The Five Things: #1 - Respect, But Do Not Love Your Job...

As promised (albeit a day late), here is the first of the five things I wish "I had known then, that I know now" with respect to making the transition from Employee to Entrepreneur.

Number 1 - Respect your job, but DO NOT "Fall in love" with your job.

I know a number of people who flat out hate their jobs. They get up at O'Dark Thirty, everyday, and put on work attire they hate, get in a car pool or mass transit or spend hours in traffic to spend 1/3 of the day God has given them with people they can not stand.

Quite Honestly, they need to quit and move on - life is too short.

However, I have also known people who enjoy what they do so much that they eventually "FALL IN LOVE" with their job - they, unfortunately are setting themselves up for a horrible sequence of events.

I firmly believe that right way to approach your job is to RESPECT IT.

Meaning, respect the power that a job (any job) has in its ability to set you up for long term success as an entrepreneur, if handled properly. Respect the fact that when it comes time to get a loan to buy your very first piece of real estate, which should be the home you live in, the "cheapest" money you could ever possibly hope for will be directly tied to your demonstrated income from your job.

Of course you knew this, but there are other significant benefits your job can provide for you that will become increasingly important as you transition into becoming an entrepreneur, and beyond.

But first I need to share with you a dirty little secret that all entrepreneurs, with employees, know but will rarely share with anyone, including their spouse.

[WARNING: The following information is of a Mature Nature - if you are not mature enough to handle it, please do not become angry with me... I'm just the messenger].

If you are reading this now while at work, you need to close your door, as what you are about to read may have a significant emotional impact on you. If you can not close the door I would suggest that you print this out and read it later when you get home. If you can not wait until then, you may want to take it into the bathroom stall, close the door and read it there. Please give yourself enough time to recover from what I am about to reveal to you.

WHY YOU MUST NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR JOB:

From the very minute of the hour of the very day you said "I DO" to your job, your job has been cheating on you.

Its true! Your job is a CHEATING LOVER!

What's worse is that it has NEVER been faithful to you.

Your job never stopped its "roving eye" behavior - NO, Not for a split second.
From Day 1 it has been on the look out for someone else to replace you.
In fact, your job has been secretly stealing from your paycheck every month, a little here - a little there, while scouting places overseas to sneak off with its "new lover" to settle down for a long lasting rendezvous.

I know you do not want to believe me, I know this may be tearing at your gut, but I am telling it to you straight.
Sooner or later you will get up at O'Dark Thirty, grabbing that one poorly fitting outfit because it is the only thing "clean", and fighting your way to the office - Only to discover that your job has left the country for some exotic place like Dehli, Bangalore or Tianjin.

No warning, no midnight "good-bye" phone call. No, not even a card or box of candy with a softly written note explaining why it needed to "move on..."

Like a slap across the face with an ice-cold fish, you will have raced out of the house with much anticipation to meet your job, your friend, only to discover it never loved you as much as you loved it...

In absolute shock you will go through the four phases:

1 - DENIAL, saying things like, "This only happens to automobile assembly workers", this could not possibly be happening to me. When I come back tomorrow, my job - my friend will be here to greet me". Of course, the escort out of the building by those whose jobs have not left them (yet), will be unsettling to you, but you will still not believe that your job has left. All the way home, adjusting your clothes, you will be saying, "It's o.k., my job is coming home tomorrow - it will be alright...";

2 - ANGER. Then somewhere around 4:00 AM, after an all night session alternating between tears and the shakes you will sit up in bed demanding an answer to the question: "How dare my job leave me - I gave my job the best I had to give..." Ultimately, you come to realize that your job not only left, it had been planning to leave you for years. No warning, just sneaking around and ultimately sneaking out in a manner similar to the infamous 1984, late night departure of the Baltimore Colts <- Wow, where did that come from. I guess I am still not past that.

3 - ACCEPTANCE. This is a critical turning point and can go in one of two directions: Recognition that your job was never going to love you the same way as you had came to love it, or (Unfortunately) shouldering the blame for your job's inability to be honest and faithful to you. The most dangerous thought that can enter your mind at this point is "My job is gone, my job was wonderful, if only I had been better to my job it would never have left me..." DON'T GO THERE, FRIEND. Your job was using your from day one. Getting all it wanted while being continuously on the prowl for another...

4 - MOVING ON. The worst thing, of course, that you can do in this final phase is to seek out another job in the expectation that it too will be faithful. IT WONT. All Jobs are wired the same way, and sooner or later it too will leave you. Ignoring your needs - Stomping all over your emotions and sending you once again through the Employee-Job Roller Coaster Relationship.

Stop the insanity - Don't "Fall in Love" With Your Job!

Now, before you think that I am a jaded (former) employee, please take note. Award Winning New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman authored a national best seller a few years ago called: THE WORLD IS FLAT, a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. If you have not read it yet, you need to! (by the way, if you ever get the opportunity to hear Tom speak live - DO IT! He is one of the world's top public speakers, absolutely AMAZING).

In THE WORLD IS FLAT, Tom outlines why as we enter the 21st Century, we as a nation will see jobs come and go at an accelerating rate. In fact, and I believe Tom is correct, there is currently no job today that will be around in the next 5-7 years. That's correct. Every job that we know of today will either be "reinvented", or "off shored" within the next 5-7 years.
This goes for Federal employees, and shoe manufacturers alike. IT workers already know this, but if you think you are safe because, "My job is different", it is only a matter of time before you too are left broken hearted, sobbing on the bathroom floor screaming "why me..."

So you are saying now - "O.k. Sherman, what the heck has this got to do with RESPECT MY JOB...?!!" Simply put, "Learning to Respect Your Job" is not the same as "Falling In Love With Your Job".

I'm out of space (and time), but come back tomorrow and I'll share with you exactly why I think it is important that you learn to respect your job...