What Do Entrepreneurs Do In Their Free Time?
I’ve been an entrepreneur for most of my life.
At 8, I was the kid selling Oreos on the side of the street.
At 12, I was buying computer parts, assembling computers and selling them
online to random people I met or on platforms like eBay.
At 22, I began my career in acting as well as my career in digital marketing which ultimately led me to work on some of the biggest film sets in the world coaching and acting alongside movie stars as well as build a multi-million dollar agency.
What did I do in my free time? This is a question that I often ask myself to ensure that I’m having enough time to enjoy and relax. I traveled the world to around 40 countries, hiked the most beautiful mountain ranges, scuba dove most beautiful coral reefs, and floated in the Dead Sea at the lowest point on earth.
However, I noticed something deep inside me mostly every time I was laying on a beach, trekking a mountain or just backpacking from city to city. I was always thinking about work, ideas, and goals.
On the beach I’d be reading books about marketing and business. When trekking, I’d be brainstorming the next idea. While backpacking from city to city or vacationing with friends, I’d always be so excited and looking forward to be back in my office and normal life routine: read, write, go to the office, work, work out, have some wine, decompress, rinse and repeat.
Seth Godin, one of the top writers in the marketing field has a great quote that always has stuck with me.
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should setup a life you don’t need to escape from.
I believe that for the majority of entrepreneurs, we love what we do so much and are so innately driven my habit that the lines of free time are blurred with work time. If I had more ‘free time’ I’d be spending that time reading, gaining more knowledge, optimizing my efficiency, thinking of new ideas, talking with friends about new ideas.
Ultimately, this begs the question of what do you define as free time?
If free time means simply time that isn’t directly involved in working in or on my business, then I’d say:
- Playing strategic board games (e.g. Settlers of Catan)
- Exercising to give the mind a break from thinking about work (e.g. High intensity workouts such as CrossFit, strategic workouts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Yoga and meditation to improve flexibility and mindfulness.)
- *Playing Video Games* (I do know some entrepreneurs will play video games once in awhile to decompress and just take the mind off work. I’ve done this in the past with League of Legends because it makes me totally have to take my mind off anything work related.)
- Reading books (e.g. I personally love biographies on people like Da Vinci, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin)
- Watching films and documentaries about interesting things (e.g. Cosmos)
- Hanging out with friends or significant other. (Of course it’s important to spend time with friends! Make sure you’re choosing the right friends that motivate/support you and make you the best version of yourself though!)
To sum everything up, the point I’m trying to make is that as an entrepreneur, the work never ends, and that’s simply what we want. No time is free, it’s always an opportunity to be improving oneself mentally and physically, one’s business, and designing a life that provides fulfillment and joy.
Cheers to your journey,
Dominic
2 Comments
Hey Dom,
I found out about you from the post you made in the SAT Facebook group, and have been reading your content ever since. I know you’re probably very busy, but am glad you found the time to post again.
I just want to say thank you so much for making these posts; I feel like I’ve gained a lot of value from them. As someone who recently graduated college (and is also Chinese-American), a lot of what you described from your earlier years strongly resonates with me ( gaming, building PC’s, even failing to become a doctor). I still have most of my 20’s ahead of me, and honestly reading your posts both inspires me and makes me excited for the opportunities ahead.
Just out of curiosity, do you feel like your time traveling abroad helped shape you into who you are today? And if so, was there any experience in particular that had a huge impact on your life?
Keep up the good work! I’m sure there are many more like me who share similar sentiments. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 5 months for a new post (no pressure 🙂 )
Best,
David
Hey David,
Yeah life’s been busy for sure. I’m actually writing a long form memoir right now so I have a lot more content coming out in the near future. I get way more in depth with pretty much everything but it’s definitely just consumed so much of my time. Still trying to figure that balance out.
Regarding time traveling abroad – I’d say yes absolutely for sure it shaped me. Without a doubt, the experience that shaped me the most was my 1st time going back to China as a young adult (I was 16) and then studying abroad there in college. Afterwards, a few years ago I moved to Beijing and lived there for two years. I think I questioned a lot about my identity and grew a lot there. I started to really love the fact that I was Chinese, but also that I was American. I felt out of place, not fully fitting into either culture, but also special at the same time.
I always think about a Kanye West song that I love called “Everything I Am.” I realized that a lot of the things earlier in my life that I was insecure about actually was what made me special. Once I started to really embrace all my imperfection and realize that they truly were what made me unique and different, did my life start to really open up and I was able to be so so much more confident with who I am.
Anyways David, thanks for the kind words man. I also struggle with procrastination like everyone and writing takes so much effort haha. I’m really going to make a big effort to put out more meaningful content, or hopefully an agent/publisher picks up my book 🙂
Take care,
Dominic