That title sounded very ‘Woke generation’ even as I typed it. But don’t judge it too harshly, just take a walk with me. I was recently in a conversation with a friend who’s known me for about 6 years, so pretty well by all standards. And as we spoke, I happened to mention that I don’t consider myself an entrepreneur.

She was taken aback.

“But that’s your thing Alex!?” she exclaimed.

I couldn’t blame her. In the time she had known me, i’d been running an Entrepreneurs Business Community the whole time, and been involved as a Co-founder of a fashion brand, plus she knew well of my history with a farming investment enterprise.

So of course she asked me to explain myself.

Somewhere after I turned 35, I did a personal accomplishments audit, as I had started grappling with the BIG question, “If today was my last day on earth, what will my life amount to?”. Not a fun question, but a sobering one.

I realised 3 things, all backed by tangible evidence built over about 15 years of adulting;

  1. I had had a great career, consistently a step ahead of the game, and an income that matched my progress.
  2. I had founded or co-founded multiple businesses, succeeded in some, killed some, exited some and accepted failure in others, but net net, my business track record was Meh! at best.
  3. I had contributed to the success of numerous mid sized companies, either as a consultant, an advisor or just a supportive friend, and net net, my impact here was quite something.

Of the three paths I had trodden, I uncovered the following insights;

  1. I had pivoted my career multiple times, primarily because I would repeatedly hit celeings where the JD no longer excited me.
  2. I’m a great product builder and growth manager, but a mediocre business administrator.
  3. I love fixing problems, generating insights, getting my hands dirty with the ‘people on the ground’ and overall just being close to where the value is being generated.

It occured to me that if I could get paid enough to just do no.3 above, I would happily get out of bed each morning, and sleep contented each night. Ideally.

And so I prayed over it, and asked God to order my steps towards it, if it aligned with his will over my life. Safe to say he’s been doing just that. I’m not yet fully there, due to the aforementioned ‘get paid enough’ conundrum, but loving the journey so far.