I was at a party recently, chatting with another entrepreneur, and she said
“We work 24/7 so we don’t have to work 9-5.”
Boom.
Likewise, (perhaps a different insight), an entrepreneur I spoke to in London said his
teenage daughters said, “Dad, why don’t you get a hobby?”. He said “My business is
my hobby”.
From the outside, it may look crazy. Professionals with the “good jobs” who can
“switch off” (but not always). Meanwhile you’re answering emails 24/7, sketching
ideas on napkins, and waking at 3am with solutions to problems you didn’t
consciously know you were solving.
They worry about your “balance.” Your loved ones tell you to slow down.
Are we looking at the wrong scoreboard?
———
I grew up in a farming family. Third-generation. Physical yakka. Up before the sun.
But here’s what that farm taught me about business that no MBA ever could: A
farmer doesn’t work the land for today’s harvest. A farmer works the
land for a future they can see but no one else can yet.
That’s what entrepreneurs do. We’re farmers, not 9-5 workers. The 9-5 model is
dying anyhow. Your time for their money. Predictable. Safe. And for many people,
perfectly fine.
But for us? For the ones who lie awake at 2 am not because we’re stressed but because
we’re building something?
That model was never going to work.
———
The Entrepreneur’s Bargain
We’re not working around the clock because we failed to find balance.
We’re investing around the clock so we never have to ask permission again.
→ The 9-5 gives you a wage. Entrepreneurship gives you equity in your own future.
→ The 9-5 gives you 4 weeks holiday approved by someone else. Entrepreneurship
gives you the ability to choose – eventually – every single day.
→ The 9-5 trades time for money. Entrepreneurship trades intensity for freedom.
❌ The world says: “That’s unsustainable.”
✅ The entrepreneur says: “It’s temporary. And it’s strategic.”
———
This is not about glorifying the grind.
Working 24/7 with purpose and a plan is an investment strategy. Working 24/7
without purpose is just burning candles at both ends until there’s nothing left.
“Don’t ever attach yourself to a person, a place, a company, an organisation, or a
project. Attach yourself to a mission, a calling, a purpose ONLY. That’s how you
keep your power & your peace.”
The difference between those two is everything. I’ve been both versions.
The 24/7 is not the lifestyle. The 24/7 is the vehicle. It gets you somewhere. And then, if you do it right, you get to design your days.
———
So If You’re In the Thick of It Right Now…
Exhausted. Questioning. Wondering if you’ve lost the plot.
Trust me. I’ve been there.
With the breakdowns come the breakthroughs.
You’re not working around the clock because you’re a workaholic. You’re doing it
because you refused to settle for someone else’s definition of what a working life
should look like. Because somewhere inside you there’s a vision of a future that only
you can see – and you’re crazy enough, courageous enough, and stubborn enough to
build it.
That’s not madness. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit.
Imposter Syndrome, Fear. If you’re feeling it, you’re on the right track. Keep moving, 24/7.
