What dream would you pursue, if you literally had nothing to lose? What audacious thing would you attempt, if you knew that by not attempting it, you would die?

That is where I was in 1984. I was married, and miserable. I was selling insurance, and miserable. I was not doing, what I thought I was destined to do, pursue a career in standup comedy, and I realized that if I continued to be married, selling insurance, and not working on a career in standup comedy, I would, sooner than later, kill myself.

It was amazingly empowering. I realized that I literally had nothing to lose, and that I could divorce my wife, quit my job, pursue a career in standup comedy, and hey, if it didn't work out, I could still kill myself. And, I figured I was the only one who thought things like that. Turns out, not so.

Several years later I was talking to a fellow comedian about how she got started in comedy, and her thinking process turned out to be exactly the same. She had a job she hated, she felt that if she didn't quit her job and pursue her dream of being a standup comedian, she would sooner rather than later, kill herself. Sound familiar?

A recent survey of entrepreneurs found that a full one third of them live with depression and thoughts of suicide. The clinicians believe that the reasons are, long hours, little sleep, and unmet expectations.

I beleive the results, but I believe their conclusions are not applicable to all one third. I believe that a significant number of entrepreneurs have the mindset that I do. They are not depressed and suicidal because they are entrepreneurs, they are in fact entrepreneurs BECAUSE they live with depression and thoughts of suicide.

Like me, and my comedian friend, and I believe many entrepreneurs and entertainers, they had a dream, were not pursuing it, were living a life in which they were miserable not doing what they really wanted to do, and realized if they remain in place, they will kill themselves.