Every business owner has an entrepreneurial story.

I’ve told mine before, but only at a high level. Over the next few weeks, I plan to drill down into the founding of MindStir Media, my self-publishing company that’s achieved #1 ranking and partnered with Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington and Mariel Hemingway. I hope you will learn from my mistakes, be inspired by the successes, and be motivated to start your own entrepreneurial adventure.

Here’s a very brief summary of MindStir Media’s startup story:

I was working a Corporate America job, but my office closed and I was out of work. Luckily, I had recently released my debut novel through a publishing house I’d created, and the book hit #1 on several Amazon Best Seller Lists. I was able to invest the profits back into MindStir Media and scale it up.

Looking back, this might seem too scripted to come from real life, but I assure you it felt like a rocky road when I was living it. There were many restless nights spent wondering if my crazy idea would work, if I’d have to go back to an office job, and even if I was doing the right thing.

Throughout the experience, I’ve grown as a thinker and entrepreneur. Here are the three lessons I’ve learned about embracing uncertainty.

Entrepreneurs Have to Make 10% their 100%.

Many entrepreneurs start at a 10% level.

In other words, 90% of their working power is devoted to their full-time job, but they also put about 10% into their own startup when they’re off the clock.

If your full-time job is getting the attention it’s due, there’s nothing wrong with this. But, if done for too long, this balancing act reaches a problematic tipping point…

Once your startup becomes successful enough, you’ll have to eventually quit the 90% job to make the 10% your 100%.

Let that sink in for a minute.

It’s scary. You’re giving up consistent paychecks, benefits, and a roadmap of your future to gamble on yourself.  Keeping your full-time job is hedging your bets. If your startup idea fails, that’s okay. You still have Plan B.

But when you’re 100% all-in on your startup, there’s no safety net and plenty of opportunities to fall. That said, it’s something every entrepreneur must do at some point for their business to succeed.

Pop quiz: Do you know how many Fortune 500 CEOs have a full-time job with a company other than their own?

You guessed it. Zero.

To build something special, you often must break something that matters.

From an early age, an idea of the “perfect life” is presented to us like a false finish line to which we should all be running. We see it in media of all sorts, and even the world around us.

It usually includes two people with good jobs, often kids or pets, a pretty house, nice vehicles, etc.

But there’s a catch

The “good jobs” involve working for somebody else.

Think about it. When was the last time you watched a happy TV show or movie about a working-age person who had their own startup? There are exceptions, but it’s certainly uncommon.  

That said, if you really want to become an entrepreneur, you must turn away from a pursuit of one life and embrace another—a life of assuming more risk, taking measured bets, and even losing your corporate employment. 

To build your own company, you must break the perception of a “perfect life” that, for many of us, involves Corporate America.

The best fighters can take a punch.

A boxer can win a match after getting punched in the face—he just needs to hit the opponent even harder than he was hit.

The same can be said for entrepreneurship. It was a gut punch when I was told I was losing my job. Many of my coworkers were crying, and I still remember having a moment of “what do I do now?”

Turns out, that was also the punch I needed to wake me up and get me to fight back against the corporate landscape I’d become entrenched in.

But it could have gone very differently. It could have been a blow that sent me scrambling to find another job, forcing me to abandon my novel and publishing side-project.

Instead, I gritted my teeth, took the punch, and learned from it. That’s what led to MindStir Media.

When you’re trying to start a company, you’re going to get punched. A lot. Daily, even. But if you can learn to take a punch and climb back to your feet every time you fall, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

Bonus: The payoff is worth the risk.

There’s a common thread running through my three lessons: risk.

Entrepreneurship is not sunshine and rainbows 24/7. Often, it feels like you’re crawling through trenches and fighting a long battle. Uncomfortable, messy, and shaky.

But, in the end, the payoff is far greater than the risk and all the feelings of fear that come with it. Once you’ve fought your way through the entrepreneurial gauntlet, you’ll be able to look back, examine your scars, and think, “I did this.”

That feeling is unlike anything in the world, and I hope something I write inspires you to achieve it for yourself.

Since you’re reading this post, it’s fair to assume you’re already well on your way.

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What’s a lesson you’ve learned from embracing uncertainty in your professional career? Let me know on Twitter @authorjjhebert.