We’ve all heard them. They’re the “I don’t know what I want to do” people. Yep, could be you. Might be your family member. Definitely is one of those people you work with. If you’re in a public place, look to your left and look to your right, one of those people wants to be an entrepreneur but isn’t sure what or how.
They may all look and sound different, but let’s be honest, they’re saying the same thing.
I don’t know what I want to do!
I haven’t quite figured out what my calling is!
I’m still exploring my options!
Man, these people are annoying right?!
Just the worst!!!
They say it takes one to know one and you’re looking at him.
Yep, this one hits pretty close to home and let me tell you it SUCKS!
The easy part is figuring out that you’d rather be a barista at Starbucks while at least moonlighting as your dream job than to continue punching the clock and making bank doing something that you genuinely hate but have been working your butt off to convince yourself that it’s not actually that bad.
I had that realization on my 14th day of working for an oil and gas Fortune 200 company.
The hard part is answering the question, “So what is it that you want to do?”
People are perfectly willing to, kind of, maybe accept that you are going to go out on your own and pursue your passion, but not having an answer to what you will do instead pretty much just makes you sound like a lazy piece of crap who just doesn’t like to work.
And this is exactly how I felt today when someone asked me what I wanted to do.
Find a need and meet it.
Most advice on starting a business tells us to find a need and meet it instead of creating widget X and then trying to find a market for it.
We all know this.
It’s Business Building 101.
Well turns out this works the same for figuring out what the heck you are supposed to be doing as an entrepreneur.
You can sit there for the rest of your life asking yourself, “What should I be doing as an entrepreneur?”
“What do I like?”
“What would I like to do for the rest of my life?”
“What inspires me?”
“What gets me out of bed in the morning?”
Or you can get out of your head and start listening to the people around you. What are you good at? What are you better than other people at? What comes easily to you? What do you enjoy doing?
It’s provocative to read those books that lead you down these paths to “Discover your life’s purpose”, but having done more of those things than I can count, I can tell you I never walked away from one of those questionnaires with a clearer picture of what I should be doing as an entrepreneur.
What I have experienced is people telling me, “Man, Seth, you’re really good at that.”
“That seems to come naturally to you.”
“Where did you learn that?”
Just like a good entrepreneur will listen to the needs and wants of people to identify a business opportunity, a good wantrepreneur will listen to his or her friends, family, and colleagues to discover what it is about their skillset that outshines everyone else.
If you’re wondering what the monkey a wantrepreneur is, then you’ll need to reference a previous blog here.
It’s like my Decathlon coach at OU used to say, “We all have different eggs in our baskets.”
Some of you are thinking, “Oh boy here we go”, but bear with me it’s a decent analogy that actually doesn’t involve procreation.. directly.
What he was really saying was, “Seth, you better not neglect your education for this sport because you ain’t gonna make a living doing this.”
And he wasn’t just saying that because virtually no one makes a decent living as a professional track and field athlete.
So when finals week came, you better believe I was getting kicked out of practice a little early to go study.
My coach was smart.
And he wanted me to succeed.
And for that, I am grateful.
Now back to the point.
Stop, shut up, and listen to people around you. They will point you in the direction you should go.
“Man, you are really good at talking to people.”
“Woah, have you ever considered doing that for a living?”
“I read your bio – did you write that?”
“You sold how many ketchup popsicles?!”
“Wow, you’re so good at coming up with ideas!”
“How long did it take you to learn to do that?!”
Opportunity is all around us, if you can’t see it, you’re just not looking.
Gifts and talents are given to each and every one of us, if you can’t identify yours, you’re just not looking hard enough.
We all have different eggs in our baskets, find out what egg you have that most people don’t, and use that to get started.
“But Seth, I’m a great singer and it’s really hard to make money in that industry today!”
Be creative.
Think about all the doors you can open by getting peoples attention with the full expression of your unique gift.
Not all talented signers have to be artists to make a living.
Consider a world where you use your talent or gift to get your foot in the door to the career or business you want to start.
What does everyone say you’re really good at?
I’ll ask it again because it’s the whole point of this article.
What does everyone say you’re really good at?
Once you figure it out, it’s not the end all be all.
It’s not your only option.
But it could be the gateway drug that gets you the connections and opportunities that you need to build the business and career of your dreams.
If you’re committed to the alternative life plan and are willing to do whatever it takes, start using the eggs that were placed in your basket.
Using your talents and gifts will allow you to start making income from them which will be the first step of many toward your wantrepreneurial dreams.
First, ask yourself, “What does everyone say that I am really good at?”
Then, go freaking do it!