Life as Self-employed vs Being an Employee

Based on my experiences with meeting people who work for others and ones who are self-employed, I have to say in general the first category are not happy with their job to say the least. They often complain about not being treated with respect, appreciation, work overload etc and how they wish they could quit, retire, or start their own business if they only they were younger, had the drive etc. The work is just means to an end, as in the almighty paycheck

And interestingly enough for those who are self-employed; they seem very mellow, content, easy-going, calmer, yet aware that they don't have it easy either, as it all rides on them. More responsibility but also freedom to be themselves and having passion for what they want to do. Make mistakes, learn, grow, they understand the cycle. These sort of people strike me as having strong souls in comparison to the above who appear small-minded and seem to live in a stage of fear in the life of the leash and collar.

So which road have you chosen or started off with but ended up with and why?

Do you have any regrets or you like how it all worked out?

And for those entrepreneurs what inspired you to go off the beaten path and start your own business?

Based on my experiences with meeting people who work for others and ones who are self-employed, I have to say in general the first category are not happy with their job to say the least. They often complain about not being treated with respect, appreciation, work overload etc and how they wish they could quit, retire, or start their own business if they only they were younger, had the drive etc. The work is just means to an end, as in the almighty paycheck

And interestingly enough for those who are self-employed; they seem very mellow, content, easy-going, calmer, yet aware that they don't have it easy either, as it all rides on them. More responsibility but also freedom to be themselves and having passion for what they want to do. Make mistakes, learn, grow, they understand the cycle. These sort of people strike me as having strong souls in comparison to the above who appear small-minded and seem to live in a stage of fear in the life of the leash and collar.

So which road have you chosen or started off with but ended up with and why?

Do you have any regrets or you like how it all worked out?

And for those entrepreneurs what inspired you to go off the beaten path and start your own business? Originally Posted by Zabrina Sarafina

Going to disagree with you on some of your assumptions. Only people who work for someone else want to retire?
Did the owner of the small business that hauls used vegetable oil away from a restaurant have a passion to smell like Colonel Sanders? The owner of a farm animal rendering service dream of collecting dead animals for recycling? Are these owners respected and appreciated by the general public? I don't think so. They saw a business need and filled it. They did it to make a paycheck. And many can hardly wait to retire. i am able to have both a high degree of passion and job satisfaction for the job I perform because I don't perform any of the other jobs associated with owning the business (admin/accounting/hr/buyer etc.). Am I overworked sometimes? Of course I am. You don't think a small business owner, the guy where the buck stops, isn't overworked? A lot more than me? You would be wrong.

And so on. Your statements are anecdotal at best.
In my opinion, a small business owner in general, who is content, mellow, calm or easy going is either a prozac salesman or owns a business getting ready to swallowed by a competitor.
Making mistakes and learning from them is how all people learn. Like all subjects, understanding the cycle is something some learn better than others. How many small businesses go tits up every year?

As far as how did I end up where I am at?

Everything I have done in my life has led to where I am at now.

"Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption"

"My Way"
Lyrics by Paul Anka
Music by Claude François and Jacques Revaux,