Chances are if you were like me, you were lead to believe that doing a number of differnt things would make you a success. If you blogged, had a high number of followers, ran your own business, etc. then you must be living the dream right? WRONG!

My experience with business has been an emotional rollercoaster. At the moment I am back to working as an employee because my businesses were not generating enough income to sustain my lifestyle (which is a student lifestyle). This time twelve months ago, I was working only a few hours a week, was cruising along and had over $10,000 in the bank. Now I am back to square one. This is the entrepreneurial journey that most people don't talk about as people can't understand the situation and stress entrepreneurs face.

Luckily, I have been fortunate enough to see two posts shared this year which outline similar experiences both in business and self help.

The first is by Jon Sinn. Jon is a pick up artist who blogs over at Sinns of Attraction. A few months ago, he put up a post titled 'Why people fail at self help; Don't talk about it, be about it.' In it he discusses that most people read too much but don't take enough action to make a difference in their lives. As a result, they get addicted to self help, thinking the next book or program will save them rather than taking action on what they have already learned. I highly recommend anyone who is into self-improvement to read this post and to assess your situation.

The second is by Erica Douglass. Erica sold her business at the age of 26 for $1.1million and has since been blogging and working on some other businesses. One of her latest posts discusses the issues she has been facing. While she has been making what others would term 'good money'  it still only just covers her employee expenses in trying to develop her various businesses. She claims for all the hours she is putting in she is probably on less than minimum wage if calculated hourly. Additionally, she recently found out that the house she has been saving for cannot be purchased using 'dividend income' from her previous business. This, combined with over $70,000 worth of tax bills in the last 12 months has inspired her to write a terrific post about her struggles.

The more I learn about entrepreneurship (both through my degree and my experiences), the more I find this is the reality for most of them. Sure, they may appear to sit at home and do nothing while making boatloads of cash. In reality they put in more hours than most people and while making a lot their personal income from Net Profit is not usually as high as they could get in a salaried position. While building an asset they may appear to have money on paper, it is not realised until sold and converted into cash (hence the term 'asset rich, cash poor'). Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com once said that although he was quoted to be worth millions he still had to save money to buy a couch for his apartment.

Others in employment face the same issue. They read and spend time learning how to get out, hoping the next insight will be the one that sets them on the path to freedom from employment. The reality is it is far better to act on a little knowledge and to learn along the way then it is to know everything at the outset.

If you want to buck the trend and try something new in your life then go for it. Just remember that the reality is that things usually look better than they seem. The grass appears greener on the other side.