Confucius had said, “You are lucky/blessed if your hobby becomes your profession.”
The fundamental question I am trying to address in this column is to see whether an entrepreneur is seeking pleasure in the journey of being an entrepreneur.
Is it okay to seek pleasure in what you do? Is the PQ (I mean the pleasure quotient) high in the life of an entrepreneur. We have traditionally looked down upon hedonists as pleasure-seeking escapists and not spiritual. Let me ask you if there is anything wrong with being joyful, happy and seeking positive experiences Isn’t that being spiritual too?
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| Anurag Batra |
According to me, anything that is within the norms of society and gives an individual happiness or satisfaction is spiritual and godly.
Though I have been married for many years I don’t confess to being a philosopher.
I met Gautam Singhania two years ago on his private jet, coming from Aurangabad to Mumbai. Gautam, who according to my sense, is an astute businessman and a very knowledgeable professional contrary to his public image, said to me in jest, “Anurag, my job is to recruit the best CEO so that I can have fun.” I always have said entrepreneurs exist perpetually in a single state and you can either say they are having fun as they love their work or you can say they work 24x7. For them entrepreneurship is about enjoying what they do and seeking more of it. As they do not see it essentially as work but as a hobby, they experience pleasure.
Of course, entrepreneurship is an attitude and even in a job, a manager needs to have an entrepreneurial spirit to kindle the flame of pleasure and fun to excel. I am a good example of someone who likes what he does. I have made a business of building communities embarking on this journey.
A lot of young people come to me seeking advice and I always tell them to find something that they love doing, discover it and do it all their lives. That is being an entrepreneur.
Am I trivializing entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship by presenting such a simplistic view of it? I don’t think so.
Is entrepreneurship a bed of roses to borrow from a Jon Bon Jovi song?
So go out there and have fun and entrepreneurship will find you.
Anurag Batra is real life, first-generation entrepreneur who is Much Below Average (MBA) from the prestigious Management Development Institute, MDI. When he is not busy writing such columns, he can be reached at anuragbatrayo@gmail.com.
Anurag is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of exchange4media group which includes exchange4media.com.
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