This is a really interesting perspective, the idea that we all play a part in “the machine.” It’s true that every invention of human creation has the potential to become machine-like in parts.

At one end of the active entrepreneur spectrum, you have people who believe they must be self-employed to feel happy and fulfilled, and at the extreme end of the spectrum, you have entrepreneurs who claim they are “totally unemployable” {I hate this phrase} because they are so into doing their own thing they just “can’t” play by anyone else’s rules. I do wonder if there’s a narcissistic streak in many entrepreneurs, or a plain old unwillingness to fit into anyone else’s status quo.

I’m a really good employee — I actually love {or used to love} following other people’s rules and being a part of a system, a good player — but after four years of self-employment, I think it’d be tough to show up on someone else’s time clock.

And it strikes me as I type this how really frickin’ lucky we are as individuals if we get to make these decisions for ourselves and about our livelihoods. I never want to be shortsighted about that.

Thanks for provoking my thoughts today! Anybody else want to weigh in on this?