Do Entrepreneurs like to be alone?

This is a tough question for me to answer. In my inner core, my off the cuff answer would be, NO. I don't like to be alone. Are you kidding me? I'm a relational person like most. The question though is, "Do entrepreneurs like to be alone?" I'm gonna ask a question in answer to that question. Do they have a choice? I think the answer is yes and no.

If you've ever read Michael Gerber's book, E Myth Mastery, he'll tell you that an entrepreneur must learn to be alone. Alone in your thoughts and alone with your decisions. If you're the only one that's required to sign the paychecks, the only one that has their name on the insurance forms, the utility bills, the lease agreements, the vendor agreements, the bank statements, the county records, the state requirements, and the federal government records, then you are, in fact, alone. That means that you're the one they come to when the bills are not paid; you're the one that gets the rap when the taxes go unpaid; you're the one who has to hire, fire, and reward your employees; you're the one that, has the last laugh, the last decision, the last comment, the last hoorah, and you're the one that, at the end of the day, can make or break your company. Is that alone??? I'd say "Yes." If you're not ok with being alone, no matter how exciting the thought of your business venture is, don't do it! It can get really lonely.

I've said before that the fish stinks from the head down. If you make a decision that is wrong, the whole place stinks. If you make a right decision, then it's the sweet smell of flowers all around. You own the decision. There is no one you can really blame for anything except you. That's pretty weighty stuff right there. In a world of finger pointing, I'm reminded of what kids often do with that. If you have one finger pointing at someone else, you have all the others pointing back at you. There's no wiggle room.  There's more than a little sweating the small stuff, more worry, more feeling like people think you're stupid for not making the right decision. Sometimes, even you think you're stupid for attempting a business, but there is still something driving you in your inner core that says, "Yes, you can do this. Yes, you have what it takes. Yes, you can be successful. No, I'm not stupid; no, I'm not an idiot, and no, I don't know it all, but darn it, I'm gonna learn; I'm gonna grow; I'm gonna keep moving forward; I'm gonna learn to trust, trust my judgement, trust my people that care for me like my husband, Dan, the ever supportive man in my life, like Marian who works along with me at Gratitude Goodies. I'm gonna trust my mentors like Mack, Lissa, Marie, and my Mastermind group and I'll get there. Watch me.

It's funny, while you get used to being alone in your thoughts and decisions, you are also using your inner core of people to help make your thoughts and decisions more concrete in your mind, strengthening your resolve and giving you the confidence to make those tough decisions that every entrepreneur has to make. Isn't that the wise thing to do? You can't know everything about everything, right? I certainly don't. It would be foolish of me to believe that I do.

An entrepreneur has to be strong and has to be humble at the same time. I have some coping skills I use to handle decisions that may be helpful to you. Here's my list.

1. If you have a really important decision to make, seek advice from others. That doesn't mean you have to go with that advice, but file it in your mind as an option to consider. If all the mentors you ask have similar answers, and you trust them, I would say that your ship is aligned with the harbor lights, and you can move ahead.

2. Sleep on it. Jumping into a decision without some time and distance between you and the decision might not prove to be a wise thing to do. When I make decisions quickly, there are often many more things of which I haven't thought. Often times rest can help me with this. Sleeping on it can totally change your prospective on a situation.

3. If you need to blow off steam, do that before you make the decision. Go to the gym, go to your happy place, have a glass of wine, relax somewhere quiet. Do whatever it takes to de-stress yourself. Being tied up in a knot will only complicate things.

4. Trust your judgement. If you've seen this situation before and have had successful results, then go with it. If not, take a little more time. Write it down. Pray or mediate about it if that gives you guidance. Then confidently move forward with your decision.

5. Forgive yourself if the decision is wrong. You can't grow if you don't make mistakes. Just make sure you learn from those mistakes.

6. Do the right thing. This is sometimes really hard but at Gratitude Goodies, we believe in the golden rule and have seen it come back to us tenfold. Be honest in your business dealings. Treat others the way you want to be treated and celebrate the rewards when they return to you.

Join me in my next blog as I continue to explore what it means to be an entrepreneur.