Reaping the benefits of entrepreneurship used to mean giving up the safety and security of your job, taking massive risk and investing everything you had — both time and money — with the hopes of a big cash-out one day. Certainly there are other characterizations of entrepreneurship, such as slaving away at all hours of the day and night in a startup, hoping to raise enough capital to build something meaningful. Or maybe starting your own service-based business, without the luxury of vacation time or sick days, because you have no backup. But don’t let these old stereotypes hold you back! The power of entrepreneurship is available to you, even if you have a full-time job. And, it holds the key to your sovereignty and ultimately your financial liberation in the new economy. “Sovereignty” and “financial liberation” sound great, but what do they mean? Sovereignty is the awareness that you are 100 percent in control of your life. You control your income, your vacation time, your travel schedule, and where, when and for whom you work. And it’s fully within your reach. Financial liberation is knowing you can earn what you need, when you need it — on demand — and doing work you believe in that improves your life, as well as the world around you. Before you dismiss all of this as “too good to be true,” imagine what your life would be like if it was built on your personal sovereignty and financial liberation. You would no longer be consumed by worry about being debt-free, saving for retirement and putting money away for your children’s college education. A life without money woes is not only possible, it is the power of entrepreneurship in the new economy. Read on to get started and get a clear vision and full body, visceral experience of your own financial liberation and sovereignty in the new economy.
- Step 1: Define What You Really Want Figure out how much you actually need to earn in order to have the life you really want. Don’t base that number on your current salary. Rather, imagine a vision for your life on four levels: “Minimum to Be Happy” life, “Preferred If I Could Afford It” life, “No Limits” life, and “Now” life. Describe your life at each of those levels and write down how much it would cost to fund your desired lifestyle in each instance
- Step 2: Clarify Your “Now” and Your “Next” to Chart Your Map Decide which level of your life you want to reach next as you step into full sovereignty. For example, you may be earning your “minimum to be happy,” but hate your work or find it boring. In that case, it’s time to build your “minimum to be happy” income doing meaningful work you love. Or, you may be earning your “preferred if I could afford it,” but working too much. If that’s so, it’s time to chart a map and path to free up your time to enjoy life. Or maybe you aren’t earning your “minimum to be happy” yet. In that case, it’s time to build an income you can count on, doing work you love. So, get clear on where you are now and your next objective. Then, write it down. Try this format: I will earn $_____/mo by [date] doing meaningful work that feeds my soul, not just my bank account. This will support my lifestyle at the level of [Minimum to Be Happy] [Now] [Preferred if I Could Afford It]. Once I reach that number, I will create a map to get to [next level] or [buy back my time by leveraging my skills] or [serve more people], etc.
- Step 3: Learn to Bend Time Get into the right relationship with time. Don’t give away too much too soon and do price and package your services accurately. As we embark on entrepreneurship, many people have a skewed relationship with time. We spend too much time at work or in the office and don’t allow enough time for self-care and relationships. The trick is learning how to bend time. Bending time happens when two things are true: 1) You are exceedingly clear about how you want to spend your time and how much of it you actually have, and 2) You are so filled with purpose that your every movement becomes infused with passion and time seems to warp, accommodating everything. You don’t have to know your specific purpose in detail on an intellectual level. Rather, just remember that work and money and business are tools of your purpose. You are here to engage in practices of self-care, to connect with others in relationships, and to bring your inherent gifts to others who need those gifts. Combining the right relationship with money — how much do you actually need? — and right relationship with time — how much do you have to give? — will help you create a map from where you are now to where you want to go. This map allows anyone to leverage the power of entrepreneurship (even if you’re not seeking to be a full-time entrepreneur) and step fully into sovereignty and ultimately into financial liberation. You can earn what you need, when you need it, on demand, doing fulfilling and meaningful work in the world.
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