Escaping the Nine to Five can be all about an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether it is a small, home-based business venture you’re starting to let you get out of the rat race, or you’re looking to start a global empire, you need to embrace a certain lifestyle, the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

What is the entrepreneurial lifestyle?

Well, the decision to become an entrepreneur of any description comes with both pros and cons, and to deal with the way of life it brings you, you have to embrace certain ways of life that you may not be used to, and that, my friends, is the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Here is my take on it in bite size chunks:

• Prepare for irregular paychecks. This is perhaps the most important advice I can give you if you’re supporting people or have bills to pay. There’s very rarely an entrepreneur who manages to keep a paycheck at a similar level every month, and you need to be ready for this, whether your version of being ready is taking a part time job, saving a few months wages as a backup plan, or looking at your lending options (not always advised), you need to be ready for the fact that you might have lean months.
• Don’t do it alone, but look after number one. This is a delicate balance. An entrepreneur has to have a team around him, and a support network for emotional reasons as well as business reasons. There are plenty of people out there who can help you, but dont be mistaken, there are just as many who will screw you over for personal benefit. Build your network, and keep your eye out.
• Handle risk, but be sensible. You just have to take risks in the world of working for yourself, risks with your money, and with your time. Calculate them to the best of your ability, do your research and be responsible, but once you’ve taken that risk you have to have faith and follow through with it, without going crazy about the risk you have taken. It is better to try and fail, trust me.
• Build your determination and perseverance. The entrepreneur lifestyle requires both of these in abundance. You have to stick at projects, trust me, 99 out of 100 wont go to plan, and it’s your job to have the determination to put it back on track. It wont happen quickly either, and you need to persevere with whatever it is that you’re looking to achieve.
• Learn how to stay inspired. You’ll feel like throwing it all away at times, you’ll get setbacks and you’ll forget why you’re even persevering in the first place, but keeping your inspirational literature, movies, music and photographs will help you stay inspired, as well as having a notebook, where you write about the times when you feel inspired and the reasons you keep going. This part is different for everybody, but find your muse and learn to pick yourself up when times get hard.

Lifestyle isn’t just mindset though. My tips for the way you live your life include…

• Have a structure. You still need times set aside to do chores and work, even if you are your own boss.
• Have a plan. You’ll go off track without a plan.
• Dont isolate yourself. It’s easy to spend a lot of time alone without an office job, but you cant afford to do this, you’ll go crazy! Make sure you stay around people, whether it’s joining a club or just getting more people involved in your projects.
• Keep those you love close. Cheesy, I know, but your loved ones will keep you sane, working hard, and inspired.
• Embrace your freedom. You’ve escaped the nine to five. Enjoy it…