The Entrepreneurs Disease

I realized today that I have it.  No question about it.  I have Entrepreneurs Disease and there is just no denying it.  How do I know that my diagnosis is accurate?  Let me tell you…

Today was my very first day of my retirement from being CEO of MediConnect Global.  For the last nine years I have woken up every morning and rushed out the door without breakfast to the office, always at least ten minutes late for my first meeting of the day, and praying for a diet coke to magically appear on my desk to get me through my day.  I then spent my days in literal back to back meetings with executives, employees, on conference calls with clients, reviewing contracts, designing new technologies, coming up with new branding and marketing strategies, heading back into meetings, answering phone calls, wading through endless emails (that I could never actually get through), and then getting out the door when it was way past dark to head home and spend an hour or two writing my nightly blog to my employees before finally climbing into my bed, only to wake up five hours later and do it all again.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that most nights my dreams were full of to do lists and new brilliant business ideas that I hoped in my sleep to remember the next day, but usually didn’t.

For nine long years I have done that.  And for nine long years I have thought to myself, “I wonder what it would be like to have my life back?  I wonder what it would be like to not have a calendar packed full of appointments or an email box that was actually caught up each day?  I bet that would be glorious!”

And so I woke up today at 6:30am as I have done for so many years and I jumped out of bed and thought to myself “I have so much to do!  There is a website to build, business cards to finish, a new office space to build out, new furniture to order, insurance to setup, contracts templates to create, and meetings to attend.”  And for the entire day today I have worked my (not so little anymore) behind end off until I am finally sitting down to write my blog at 9pm at night.  And as I sat to write to all of you it hit me – I AM SICK!

My diagnosis was confirmed when I read this quote by Jeff Stibel, a brain scientist and author:

“Entrepreneurs are all in, all the time. Entrepreneurs love what they do and obsess over it. It is a predisposition; a path that has already been laid for you. It is a character trait, a labor of love, a zeal that cannot be trained, a condition that cannot be treated, an illness that cannot be caught. You’ve either got it or you don’t…”

Oh, my howdy I’ve got it!  I have Entrepreneurs Disease and there is just no denying it.  I don’t know how to not wake up and hit the ground running.  I don’t know how to have nothing to do.  And there is not a dad-gum thing that I can do about it.  It is in my DNA, so really I blame it on my Father who couldn’t waste a day if his life depended on it!  Yes, I am afflicted with the disease of being an entrepreneur and I think today is the first day of my life that I have resigned myself to that fact.  I am doomed to have a life full of hard working days, a life full of incredibly lofty goals that once accomplished simply grow larger and harder to achieve.  Yes today I realized, I am, and always will be, an entrepreneur.

So how do I feel about having this disease? I am going to accept it and embrace it, because that is who I am.  And I have realized today that I find my disease FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!  Why?  Because I love having an endless list of goals I want to achieve.  I love the challenge of seeing a problem and knowing I can create a solution for it.  I love the excitement that comes from building something from the ground up.  I love the thought of taking a vision and making it a reality.  I love the ability to surround myself with a great team.  I love the feeling I get when I can climb into bed at night knowing that I achieved as much as humanly possible that day without wasting a moment of this glorious life God gave me.  Yes, I LOVE being an Entrepreneur!  No treatment necessary :)…

~Amy

7 Comments

  • Brennan says:

    Awesome. Thank you Amy. Have a great day today.

  • Kim J. says:

    I have had moments where I hopped out of bed and said LETS ROCK AND ROLL! and it’s the weekend and all my ideas and thoughts I wanted to do and accomplished went POOF. I laugh and try to remember what I wanted to start my career or improve my career or start a business on. Good luck on your new adventures…..

  • Allegra says:

    “No treatment necessary.” I love it! My new motto considering I’ve caught the bug myself!

    Thanks, Amy!

  • Connie says:

    Yup, I think you have it. Enjoy. Have a great day. Love ya

  • Steph Featherstone says:

    Sounds like me with writing. No matter what I do or how hard I try I will always be a writer. There will always be stories running around in my head and there’s no getting away from it! But, I love it. “No treatment necessary”; I quite agree. 😉 I’m glad you can keep busy, even if you’re no longer our CEO! 😀

  • Vibha says:

    Guess what, I always knew you had this disease! And that is why the image of you “retiring” as CEO was just not sinking in!
    And I can tell you the treatment as well, since I am a homeopathic physcician and we believe that “like cures like”. So, yes, just do more of the same!
    I am so glad your life is as full as ever.

    Highest regards, Vibha

  • Leta says:

    I’ve had that disease, it’s wonderfully fulfilling and I miss it greatly. Congratulations on your “no treatment necessary” condition.

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