Four years ago, in June 2021, I made the difficult decision to step off the traditional path and carve my own.

I walked away from a safe path—a great job with a predictable future—and chose to follow my energy into the unknown.

At the time, I thought I understood what I was getting into.

I didn’t.

Four years later, I wouldn’t change a thing, but there are a lot of lessons I wish I had learned earlier, as they would have made my journey more efficient and enjoyable.

Today, I want to share those lessons with you.

This isn’t going to be a “bet on yourself” puff piece. Far from it. This is the real stuff. The brutally honest, harsh truths I wish someone had told me before I made the leap. Not to scare me off, but to help me walk into it with my eyes wide open.

I hope they help you do just that.

Here are 5 harsh truths nobody told you about entrepreneurship…

1. Real freedom is terrifying.

Let’s get something straight: Entrepreneurship is not for everybody.

Over the last decade, social media gurus have sold a dream that anybody can bet on themself and become a millionaire working a few hours per week while sipping piña coladas on a beach.

It’s a great story if you’re selling a course or community, but it’s mostly a lie.

All of these people want to sell you the secret formula, but the truth is there’s no operating manual for entrepreneurship. There’s no recipe. There’s no “7 simple steps” to launch the business of your dreams.

Most people want the social media version of entrepreneurial freedom. In my experience, real entrepreneurial freedom looks…well…different.

Real freedom is terrifying.

It’s the recognition that everything is on you. It’s the acceptance that you have to hunt if you want to eat. It’s the accountability to recognize that when things aren’t going well, you are the only one who can change it. It’s staring out into the darkness. It’s riding the ups and downs. It’s the pain of the loss and the euphoria of the win.

Most people want the illusion of freedom. They wouldn’t last a few days with the reality.

But for those who accept the challenge, there is nothing more rewarding.

2. Most of society is built for traditional employment.

There are a lot of simple things that you take for granted as a traditional employee that disappear as an entrepreneur.

Like getting a mortgage to buy a house. The bank prefers a traditional (W2) employee making $100k per year to an entrepreneur making $250k per year.

Healthcare and benefits are much the same. Easy on the traditional path. Painful on the entrepreneurial path.

The truth is that a lot of the societal infrastructure was built around traditional employment. There are promising startups working to change that, but I have yet to see meaningful progress.

The point: Be prepared for headaches in unexpected places.

3. Lack of structure will be your worst enemy.

If you’re on a traditional path, your day has a clear, fixed rhythm. Leave for work by 8. Arrive at 9. Meetings until 12. Lunch. Emails until 2. Meetings until 5. Leave for home.

There’s a clear structure to your professional life.

In my opinion, the single greatest challenge facing new entrepreneurs is the lack of this structure in their days.

It’s a weird feeling waking up and not knowing what you should be doing. It’s oddly disconcerting. And for those who’ve grown accustomed to the structure of the traditional path, it can be a significant blocker to progress.

The best advice I can offer: Create clear structure to your days. Even if it’s malleable and subject to change, having a general sense of what you do at specific times of day will help ease the tension of the transition to a naturally structure-less environment.

4. It’s a lonely journey (most of the time).

When you start living differently, you will stop fitting into your old environments.

The people you felt aligned with start to feel distant. It's almost as if you start speaking an entirely different language. You no longer have much to talk about. They don't seem to understand your values or motivations.

Some will say you've changed. They might even laugh at your ambitions or tell you to be realistic.

And as you leave behind the old, you have yet to attract the new.

The season of loneliness is natural—a sign you're on the right path. Embrace it. Use the solitude and the focus it unlocks to accelerate your growth.

5. Nobody cares if you win (or if you lose).

When you start walking the unfamiliar path, there’s a tendency to burden yourself with the weight of external expectations. You want to prove people wrong. You want the doubters to eat their words. You want to show the world what you’re capable of.

You’re already doing a hard thing—and now you’re making it even harder by carrying this additional load.

A mentor gave me a simple piece of advice early in my journey:

Nobody cares.

When you're winning, when everything is going well, when you're crushing it, nobody cares. When you're losing, when everything is falling flat, when you're down and out, nobody cares.

It doesn't mean nobody loves you. It just means nobody cares about your life as much as you do. It just means that you are in control.

It’s all on you. Everything. Nobody is coming to save you.

And fortunately, you don’t need any saving. You can just do things. You can wake up one morning and choose to change your life. You can reinvent yourself anytime you want. You are capable of squeezing every last drop out of this life.

But it’s up to you. Nobody cares.

So you might as well do the thing. You might as well pursue what calls you. You might as well lean into that dream sends chills down your spine. You might as well live your life on your own terms.

Just Start Walking

I hope these lessons are valuable to someone out there on their journey. I know they would have been for me.

Whenever I reflect on the last four years, I come back to my favorite quote:

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” - Rumi

You won’t have all the answers at the beginning. You won’t feel ready. But clarity lives on the other side of action.

So, just start walking.