You need money.

Money to pay for stuff.

Important stuff, like food, housing, and everything that goes along with life.

You can either work for others or work for yourself.

There seems to be the myth that being your own boss is better than working for someone else.

The dream of independence is what drives many to fantasize that Self-Employment is freedom.

But let me share with you a little secret.

Self-employment is not freedom.  It means you have to hustle to find people to pay you to do whatever it is that you do.

It’s sort of like a non-stop search for employment, a friend told me a few years ago.

If you are going to go it alone, then you need to be able to sell, manage books, and a lot of things that probably go beyond your chosen field.

There is also a few myths about the world of being an employee.

One is that the company needs you and as long as you do a reasonable good job you can stay there forever.

Another is that the company is out to screw you and your co-workers, so you better not get to comfortable.

I realize that I’m not painting a pretty picture of any of the work-for-money options.

Having worked for large and small companies for over 1/2 my life and being an observer of life has taught me a few lessons, along with discussions I’ve had recently with some close friends.

You need to take responsibility for yourself, no matter who pays you.

The job you have when you are 25 is not the job you will have when you are 45.  And now it’s likely that you will make a job change or even career change or two or three after you turn 50.

The type of responsibility I am referring to means doing the very best at what you are being paid to do, along with continuing to learn and improve yourself for what comes next in life.

It means not waiting for others to recognize  you and promote you, but to show others what you can do in a purposeful way.  It also means to play offence, not defense.  Offence in the employment world means moving forward in a positive manner. Defense is making excuses, trying to justify failure, blaming others.  No one wins long term when you are always playing defense.

I believe there are some folks who are willing to jump out there in this world and be the self-employed types and they will have success and failure because they keep trying.

There are also entrepreneur types who work for others. These folks understand what I’m talking about regarding working for an employer and also taking responsibility for themselves.  Employers are fortunate to have these people on their team and yet very few of these folks will stay forever.

If you are not happy with your current job, but are terrified of the overwhelming idea of being 100% self-employed, perhaps you are one of these entrepreneur employees.  And that’s okay.