Breaking the Bonds of Linear Thinking
As most of you know, after 25+ years as an Entrepreneur, I have chosen to give back by mentoring entrepreneurs in the areas of personal development and growth. I specifically help Entrepreneurs transform into Blisspreneurs (more on what this actually means in a future post). I’ve worked with just over 180 entrepreneurs in the last four years. As a result of my work, I have a new theory that I would like to share for the first time anywhere.
The vast majority of Entrepreneurs are prone to linear thinking. They believe that if they accomplish A, then they can then pursue B. While this way of thinking makes sense as a business strategy, it can wreak havoc with their personal lives. Why? Cause they develop the habit of putting important desires off, once A is achieved. Linear thinking.
What does it mean to do things in a linear fashion? It means progressing from one stage to another in a single series of steps that are sequential. In simple speak, it means we arrange things in a particular order.
So what are some of the things we arrange? The big four for most Entrepreneurs are financial freedom, time freedom (without guilt), joy and love. Let’s take a look at each to see if we approach these four in a linear way.
How mpmany times do we hear business owners say, “If we can just get our sales, revenue or profit to X, then we can (........fill in the blank.........)”. What words come to mind for the fill in the blank part? May I suggest a few? Relax, enjoy life more, expand, grow, hire, buy my dream home, sell the business, move into a nicer office, (and my favorite) work less and spend more time with my family. Entrepreneurs should see these types of thoughts for what they really are - limiting beliefs that lead to major sacrifices for both their businesses and their personal lives.
Moving on to time freedom. As a business owner, do you ever think or find yourself saying, “Once we achieve X (usually a sales number or a revenue figure), then we can (......fill in the blank........)”. What words come to mind here? How about work less, take more time off, take more vacations, and spend more time with our families. Interesting how similar these thoughts are to the ones we have about financial freedom. If I can just get this, then I’ll have this!
So, where does joy fit in the sequence? If you are a Blisspreneur from the get go, meaning you choose to start a business aligned with your purpose that makes you feel alive, then chances are you put joy first. But, the evidence tells me that most Entrepreneurs put it third. Meaning, it’s common for them to think (it would hurt to actually say it out loud), that there will be time for joy after financial freedom and time freedom are achieved. Will there?
My experience tells me that if you put joy off for too long, one of four things is likely to happen. One, tragedy occurs, changing your stance on this way of thinking completely. Divorce, health scare, business declines, etc. Two, we achieve financial freedom and time freedom only to find that we are super unhappy, feel lost and lack clarity on what to do with all our money and time. This is a result of losing touch with what brings us joy in the first place. Too much time spent focused only on the other two. Three, we die with a bunch of money and someone talks about all our business achievements at our funeral. Ok, a bit morbid and not my usual inspirational thought, but worthy of mentioning here because this happens a lot! Four, we grudgingly retire and learn to experience joy in new ways. Happy Ending!
Another phenomenon that feeds this linear existence is the practice of business buyers forcing founders to stay on for a few years after they sell their business for transition purposes. Talk about sacrifice. This is when the real pain begins. Want to see an Entrepreneur suffer? Watch what happens when they go from being the boss to being an employee. It’s not pretty. Very few Entrepreneurs embrace this transition with grace. It’s often a disaster on multiple fronts. Like asking a lion to be a puppy.
Love appears to be the only one of the big four that is not treated in a linear way by most Entrepreneurs. We seek and enjoy love over a lifetime. You would never hear an Entrepreneur say, “I will begin loving my spouse more once I retire.” However, entrepreneurs are known to neglect those they love, sacrificing important loving relationships for work on a regular basis. We say things like “everything I do is for you and our kids! This is why I work so hard! Why can’t you see this?” So, one could argue that many Entrepreneurs take love for granted. If this is true, the aren’t we attaching some form of linear thinking to love as well?
Maybe it’s time for us Entrepreneurs to analyze this deeper. Maybe we should reconsider linear thinking and where and when it should be applied. Perhaps breaking the bonds of linear thinking is an important pathway to the personal development and growth we most desire. I’ll be delving into this more often with those that I mentor, while keeping an eye on it myself.
