Am I An Entrepreneur?

Alex Charfen: This week, speaking in Phoenix, I had an intense interaction with an audience member who was a mother of 5 kids and wanted to know if she really should be an entrepreneur. I'll share with you what I asked her that revealed that she didn't really have a choice.

I'm Alex Sharfin, and this is the Momentum Podcast. Made for empire builders, game changers, trail blazers, shot takers, record breakers, world makers, and creators of all kinds. Those among us who can't turn it off and don't know why anyone would want to. We challenge complacency, destroy apathy, and we are obsessed with creating momentum so we can roll over bureaucracy and make our greatest contribution.

Sure, we pay attention to their rules, but only so that we can bend them, break them, then re-write them around our own will. We don't accept our destiny, we define it. We don't understand defeat because you only lose if you stop, and we don't know how.

While the rest of the world strives for average and clings desperately to the status-quo, we are the minority, the few who are willing to hallucinate there could be a better future. And instead of just daydreaming of what could be, we endure the vulnerability and exposure it takes to make it real.

We are the evolutionary hunters, clearly the most important people in the world because entrepreneurs are the only source of consistent, positive human evolution. And we always will be.

I had an incredible time speaking last weekend. The Two Comet Axis Event in Phoenix. I keep sharing different things that happened there because it was just such an intense event. 300 people and tons of questions. I don't think I've ever answered that many questions in one day.

At one point during the day, a woman stood up, she walked up to one of the microphones. And she asked me a really revealing set of questions. She said, "You know, I'm here, and I'm at this event, and I don't know if I should be an entrepreneur. I'm a mom of 5 kids." I think it was 5 or maybe 6 kids. "I'm a mom of 5 or 6 kids." And she had the right number. She didn't say 5 or 6, but I can't remember exactly what it was. I just remember the rest of the interaction was so intense.

She said, "I have this feeling that I wanna be here, that I wanna be an entrepreneur, that I wanna do more. But I don't know if it's gonna be good for my kids, cause I also homeschool." Which I relate to, cause we homeschool.

And she said, "I was thinking that maybe what I could do is just get my husband to be the entrepreneur, and then that way, I wouldn't be so driven to do this."

And I kind of laughed a little bit. I said, "You know, we have 3 awakenings of the entrepreneurial personality type. I wanna ask you the questions to see how you feel about them, and to reveal to you whether you should be here or not or whether you're an entrepreneur or not."

I said, "The first awakening of every entrepreneur in history is that they knew they were different. When did you first know you were different?" And she answered, "I knew I was different right around the time I got married and started having kids, and I realized I was different than those around me." And I said, "Okay, so you passed the first awakening of the entrepreneurial personality type."

"The second one is when you discovered you had innate motivation. That feeling that you just have this drive. Psychology tells us we need to have extrinsic or intrinsic motivation in order to want to move forward, to want to do something. And entrepreneurs just have innate motivation." I said, "Can you turn it off?" And she looked at me, looked down, then looked back at me and said, "No. I can't."

I said, "Okay, well then there's only one other thing that I need to ask you, and that is have you heard the call of contribution? And that is that voice in your head that's telling you you need to do more, be more, leave more behind, make more happen here. Are you hearing that?"

And she looked at me, looked down again, and then looked back and said, "I am." I said, "How loud is it?" She said, "Really loud." I said, "Well, then I will tell you that this isn't a choice for you. It's not if you want to be an entrepreneur. It's not if you want to do this. It's you're already doing this. And I know it sounds great to think that maybe you could have your husband do it. But I want you to know that won't satisfy what's going on for you right now. That won't make a difference in how you're feeling right now, because what you're actually feeling is that you want to do this."

And she got tears in her eyes. She started to break down. And she said, "But I don't know if this will be good for my kids. I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do all of it." I said, "You know, it won't be good for your kids if you are struggling to hold yourself back and to not do what you know you really won't to do. It won't be good for your kids if they see their mom struggling to be who she wants to be and holding herself back."

And I said, "What if instead what your kids saw was their mom achieving and doing what she wanted to do, and being who she wanted to be, and actually being able to move forward and create something incredible in the world. What if you were the example of what it is to be successful for your kids?"

And she got kinda ... gathered her composure and said, "You know, I think I can do that." And I said, "I think you can, too." And it was one of the most intense exchanges that I've had at an event. Because she was standing in front of 300 people and completely and totally broke down, but it was because she had that same drive, that same motivation we all have.

And sometimes being an entrepreneur is so hard because we just wanna be able to turn it off and be like everybody else. And in some situations, especially when you have kids at home and a husband, and you're homeschooling, and then you have this drive to go do more, be more, make a contribution, and show the world who you really are, sometimes it would be easier if we could just shut it down.

But that's not who we are. See, quitting is just a fantasy for people like us. And once we realize what we want and who we're meant to be, we can't turn it off. We can't make it go away. We can't make it go in another direction. We will move forward, or we will struggle with the consequences.

And that's what I told her. And apparently what happened was after we had our exchange, she met up with some people who were at the event, and they talked to her and they worked some things out and gave her an idea of how not only could she start a business, but do it with her kids, and be an example for her kids, and show them that they could be entrepreneurs as well.

And if you've ever wanted to do more and be more, if you know that you were different than everybody else, if you have that innate drive that doesn't need a motivation external for you or internal for you, it's just there and you can't turn it off, I want you to know, you are just like her, and you're just like me.

We are evolutionary hunters. We are driven to do more, be more, to go into the future, create a new reality, come back to present and demand it becomes real. Unapologetically, we are the small percentage of the population of human beings that keeps the human tribe alive.

And we should push forward, do what we wanna do, and make things happen in our lives, because that is our birthright. That is who we are, and that is who we are meant to be.

And I don't know what that woman's name was. And I'm sure I'll find out sometime soon. But if you're listening, and you hear this, I just want you to know that exchange with me, that question you asked, the bravery that you showed getting up in front of that room and revealing this insecurity, this frustration that you've had inspired every single person in the room. And just that proved that you have what it takes to go out, start a business, build an empire, make a massive contribution, and change the world. Thank you for that.

And if you're listening, and you think it's time for you, and you wanna know more about yourself and understand how to create momentum as an entrepreneur, go get a copy of my book. We're giving it away free right now. Go to freemomentumbook.com. All you do is pay for shipping, and we will ship you a hard copy of the book. Freemomentumbook.com.

Get a copy of The Entrepreneurial Personality Type. Most entrepreneurs say that book has told them more about themselves than anyone ever has, and I wanna share it with you. I'll even pay for it. Freemomentumbook.com.