Run my own business – What was I thinking?

So you were sitting at your desk / in your car / on the train / walking your dog listening to another chirpy podcast host interview an energy-filled person who ‘runs their own business’ – breaking traditional business rules, doing their own thing their own way and ‘crushing it’… Sure there are the quick stories of ‘challenges overcome’, ‘worst entrepreneurial moments’ but where would the fun be if it was all ‘simple sailing’.

Your mind took that next step, more of a leap really, and then flashbulbs started… THAT PERSON, that person sounds just like the me I want to be!!! I’m always thinking, I’m passionate, I’m independent, motivated, organised… I can take a risk, survive a challenge, solve problems.

Wouldn’t it be great to set my own schedule, to get out of the office and meet ‘clients for coffee’, I can ‘hustle and do it for myself’– sure there will be challenges at first, but I will multi-task my way all the way to the bank.

So you went for it and now you are wondering what on this green and blue marble affectionately known as earth happened to your life – every waking moment is filled with your ‘dream business’; if it’s not your customers, it’s your suppliers, or the product logistics, or the accounts, or juggling your family time with getting ‘just one more quote I promise’ done and out’… there is multi-tasking, there’s multi-stream multitasking and then there is downright stupiding… What were you thinking?

Right now, before you open one more e-mail, you need to stop – counterintuitive as it sounds when there is so much to do, so many tasks that are overdue, so many things overwhelmingly squashing down on you, filling your mind with a continuous stream of details and reminders – You need to give yourself permission to stop, to pause and to breath and regroup. Breath in, breath out – know that you are not alone, and that help is at hand, you’ve got this… In the words of Martin Luther King Jr… “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

If you give yourself permission to take a moment to work out how to do things differently, to allow your world to stop spinning (just for a moment or three; long enough to work out what to do next) the stars will shine tonight, the sun will rise in the morning, the trains will run, and the dogs will bark – of this I am certain… Why? Because when I fell in a messy heap, when I was no longer capable of making the decision of whether keep driving the crazy business bus or stop to enjoy the view from those peaks we were climbing nothing stopped but me; the rest of the world just kept right on trucking. Some people walked around me, some people stepped over me and a few, a very special few offered their hand and helped me up.

I challenge you to stop… Stop right now (well not right now… finish reading first) … then make a conscious effort to find those helping hands before you really, really need them. Make the time to reach out and build real relationships with other people on a similar journey to yours, schedule it like any other business meeting until you get the hang of making it an important part of your life. While you may work alone you are not alone – there are innumerable people just like us, working to solve the same problems as us, feeling a little isolated, rather squashed and, frankly, more than a little overwhelmed at just what to do next.

Hang in there, you’ve got this, before you can say “Yippity Skip – look at that triple arch, super vibrant rainbow bursting from that dark cloud over there” you will be sharing your own ‘crushing it’ tips, tricks and stories with people just like us … all you need is a few new ‘we get it’ coffee colleagues to help light your way… after all it is not your responsibility to save the entire world.