You could have just asked us

Most self employed people will tell you the same thing: yes, we work longer hours than we would if we had a traditional job. We may even make a little less money than we might otherwise, but we don't see that as a problem. We enjoy our work, we enjoy our lives.

Yet the rest of the world seems to think we must be unhappy. A recent Canadian study surveyed the self employed and found happy, productive people. The report I reference below seems mildly surprised by that; after all, self employment is "unstable". I always find that amusing: ask someone who was just laid off about stability. Self employed people don't get laid off. They may give up, they may fail miserably, but nobody ever lays them off because some spreadsheet in a far away office doesn't have the right numbers at the bottom.

We work longer hours? OK, but we get to choose when we put in that time. If we have other things that need doing, we can do them, and don't have to put up with an inflexible schedule that someone else designed. That's why we are happy: we control our lives.

Link: Entrepreneurs generally enjoy happier work life

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