Business Is Bigger Than Self

So here I am sitting in the front row of a multi-level-marketing meeting. I'm 18 years old and I'm being taught the cash flow quadrant for the first time. I'm an employee at a local gym and I'm realizing as of late that there is no upward mobility and that I'm not maximizing my capabilities. I see the four quadrants and I lock in on "Self Employed" and then quickly convert to "Business Owner" because I realize I can probably make more money as a business owner. I don't even consider "Investor" yet because the business owner quadrant can get me everything that I need.

Unfortunately, this is how my inception in business began like so many others. I did go through the quadrant in real time and move from employee to self-employed and then from self-employed to business owner. But here was my problem. Even though I was physically in the business owner quadrant, I was mentally still at self-employed.

I quit being an employee and became self-employed because I wasn't thriving as an employee and I knew I'd do better as a self-employed person. I learned that the benefits of being self-employed were mainly the lifestyle. I sold myself on benefits like having unlimited income, not having a boss, having a flexible schedule, and basically living life like a teenager while still getting paid.

Financially I grew out of being self-employed. I desired higher income, a larger opportunity, and scale. But I still wanted those attributes of business ownership to fulfill the same motivations of being self-employed. I wanted to build a business so that I could leverage it for unlimited income, not having a boss, having a flexible schedule, and living even more so like a teenager.

Until recent years, I operated my business this way. What happened? Ups and downs. I'd have great weeks and then plummet down into the abyss of non-production. Why? Because my business was simply a giant ATM machine. I treated it like a pi?ata. I'd work it to get enough money to go live like a teenager and as soon as I produced, I'd harvest as much as I could and go expend it into my personal desires. I'd say more than 80% of business owners live and operate this way. Like I did, they have a short-sighted approach that revolves around them fulfilling their more immature desires and ambitions. The business, the systems, and the people are simply just a functional tool in the achievement of a life centered around indulgence. There is nothing wrong with indulging, but here is what I realized:

My business is about more than just myself.

When I realized this, the game changed. Mentally I had finally turned the corner into thinking like a business owner. This meant that my business was my personal mission and the vessel I'd use to improve the world. My desire went from ambitious laziness and self-indulgence to instead a desire for self-improvement and the fulfillment of the people and things I interact with.

When we run our businesses with a self-employed mindset here are 3 things that happen:

1.   We limit our own potential. We are capable of so much more than weekend camping trips with the family, watching 8 hours of Netflix per week, and mastering the social media newsfeed of everyone we know. We are capable of taking our families to explore the world, mastering our own self-improvement, and helping others succeed in life the way we know how.

2.   We dehumanize our employees. You're probably saying, "whoa that’s a little heavy Jer!" I'm serious though. If I treat my business like a field that I don't enjoy farming and I simply plant seeds so that I can harvest them and use them for the things that really make me happy then my business is going to eventually stop producing. If my goal is to make money so that I can funnel profit out and go live the American dream then my employees are just tools that I use to fulfill my own self-indulgence. Even if I treat them well and pay them right. My employees need more than that. They need to be challenged, they need self-improvement, they need to produce things, and those are all things I must do in addition to the obvious money-making activities.

3.   We ward off real opportunity. If you get to know me, I am the most opportunity minded person you know. I love meeting with other business owners, learning about them as human beings, and if they are a world class human being it is my full intention to commit to collaboration with them and create a way for us to make money together while helping people. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen and the number one reason is because too many business owners that I meet with think like they're self-employed. I don't want to partner with someone whose sole motivation in life revolves around hedonism. I want to collaborate with those who desire to build an empire simply because they feel most alive when they are building something great for other people to enjoy. Yes, we'll get paid but that's a byproduct of creating value for the audience we are serving. Do you see the difference?

Usually, this is where I leave information about my Wealth Coaching company. Today I'm going to go a different route. If you read this and you related with me as the type of business owner who desires collaboration for the betterment of those you serve, please reach out to me. I want to have a conversation with you and find out how we can benefit others and create a valuable exchange between each other. Email me at [email protected]

Be Free!

Jerry Fetta

Jerry Fetta is an Entrepreneur and Owner of A.G. Capital Group, the nation's first and foremost Real Estate based Wealth Coaching firm. We help our client's build a Life by Design.

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