The primary reason I'm an entrepreneur instead of an employee is schedule. There are a dozen subsidiary reasons, like choosing what work I do and who I do it for; doing business the way that makes sense to me instead of someone else calling the shots; things like that. But mostly, it's about working when I want to work, and not working when I don't want to work.

Yeah, many entrepreneurs complain about the long hours, how their clients are too demanding, deadlines are deadlines. You can make every excuse in the book for losing control of your schedule, for not having time for yourself.

It's still your fault.

If you're an entrepreneur, you choose the work you do.

You choose the hours you work.

You set the deadlines.

You delegate or don't.

You're the boss. The buck stops with you.

And if you don't take some time off, it's gonna stop like a plane crash, in a big fiery ball, with you in the center.

Your brain and body know their limitations. You can ignore them, but that doesn't change them. At some point, your brain and your body will take some time off. I highly recommend you do it before you crash and burn.

No plane stays in the sky forever; they all come down, one way or another.

You can either land gracefully, or crash and burn. Your choice.

Don't believe me? Right there below, in the comments, tell me why you can't possibly take time off, and I'll show you how you can.

New Business Heretics Weekly Radio Ballyhoo posted. Tom and I talk about what you do when you're presenting, speaking in some level of formality, and you lose your place.

We also discuss briefly why chairs and tables should have three legs, and why they have four instead. It fits, really it does.

Oh; here's my clip from the show; the place where Tom got me to yell 'Bingo!' right in the middle of his sentence:

Signal and noise in your presentation

You may have read the previous post.

I found myself, this morning, dreading half a dozen things I had to do today.

Except, I didn't have to do them, they were all things I'd chosen to do for myself. I just didn't want to do them any more, at least, not right now.

What do you do when you've just given the entire planet permission to do what they know they're afraid of, but you can't give yourself permission?

That's right; I asked my wife for permission.

She said it was okay.

I've waited my whole life for someone to give me permission to do the things I wanted to do.

Many of the folks I talk to are also waiting for permission.

So, here it is. Oh, and way down at the bottom is the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything, and it's not, by the way, 42.

Do you want to write a book? Permission granted.

Are you writing a book, but wish you could just shelve it for a while, maybe even (gasp!) permanently? Permission granted.

Do you want to start a business? Permission granted.

Would you like to go out in public without 'doing' your hair first? Permission granted.

Wanna eat dessert first? Permission granted.

How about singing in public? Permission granted.

What if you'd like to say something that's not what everyone else is saying, or not what others expect you to say? Permission granted.

Make plans to move to another country? Permission granted.

Talk to strangers in the coffee shop? Permission granted.

Join a club of some kind, any kind? Permission granted.

Leave a club you just don't care as much about any more? Permission granted.

Sleep during the day, and work at night? Permission granted.

Go for a walk instead of pushing to hit that deadline you know you're gonna miss anyway? Permission granted.

Stop working for an hourly wage, and just charge what you want for what you're doing? Permission granted.

Tell somebody who's not gonna be completely comfortable with it that you love them? Permission granted.

Tell somebody who's going to be heartbroken that you don't love them? Permission granted.

Sleep late? Permission granted.

Go to bed early? Permission granted.

See, here's the thing: you don't need anybody's permission. You don't. Which means, my permission is as good as anyone else's, because you don't need it. That's the biggest secret in life: you do not need anyone's permission to be you. You don't have any choice, so why are you fighting it so hard?

Stop waiting for someone to discover you and proclaim your genius and take responsibility for what you've wanted to do all along.

Stop waiting for permission.

[Just got this email from Tom and thought I'd share—joel]

Hi folks,

Hope things are going well with you. This is just a quick note to tell you that I've gotten my first iPhone app in the Apple appstore! It's called FractionationLite, and it's a [very simple] fraction calculator. I did it basically to experiment with getting an app in the store, but the calculator actually works and apparently there is quite a market in the store for educational and productivity tools like this. Lots of kids look for this stuff to help them with their schoolwork. I've downloaded many of the other free calculators available, and mine is better than most of them.

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, I would ask that you download and check it out. If you would, then please, please , please go back into the AppStore and give me a nice review. It's totally free and I would really appreciate it.

I plan to release a "FULL" version of Fractionation that has many more features. This will give me valuable experience in getting a "for sale" app launched. I wanted to have the full version ready for sale by the time Fractionation Lite launched, but I did not expect the app store approval process to move so quickly. One week from submission to approval!

Please check it out. Here is the link: Fractionation Lite in Apple AppStore

To review the App, simply go back to the same link in the AppStore when viewed directly on your iPhone/iPodTouch, and scroll all the way down to the bottom. Then touch the text that says something like "# Ratings". This will show you the current reviews and ratings so you can read them. At the top there should be a button that says "Write a Review". You can only write a review for an App that you have downloaded, so don't try to do this before you download the App or it won't work.

Simply click on "Write a Review", and have at it! Simply click on the number of stars you want to give me [hopefully FIVE!!], give your review a title [GREAT! or AWESOME! or some other superlative], and write a couple short sentences about why the app is so great.

If you want to send me detailed feedback, feel free to reply to this email, or send it to support@tnbtechnologies.com.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help me out!

—Tom

Wow; I really need to post more than once a week, and more than just the radio show.

But for now, head on over to the Business Heretics Weekly Radio Ballyhoo thing and listen to Rules Are Crutches. Principles Are Levers.

And comment on it right here.

Perhaps the radio episodes should be embedded for listening right here, so you don't have to jump back and forth so much.