Day #1: From Now On Every Choice Matters

Today we were briefed and officially launched from Phase 2 of our entrepreneurial program to Phase 3. What does that mean? It means the real work is about to begin!

It also means we sat through a very long lecture about changing from employee mentality (someone defining our work and our day) to entrepreneur mentality (self-motivating to do the tougher stuff).

I am already wired this way, so it surprises me when I hear someone go on and on ... and on and on and on ... about shifting our thought processes. I think this thought process is one of the key factors that separates those who look for a "job" and those who look for an "opportunity" when they want to change their circumstances. I could be wrong. Still, I know for certain that my many well-meaning and concerned friends are "job" people and always will be. I, on the other hand, am an "opportunity" person and while it is nice to relax and take a "job", it isn't long before I am frustrated by ... all the things that frustrate an "opportunity" person stuck in a "job". So, here I go again on an entrepreneurial journey, this time with something I am deeply passionate about.

In a class of 15 "entrepreneurs" it was easy this morning to distinguish between those who already are entrepreneurial at heart and those who have to work at it. We had a project due. We've known about it for the past 7-1/2 weeks. A couple of us took it in hand and did the hard work of deciding WHAT the project would be, even buying the key parts and distributing each entrepreneur's materials to him/her, complete with drop dead deadline ... which was today. Okay, I DID leave things right to the end myself, but I stayed up until my part was finished last night ... this morning. After all, credibility is everything and the quality and delivery of my part of the project mattered. Apparently it mattered to seven of us.

I am not going to come down that hard on my fellow students. Their lives and the way they conduct themselves is their own choice and not mine to judge, but ... REALLY? I was surprised. Was I making too much of this project? After all, it has nothing to do with our bottom line. It's a gift to the organization that is teaching us. We aren't being marked on it. Then I did a re-take.

As an entrepreneur, every choice that affects others matters. If you are roped into a project that makes no difference to your bottom line, it still makes a difference to someone. You will be weighed and measured by the sum of your actions, so from now on, EVERY choice matters.