Bunker Hunt once said
“To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.”
For some, this philosophy flies in the face of entrepreneurs being able to enjoy a work life balance.
After having spent 15 years as an attorney working with other attorneys and 10 years working as an entrepreneur with entrepreneurs, I believe that the joy of a work life balance is a sacrifice that most entrepreneurs will have to make (at least, in the early years), if they want to achieve success in their entrepreneurial life
While, as some have recently commented, it’s essential that an entrepreneur retain their physical and mental health (though a degree of craziness can be beneficial ), that is not the same as saying entrepreneurs must strive to achieve a work life balance.
Every successful attorney or entrepreneur I have come across has spent a considerable period of their working life being obsessed with their work, working insane hours and neglecting their family and friends. These are not ‘badges of honor’, but the price that entrepreneurs pay.
There seems to be a relationship between the greater the sacrifice the greater the level of success as an entrepreneur. This is a generalization based on my own observations rather than a statistical analysis, but a view I know many entrepreneurs share. Clearly, it is for each entrepreneur to decide what price they are willing to pay.
Perhaps Seneca had entrepreneurs in mind when he said
“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”
The key drivers for entrepreneurs are independence in every sense, leaving their mark on the world and personal satisfaction. Rewards that are difficult, if not impossible to achieve in most 9-5 employed jobs.
So perhaps the last word should be left to Leon J. Suenes who said
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.“