Steven Pressfield Quotes

Here in Silicon Valley, I have taken part in hundreds of conversations trying to convince people to dive in and become entrepreneurs. All too often, innovators with good, safe, jobs are unwilling to put their family's access to health care at risk by walking away from company-backed medical insurance.

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!

At age 28, I had no retail experience, no consumer marketing experience and no real Internet experience. But I decided I wanted to work for myself. I felt starting a company would enable me to get the responsibility I deserved and that I couldn't do that within the confines of a bigger company.

I had been an independent entrepreneur from the beginning, and I felt I could do it myself. I didn't want to get a job.

A good job is more than just a paycheck. A good job fosters independence and discipline, and contributes to the health of the community. A good job is a means to provide for the health and welfare of your family, to own a home, and save for retirement.

Life is just a set of experiences. As long as there are new experiences for me in a corporate job, I don't think I have to be an entrepreneur.

Being your own boss is much superior to working for the man. Including working for your father.

I had no intention of being a film producer, and I knew I wasn't passionate about engineering. I was always set on having my own business, controlling my own destiny.

I think many people go to business school and learn ways to play it safe, ensuring that they avoid some of the pain that entrepreneurs endure while taking less calculated risks.

Since I don't come from a privileged background, I couldn't afford to be irresponsible with career decisions. I wrote two books alongside my job and resigned only when I realised I can make a living.

We can create the ultimate job security by becoming less dependent on the organization for which we work and more dependent on our own resources.

I thought, if I went into business I'd be able to control my own destiny.

As you get older, I think everyone feels that, no matter what the job: to try a hand at running the business as opposed to simply being an employee.

I work hard and support myself.

I want to be able to manipulate and control my career from the creative side.

I'm not afraid of not working.

My father was a small-businessman, and if he didn't get up and go to work, there would be no business.

I'm not ever going to be dependent on someone else for a job.

I don't know if it's unique to women or not, but I do know that women think that they join a company, and the company will take care of them, as opposed to taking charge.

I'm really a self-made businesswoman.

Talented people have a responsibility to get the training they need to be successful risk takers and go out there to take risks. What I see is surplus of talented people and a shortage of people willing to take the risks.

If I can encourage other women to think about setting up their own businesses and being entrepreneurs and making a contribution then I think that's a good thing.

We don't want to wait on someone to hire us and give us a check. We want to create our own opportunities.

Part of the American dream is 'I can own my own business, I can control my destiny. I can have the opportunity to work for myself.'

That first morning that I woke up self-employed, terror quickly consumed me. I found myself sitting with my laptop and realized, for the first time, that I was entirely responsible for all of my own decisions, as well as the consequences of those decisions.