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OFI 079: Matt Brechwald | Renewed Energy From Entrepreneurship

SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS:

This week we continue profiling my upcoming E-Book about the “health benefits of entrepreneurship.”  We are talking about renewed energy today.  When you’re job is the wrong fit, you will be devoid of energy.  The following chapter is all about how that energy comes back to you when you become an entrepreneur.  Here is the chapter below:

ENERGY

When I had my “safe” and “secure” government job I worked a 4 day week.  10 hours per day, 4 days per week with the same days off every week.  This was a big deal.  I had a regular schedule, which is rare with this type of system.  I had an extra day off every week.  But, at the end of my day and even on my weekends, I had no energy.

My job was not physically strenuous.  It could be stressful and taxing at times, but I bet your job is too.  What really sapped me of my energy was the job was no longer a good fit.  When a job is not a good fit for you, it becomes a grind.  I think people call it a “grind” for a reason.  Picture Sisyphus pushing his stone.  That is a “grind.”  When your job is not the right fit, you are pushing that stone mentally every day, calling on all of your resources to muster the energy and creativity to do good work.  This takes its toll.

So, when I would get home for the evening, I was drained.  Working out was off of the table, and creating a new business or being creative was off the table too.  My weekends were also unproductive.  The first day off was a recovery day.  The second day off was family time.  On the third day off I started dreading going back to work.  I did not get a lot done during this time.

The other problem when you are working a job that is not the right fit is that you start working for the weekend and your vacations.  So, you fall into that trap of buying toys and escaping.  Every weekend, you go seeking a feeling of freedom.  During these recreational adventures, you are not building a business or writing a book.  You are dulling the pain of working in a job that is not the right fit.

What I found was that when I escaped for these weekend adventures, I would have time to just be with myself.  I could escape from work and the thought of work for a while.  I could feel inspiration and creativity start to come back to me.  I would start to dream about a life in which every day I could wake up and feel free.  I could come up with a dozen great business ideas or ways to break out of my current trap.

My weekend would end, and back to the normal cycle I would go.  Pretty soon all of that inspirational thought turned into resentment.  All of those thoughts were painful because it felt like I would never be able to make any of them into a reality.  This just led to more stress and discontent.

The renewal of energy that I have experienced has come in four stages.  When I first started my own business, and especially when I made the first dollar from one of my own ideas it energized me.  This was an exciting time, and it gave me the energy to keep pushing, wanting that feeling again.  It also started to build the belief that there was something different out there for me, and the lifestyle I was dreaming of was possible.

Soon the energy I created with running my own business and seeing success was almost equally exerted trying to grow this business while maintaining my full time career job.  I was also dealing with the temptation of working on this new business while at my primary job.  This is not the right thing to do in any circumstance, but when you are a police officer on patrol, this can be deadly for the people you serve or yourself.

Stage #2 of energy renewal was developing a concrete plan.  I really invested myself in the planning process because I knew that without a rock solid plan, fear and nostalgia was likely to keep me from going through with my transition.

Once the plan was created, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I knew the exact date that the “grind” was going to end.  Lucky right?  How many of us who are “grinding” it out at work every day, really know when that is going to come to a stop?  I can remember a time when I did not think it would be possible for me to transition away from that career.  When I had a date that it was going to happen, I really started to get pumped up.

It was amazing to me just how much having a plan helped.  For a plan to re-energize you it is not necessary to have a pre-determined end date.  You may not know that for a long time after you start your transition business.  You will want to hit certain economic thresholds before you leave your “secure” job, and it could take a lot of time to meet these benchmarks.  But knowing the steps you have to take to get to that point, and continuously checking those benchmarks off of your list begins to build your energy, more and more.

Stage #3 of energy renewal was when my last day at the “secure” job actually came and my safety net was taken away.  I was really doing it, and it was really time to prove myself.  I had lots of thoughts.  Would I have to go crawling back to my previous employer and have all the doubters there say or think “I knew you’d be back”?  Would I have to transition to “just another job?”  Maybe I wouldn’t have to go back to the original one, but into a totally different job that was still not the right fit.  Would I let my family down?  Would I let myself down?

Well, nothing gives you energy like a wolf nipping at your heels.  I knew that this was my opportunity.  Neither my wife nor I had the constitution to go through these transitions too many times.  I knew I had to prove something to her and myself, or one of us would pull the plug on this lifestyle and back to “work” I would go.

My desire to make it and not give up what I could clearly see in my mind drove me.  My energy levels were back to where they were when I first finished college and hit the career field.  My whole future was laid out in front of me again, and it was mine to make it great.

It was the same feeling I had when I had enrolled in the police academy in 1996 and been hired as a police officer later that year.  It was a dream come true, and I planned to suck every bit of reward and energy out of it.

Soon I found myself working 12 hours days, 6 days per week.  I use the term “work” loosely.  It didn’t all feel like work.  Most of it was very pleasurable and energizing.  I was doing it, and I was doing it on my own.  I was going to make this work!  At the end of the day I could look back and see what I had done.  I could do the books for the business and look at the progress.  I could finally work on that great marketing idea that I had earlier in the day.  I could finally read that book that was going to make me better and better at business.  My energy was through the roof and I loved it.

Stage #4 of energy renewal is a little bit different.  After the third stage I really could not get any more physical energy or hours in the day.  As a matter of fact, in the stage #3 I had to start forcing myself to work less.  I had to remember that I still had a family, and I could not just neglect my wife and daughter..

So, I really did not need any more energy when I hit stage four.  Stage four is the top of the pyramid.  It is what Maslow says we are trying to reach – self awareness.  In stage #4 my energy turned to contentment and vision.  It was like I could see further into the future than ever before and imagine more possibilities.

This is where the idea for the podcast was born, as well as multiple ideas for books, writing and curriculums.  This is where I started to find joy in writing and producing content.  This is where I started wanting to share my inspiration and story while connecting with like minded people.  This was a higher plane of energy.

Stage #4 is a different kind of energy.  It is almost transcendental.  It is like you have had blurry vision for your whole life and everything just became crystal clear.  For years, I could see figures moving out in front of me, but they were blurred so I did not really know what they were.

In stage #4 the fog lifted.  I changed lenses and was like a kid who gets glasses for the first time and can see the chalk board.  All of the sudden, those things or ideas, that I knew were out there were clear.  I saw them: the podcast, a curriculum for FFA students, a book about my experiences growing up in a small town, and many other ideas.  I wrote them all down, worried that the fog would come back and I would lose sight of them again.

This new energy comes from deep within.  I probably cannot explain it adequately.  I might be something that you have to experience to truly understand.  It is the knowing that you can accomplish these goals.

70 or 80% of Americans when polled, say that they have a book inside of them.  However, very people every actually write a book.  Stage #4 energy is the confidence that you will accomplish those goals.  It is an intuitive knowledge that you will complete what you set out to do.  It is an inner peace that comes with that confidence.

It is not a guarantee that you are going to write a best seller, produce a record breaking podcast or become a world renowned speaker.  You suddenly give up worrying about how much money you might make from an endeavor or whether or not there is a market for what you want to produce.  You finally reach a point where you have your bases covered, and you can create for the sake of creating, for the sake of fulfilling the message you have inside of you that needs to come out.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

I recommend two books this week.  Both Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters and Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job.  Both of these books will prep you to renew that energy!

I’m looking forward to getting this book completed and offering it to all of you for free!  Thanks for joining me for this episode!

Please contact me with any questions, feedback or suggestions:

Email: matt@offincome.com

Website: www.offincome.com