Page 175 - The UnCaptive Agent

148 THE UNCAPTIVE AGENT

for employees, or at least for later in the development of
your agency. For many people, this idea of long hours is
a stumbling block. Is it for you? If it is, I can offer you
some hope along with a word of caution.
The hope I would offer is this: the advantage of
owning your business is that you can work flexibly. You
can integrate your personal life with your business. My
wife and I, for example, are both business owners. And
we begin our workdays early in the morning before
getting ready to leave the house for the day. We feel
free to take off during the day for needed personal
errands or recreation. After dinner, we typically work
more until we are ready to call it a day. So, our work is
chunked, as I’ve described above, but it adds up to more
than any employees.
The caution I also offer is that, in decades of working
with and knowing other businesspeople, I simply don’t
know any that are truly successful, and maintain that
success, without putting more time than they would if
they worked for someone else.
Everyone recognizes that astronauts are dedicated,
exceptional people. Adam Grant, Wharton School of
Business professor and author of many books, puts the
achievements of Christina Koch, who in 2020 set the
record of 328 days in space, the longest for any woman
astronaut, into perspective by saying, “She embraced
the grind.” He quotes Steve Jobs as saying,

I’m convinced that about half of what
separates successful entrepreneurs form the
non-successful ones is pure perseverance.
It is so hard. You pour so much of your
life into this thing. There are such rough
moments […] that most people give up.
I don’t blame them. It’s really tough.