The Pursuit Of Happiness

Entrepreneur, Oct, 1999

Can't get no satisfaction? Maybe it's time to change your tune.

Remember the kids' song that goes, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands"? If I posed that to you today, would you be clapping? In the article "Are You Satisfied?" on page 84, frequent contributor Gayle Sato Stodder looks at the issue of entrepreneurial satisfaction, not from the global perspective, but from the individual's point of view. And we're not only wondering whether you're happy with your business - we're examining whether you're happy with your life.

Is that important? I think so. Many of us grew up with fathers too busy climbing the corporate ladder to connect with their families (fortunately, I did not). Then women entered the business world in full force, and the word "balance" took on a whole new meaning. Who can forget that vivid illustration of a busy career woman pounding her forehead exclaiming, "I forgot to have a baby!"?

Entrepreneurship is a 24/7 undertaking. And there are times - at both the beginning and during growth spurts - that the day's 24 hours seem inadequate. Yes, you have to work extraordinarily hard to make it. But it can't be all about work. It has to be about life as well. About a year ago, as we were transforming our sister magazine, Entrepreneur's Business Start-Ups, into one focused on young entrepreneurs (ages 35 and under), a Gen X entrepreneur said to me, "We work hard, but unlike your generation, we like to play hard, too."

How about you? Do you play hard? Do you play at all? Age isn't the issue. My brother's softball team just won a tournament. Ron pinch-hit the game-winning home run in one game and went four for four (including a grand slam) in the next. He's nearly 45.

Time isn't the issue, either. Just as you make the time to work, you have to make the time to play.

I'm not going to tell you how to live. If you can honestly say "I'm satisfied with my life," and all you do is work, fine. It's your life. Keep working. But at least take the time to answer the adult version of the "if you're happy" song (with apologies to REM): "It's the end of the century as we know it. Do you feel fine?"