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I feel like this is my first actual rant in that it's a monologue possibly showcasing my emotional baggage. No TL;DRs, so grab a coffee and enjoy.

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Hey entrepreneurs and people who write about entrepreneurs, can you stop glorifying life-ending risk and workaholism? It's unhealthy and it goes to ridiculous lengths.

Going on about how you maxed out all of your credit cards, nearly lost your marriage, and still ended up rich should not be seen as inspiring. Impressive, sure, but not inspiring. In a fair world, your story should be seen as part of the self-congratulatory silicon valley gold rush culture where people actually believe that lottery tickets and following their own destiny should involve putting up their chance to ever find peace as collateral.

If you made it with hard work and at great risk, then fantastic! I'm still happy for you. I just wish your success didn't buy you the credibility that it does, because you still didn't discover a formula for success or life in general. You took a plunge and survived, which is fun to watch! It's like seeing someone skydive without a chute onto an unclaimed island and keeping that island. I'm just saying that if your story makes a whole bunch of people start skydiving without chutes because they think they'll land on their own island, then we went from hearing an amazing story to everyone just being retarded.

I'll avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater: If you want financial health and a sense that you are not letting life pass you by, definitely maintain that course and accept risks along the way. Just be reasonable about risk!

I saw an article that started by saying "To start and support your own business, you’ll have to put your career, personal finances and even your mental health at stake." ...Yeah, maybe if you want exponential growth in 5 years because of some kind of cosmic terminal impatience or dysfunctional belief that your moral worth as a person equals the rewards you shoot for.

For people like me who are okay with using a steady paycheck to feed conservative growth and gigs for side income, putting all personal finances and mental health at stake is not an inferior life choice. I strive for flexibility in the event I lose income, and to me the ability to adapt and achieve financial independence is far more valuable than entering into all-or-nothing arrangements in the startup lottery. I won't be filthy rich or stupid famous, but that's okay. I don't need to be.

To those of you on the fence about entrepreneurship, my advice is not to focus on getting rich or famous or even feel the pressure to do so. And it's definitely not to take more risk than necessary. Ask real questions about what lifestyle would make you happy. If it's having a 9000 foot square house, a pool and worldwide admiration, then fine, make the leap. But if you think you're SUPPOSED to have the huge house and worldwide admiration, then I'm telling you that you don't. You are just as important and valuable as a person even while millions salivate over Elon Musk and walk around with inflated aspirations.

And if it helps, good budgeting, wise investments and careful risk management can still get you ahead on lower salaries. Someone making $30k a year but is cautious about savings and staying out of debt can end up just as free and flexible as someone making and blowing $800k a year on luxuries. As for acceptance, having just one person love you for the impact you make on their life is infinitely better than having millions adore you for the (possibly bullshit) image and dream you are forever expected to show them.

To close this out, I'll speak back to the entrepreneurs out there again again: I'm not judging you for making your own life choices. I AM judging your shitty, egotistical need to showcase how great you are for your success when what you did would probably bankrupt the next person to try the exact same thing. And I'm DEFINITELY judging telling people that working 100+ hours a week or risking everything is a necessary part of making dreams come true.

Entrepreneurship is great. Entrepreneurs are full of shit.