Who has more autonomy over their lives – an entrepreneur or an employee with a boss?
The reason several people turn to entrepreneurship is to have greater autonomy. Being an employee comes with its obligations – to one’s boss and to the employer’s goal. As an entrepreneur, you have greater power to choose your obligations.
A choice over one’s obligations. Let that sink in for a moment.
Merely having the ability to choose your obligations doesn’t mean that they disappear. Most entrepreneurs, at least when they start out, have very little leisure. Their work takes over most of their life. An employee working a 9 to 5 has their evenings and weekends free, and predictably so. Besides, several entreprenuers also have bosses in the form of investors or key customers.
Ergo, to be an entreprenuer doesn’t automatically translate to more autonomy. Many entreprenuers only learn this the hard way, after having slogged through several years in the prime of their lives, and often after multiple burnouts.
In the hustle culture of the 21st century, leisure often takes a backseat. But leisure is the wellspring of the quality of your work and your life. If you value quality over quantity, protect your leisure.
Observations 