Entrepreneurs, don't forget to have a job

The two things.  There's two things required to be an entrepreneur.  One is to acquire an ability to survive and keep food and jobs on the table (to be practical and focused on the long-term and short-term and your basic needs).  This is probably the fundamental "skill" that is hard for the typical entrepreneur (that they have to cover their bases and can't just go 100% crazy on their ideas).  Beyond skill one is the fun part of skill two, where the sky is the absolute limit for an entrepreneur.  This is the second skill: focus.

The basics.  Survival, as we obviously know, is absolutely key for us all.  Not everyone gets out of here alive!  We can't spend all of our time focusing on our passions, dreams, and ideas if we aren't caring for ourselves, putting food on the table, and doing the basic things that matter to survive, like having a job and some sustainable income source.  Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs tells us that we can't self-actualize if our basic needs (food, cash) aren't met.  This means that the entrepreneur must first be self-aware and focus on meeting these basic needs: get a job, pay the bills, be responsible, etc.  Don't be a bum and don't overly focus on just your passions if you haven't done these basic things.  Learn how to keep jobs, report up to bosses and be a true professional.  Without this you'll never get anywhere and rolling the dice in entrepreneurship is a huge and crazy risk!

The passion.  The second part is the fun and interesting part of entrepreneurship: doing it.  The second part is everything else that has to to with being an entrepreneur: coming up with ideas, sharing with people, building teams, building things, companies, products, plans, etc.  This is seriously the fun and exciting part.  It's all about passion.

So remember entrepreneurs, as my dad always told me, "Don't quit your day job".  Do the basics of having sustainable income and cash and figure out how to integrate total creativity and passion into your life.