopt. Being an entrepreneur means making things happen.

Here are some lessons from Robert Kiyosaki’s Before You Quit Your Job book that have been very helpful to me.

1. A successful business is created before there is business.
2. Find out how to turn bad luck into good luck. People learn from their mistakes “getting dumber and richer.”
3. Know the difference between your job and your job. They pay you for a job, but they don’t pay you to do your job.
4. Success reveals your failures. Fail as much as possible.
5. The process is more important than the goal. Trust it. It determines who you become when you reach your goals.
6. The best answers are in your heart, not your head. Success is not found in self, but in mission. Your mission begins in your marrow, in your soul, it is felt in your heart and it is expressed through your actions … not only in your words.
7. The scope of the mission determines the product. Falling down is good, if you survive.
8. Design a business that can do something that no other business can do.
9. Don’t fight over the offer. It only attracts stingy customers. Show what your product is worth.

In conclusion, the business of your dreams is waiting for you. If you have the conviction you will achieve it. Even if it involves more effort than what you put into your job. Just as good costs, those who work do well. If you ask Henry Ford, what would happen if you lost all your fortune? He would answer you: In less than 5 years, I would have her back.

Don’t be afraid to fail, we have all failed. In business, there are two outcomes. Either you win, or you learn. But you never lose.