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The Timeline Toward Economic Downfall (And The Rise of The Entrepreneurial Empire)  Photo Credit: www.marginalia.online By William Ballard Back in the day, the workforce was all about being loyal to a certain company, and then eventually retiring. That type of workforce mentality worked for a while (a couple decades, in fact), but then a new generation of workers began to saturate the workforce and loyalty became less and less important. Then came my generation. A generation that is made up of professional ambitious and zealous individuals that emphasize value over loyalty. The Baby Boomer Generation  Photo Credit: PBS Now, I can’t speak for my entire generation, but I, for one, am not trying to imply here that loyalty is no longer important. In fact, I find loyalty to be one of the most essential qualities for success. However, what I am saying is this: Loyalty without value cannot stand. Let me put it to you like this: The generation before me is finding themselves in a difficult time because, with getting laid off, they find themselves not able to find work. Or, at least, they find themselves not able to find work in their particular field of expertise. And because the older they get, they find that companies don’t want them — they find them as “old and washed up.” On the surface, it may appear that way, but I am hear to tell you: All is not lost! Just keep reading… you’ll be surprised to see what’s to come in the near future. The Philosophy of Generation X and Y Let me paint a picture for you: Let’s take a police officer that has been on the force for over 30 years. Some may say that that is a great accomplishment, and a noble one at that. And it certainly is. Please understand, I am not disagreeing with that by any means, but what I am saying is: Where is the nobility and admirability in just that? You see, it’s one thing to have spent 30 years on a police force (and I respect those that have), but not having anything to show for it — not having any intrinsic value to come out of such loyal and committed service — I find is a waste of time, a waste of 30 years. In other words, if you started off as a beat cop, and that is where you've been your entire career (for 30 years), then I find something wrong with that. You see, it shows a lack of personal, spiritual, and professional growth to me. You may be loyal to the force, which is noble, but what value have you added to the force? Value is what makes one admirable. My question is this: In that 30 years, what have you done of value as a police officer? What have you done to better the community you serve? Again, loyal service is great, but loyalty without intrinsic value cannot stand. Millennials  Take a look at what president Trump had to say about the “entitlement mentality” in his book, Think Like a Champion. "While working on one of my books, I spent some time thinking about the “entitlement mentality” that seems to have afflicted this country. I think we can take back a few decades to the emergence of what was called “instant gratification” as personified by the superstars and rock stars who emerged and made tremendous amounts of money, which very much impressed young people. Suddenly, everyone thought that they should have what those very few people had or that those people were “overnight” stars and it should happen that way to them, too. In reality, it happens to very few people and rarely does it happen “overnight” to anybody. Those are the exception to the rule, not the norm. But because they received so much media attention, people who had to struggle a bit or work for long years at something had the feeling they were being left out or that they were being treated unequally. They began to fill that the world owed them something." What Mr. Trump has stated above is what I would consider to be the "string of events" that orchestrated the time line toward economic downfall, instant gratification and the distorted perception of “overnight” success. What I've found most interesting about the generation under me is how easy they believe everything they see on television. In fact, some actually look at the made up fiction they see on Saturday Night Live and accept it as absolute truth. And if that isn’t enough, they don’t seem to realize that there favorite pop star is only selling them an image — that that “star” is one way on stage (or screen) but something completely different at home. In fact, you want to know where “fake news” came from? It’s the offspring of reality TV. It is the acceptance or belief in this delusional image that has affected the next generation. The generation that believes "the world owes them something." Think about how silly this “entitlement mentality” is for a second. You see, everything works by law. Consider the law of sowing and reaping (a.k.a. the law of the harvest). If we were to approach a field with this type of mentality, what we are essentially doing is demanding that the earth produce a harvest without us doing any planting or sowing — in other words, the world (or the earth) owes us something and it should produce in kind. Well, clearly, you and I can agree that the earth will never produce a harvest until we do the work and actually plant (sow) something worth reaping. The earth (the world) only “owes” us what we sow into it. Sow nothing, get nothing. The Rise of The Entrepreneurial Empire  As I stated earlier, all is not lost. The American Dream is not dead. Make way for the Entrepreneurial Empire. The future is entrepreneurship, and that is true more so now than ever before. The only ones that will succeed in the end are the ones that make the decision now to do whatever it takes to get out of the poor and middle class as soon as possible. To think BIG and to dream BIGGER. President Donald Trump had this to say in his book, Think Like a Champion, (words in parentheses are my own): “Not everything works out as we might hope it will, and certain fields require a bigger dose of luck to succeed in than others, but a very good way to pave your own way to success is to simply work hard, to be diligent [do your due diligence or be thorough in your work], and to look at what you have going for you versus what you don’t have going for you — the old cup half full versus half empty test. Here’s where I bring back my tried and true theory that you have to think big — because if you’re diminishing your own prospects, then it’s not likely you will run into a lot of luck. And part of doing your due diligence is to know what you want for yourself, not what other people want for you — which in many cases turns out to be not much!” Now, I must make it clear that I am not a huge advocate for “luck", but I do believe that we can create our own path to success through hard work — doing our due diligence — and by learning from those we admire and respect. If you do those things, success becomes inevitable. It’s a lot of determination mixed in with a little bit of help from those you admire. When I read that excerpt above I am reminded of what someone once said, “If I want to be free I have to be me; not the me you think I should be; not the me my wife thinks I should be; not the me my children think I should be; no, if I want to be free, I have to be me. And in order to do that, I have to know who me is.”
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Hi, my name is William Ballard!
I'm the Founder and CEO of William Ballard & Associates, LLC, where we work with incredible business owners and entrepreneurs like yourself every single day. We are big believers in the fact that the key to business success is effective business planning and courageous execution.
I'm the Founder and CEO of William Ballard & Associates, LLC, where we work with incredible business owners and entrepreneurs like yourself every single day. We are big believers in the fact that the key to business success is effective business planning and courageous execution.
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