I was never an “entrepreneurâ€. I was not that guy running lemonade stands at age 14 or working in my parents’ garage on a software company at 24. I enjoyed college, trudged my way through law school, and sent a ton of resumes out for “traditional†jobs.
It wasn’t until 2004, when I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, that something triggered inside of me.
At that time, I seemingly had a great job, that any lawyer would love: I was VP Operations and In House Counsel of a growing software company. But after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, I realized that I was just a small cog in a growing corporate wheel. I realized I was not getting the tax benefits of being on my own. And I began to think more critically about where I wanted to go in life.
I saw where my professional trajectory was heading, tech executive and lawyer, and while on the face of it this sounded great, it became apparent that this just wasn’t for me personally. It just wasn’t in alignment with my unique genius. I began to realize that my skills, passion and happiness were really found in doing something else, and not being a tech lawyer. So I left.
Let me repeat: You don’t need to already be an entrepreneur to leave law behind. You just need to think critically and perform two steps: (1) Really make certain that leaving the law is what you want to do, and is in alignment with your unique genius, passions, skills and goals for happiness; and (2) be persistent and patient enough to take (and enjoy) the multiple baby steps required to create this new life.
Anyone can do it.