The Most Important Career Choice You Haven't Made Yet

 Wherever you are on the long path that is your career, it’s a wise move to pause for a minute and ask an important question: What are you chasing? Is it security or freedom? The key word is “or.” It’s not “and.”
 It’s “or” because people who seek security are saying that they want someone else to take care of them. Those who seek freedom are saying that they are comfortable taking care of themselves. Yet, people confuse these opposites because of the desire to have both. They want to be taken care of and to have full decision-making authority over their career.
 Here are a couple examples that further illustrate the difference:

1. The most secure human being is a prisoner. He gets three meals a day, clothes, shelter and even a doctor is provided if he’s ill. What is forfeited for all this security is his freedom.
2. A car seat is designed to secure a child. It protects the child in case of an accident and restricts movement during a car ride. Mom and dad feel happy to know their child is secure. The child has no freedom.

 While there is certainly appeal to both, the goal of freedom more often nets the larger return.
 Our recent economic plummet has revealed that many “safe, secure jobs” were not quite that. A lot of honest, hard-working people in the home industry, car industry or many other businesses have found themselves looking for work. After 15, 25 or 40 years doing one thing, they aren’t terribly marketable and finding a new career is difficult.
 When seeking the freedom of being an entrepreneur, you are no more or less safe from economic downturns than your employee counterpart. However, as an entrepreneur, you understand you have more flexibility in decision-making. You have choices.
 First, you know you aren’t going to lay yourself off. Second, you know that when critical decisions are being made about the future of the company, you’re the final say. So as long as you’re confident, the freedom makes you powerful, especially during the tough times. The person relying on others for security has no voice.