"In"treprenurship - Your are in charge of your work life!

We’re talking about “Intrepreneurship for Everyone” (taking charge of your life) from Eric Butterworth’s book, “…PosiTrends or Negatrends?” (DPWTMPN) in this blog and comparing it against his most well known book, “Discover the Power Within You” (DTPWY).


EB believes that “Change is avalanching on our heads, and most people are grotesquely unprepared to cope with it” this quote comes from Alvin Toffler in his book Future Shock. (p. 14) EB says that the remedy to this ill preparedness is to remember that “Life is lived from within out.” (p. 16) Looking outside of ourselves leads to a “resigned expectancy” that life will continue to be “…more of the same” that we have experienced in the past. (p. 16) He continues with his prescription telling us that we need to have the consciousness that sees the coming period, whether it is a year, a decade, or a century, as an opening filled with potential.

EB’s description of what is happening in our economy and our businesses paints a dismal picture. He pictures the common worker pushed out of the position that was traditionally held by that worker for a long time, possibly the person’s entire working life. EB believes this is a natural turn of events created by the mechanization and expanded technology. He states that a “prominent economist” [he never says who this is] believes the 21st century will see less than half of the workers with the jobs that offer a future with health and retirement benefits.

This is where the EB we all know coins a word. Instead of “work ethic”, a term often associated with a good employee, EB suggests we adopt a “worth ethic”; meaning that the focus of our job needs to be self-esteem. It is EB’s position that commonly our jobs detract from our self-esteem. He believes we see our jobs as a necessity for survival and therefore there is little joy in work lives. He refers to the story of the Garden of Eden where God curses Adam and Eve to perform hard work in order to survive.

I loved the reference EB makes to the Greeks and their distaste for work. Stating that the Greek word for labor is ponos, which refers to the Greek god of sorrow, EB blames the poor attitude of most people on the Industrial Revolution. He believes, “The Industrial Revolution shifted human values to the measurement of life in material and pecuniary terms…the job is a social artifact created by the Industrial Revolution to package the work that needed to be done in the emerging factories” (p. 18) EB puts the blames squarely on the shift of the factories from using people to using computers and systems of robotics. “Jobs discourage accountability” EB says because people are rewarded for doing a job rather than for performing the job well. (p. 19)

EB creates the word “intrepreneur” which means “…persons who are imaginatively seeking to redesign their attitudes toward work, effectively altering their work without changing their jobs.” This looks like basic Unity philosophy to me, what you think creates your experience and therefore your world. This intrepreneurship is the key according to EB! Using this attitude, you never look at your job or your employer as the source of your security. You know the source of everything, your security, your income, your happiness, your health, likes within you because you work for God. The company for which you work is a channel of the abundance that God showers indiscriminately. There is cause for gratitude to your company for the opportunity to work and for the flow of compensation through it.

Another aspect of intrepreneurship is the accepting view of change and doing what is necessary to prepare for it. EB offers an affirmation to help shift your consciousness, “I do not resist change, but I adapt myself to the law of ‘All things work together for my good.’” (p. 22) EB is clear that change is a good thing and that a change in job from time to time is healthy. He recommends a change every ten years. Seeing a job as a “…way to learn a living” is what EB believes is crucial to this new attitude. Blooming, growing, unfolding are all things EB encourages you to do in your job. Success is never being defeated even though defeat may happen to you.

God is your employer. Accept change and prepare for it. Seek out ways to make what you do for employment joyful, empowering, growth inducing, and open to change. This is the message of DPWTMPN. Let us see what EB says in his former work DTPWY.

The concepts used in this chapter make up his former work, DTPWY. Every chapter in his earlier work refers to the precepts right thinking and attitude, the source of your power is within you, adapting is healthy,

What I love about EB is that he makes personal responsibility the foundation of everything he says. Although in DTPWY he proof texts a lot, in other words he makes use of scripture as the foundation for his ideas even if they do not match exactly. EB does not specifically focus on your work life in DTPWY. He does talk about the same ideas and attitudes is his chapters entitled, “The Amazing Be Attitudes”, “Your Thought is Your Life”, “The Law of Compensation”, “The Great Demonstration”.

The thrust of what EB believes and expresses in both books is basic Unity: what you think manifests in your life, to change your life circumstances, change what you think. A part of me is comforted thinking that if I just correctly do what EB says, everything will be fine. This puts responsibility for ensuring that my thinking is always on task. I am human, however, and sometimes I miss the mark, other times regardless of whether I have done everything correctly or not, things just do not work out. EB gives a response to this as well; he says the variable is time. As with all things, time changes everything, Great wisdom EB!