Best Days

When I ask a room full of young entrepreneurs about their goals, some envision a life full of starting and growing businesses. Others tell me that they want to achieve business success early in life and then retire young. To them, entrepreneurship is simply instrumental to other plans they have for their lives.
Wilson Ng at Business-Driven Life ponders the question of early success in business and what it means for the rest of his life. He worries about peaking too early, as he is certain he would miss the excitement that entrepreneurship brings to his life.
When I was active as an entrepreneur I would often think about the next deal to chase. Like Wilson, I enjoyed the excitement of starting and growing a business, and we had many opportunities to do just that.
Then about nine years ago we sold most of our businesses. I was ready to find the next opportunity. But, my wife pulled on my sleeve and encouraged me to slow down. She suggested that I take some time to think about what I really wanted for the next phase of my life. At first it was hard for me, as I had lots of opportunities to examine and possible deals to pursue. But she is wise, and I listened to her advice. I took my time and really examined what I wanted to do next.
With time I realized that I wanted to spend more time with my family. I realized that there were other things for me to do besides another business start-up. I realized that I missed college teaching. I had never taken the time to think about all of this in the heat and excitement of building a business. But, once we sold our business I could take time to reflect and discern: and my wife made sure that I did.
Entrepreneurship is a wonderful path in life. I will always be grateful for the opportunities and challenges it offered me. But, I realized that it was not all that I was called to do in life.
When life offers you a chance to pause and reflect, take advantage of it. You may jump on to the next deal and you can do so knowing it is where you need to be. But, you may realize it is time for a new chapter.
Even though my days as an active entrepreneur are probably over, I truly believe that my best days are yet to come. Success takes many forms.