I was nervous… but equally excited as I was beginning my first “real job” as a cashier at a local country store. It was the closest place that would hire an awkward 15-year-old and where my hatred for terrible bosses began.
I recall on my second day, the owner of the store coming up to me and gazing up at me (I was already about foot taller than him), as he jokingly exclaimed…
“If you get out of line, I will cut you down like the fucking tree you are.”
– Short Business Owner
Why… Hello work world… nice to meet you!
I laughed nervously, waiting for him to return the favor so we could break out into shared laughter… nope… just silence and an intense stare.
Did this 30-something-year-old dude just threaten my life before ever speaking to me? Am I working on a lobster boat in Alaska or cashing out lotto tickets for other people hoping to quit their jobs too?
That job was the first time I learned what it was like to eat a shit sandwich.
I didn’t quit on the spot… or tell him off… or crack a joke and say, “WHO SAID THAT?!?” and then squint while I peered over the top of his head pretending to try and find the culprit.
Nope… I just ate it because I wanted a job, and he owned the store, and at that moment, he owned me too.
We all go through some variation of this story. It might not be quite as inappropriate but anyone who has worked for someone else knows what it’s like to eat a turd sandwich.
Perhaps it’s the important thing you can’t miss, but work pulls you away.
Maybe it’s listening to an incompetent manager chew you out when they don’t even understand how to do your job.
Or… my least favorite… mustering up a fake laugh when a boss tells an awful joke.
THAT.
That’s what I’m trying to get to get to here.
That little feeling of a piece of you dying inside because someone else owns you, so you adjust your behavior to keep them happy.
If you know what I’m talking about, then you’re probably wired to be an entrepreneur. Because at the end of the day you either own the business or it owns you.
Have you had enough yet?
Me too.
This BizBuddy Journal is cathartic for me.
You see… I ping-ponged back and forth from W2 to Entrepreneur throughout my life.
I want to share the painful lessons I learned to help inspire you to take action.
Also, I want you to skip some of the painful lessons. More about that in the next journal entry…
Onward and Upward!
Next Journal:
Pain + Reflection = Progress
