Going Solo: Part Two
Not at all what I thought I wanted, but exactly what I needed
The TL;DR of today’s share is this: solorpreneurship is a mirror. Whatever quirks or issues you have - interpersonal, self-trust, communication, lack of emotional flexibility, etc.- the list is endless—as a solopreneur, they become crystal clear.
I see life as an endless experiment, so I typically have at least one working hypothesis at any moment. I highly recommend developing an experimentation mindset, BTW, as it exponentially increases everyday enjoyment.
In addition to the burning desire to see if I could make solopreneurship work for me and use my time in satisfying ways, I wanted to test a hypothesis.
Are you familiar with this quote from Alexander Den Heijer?
“When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
If you’ve ever tended a garden, you know there is absolute truth in this statement. Poor soil quality, too much or too little water, and sunlight can impact the plant’s DNA expression if they don’t kill it in the first place. Plants adapt, but ideal conditions enable the right genes to be expressed at the right time in the right amounts and places for optimal function.
So it got me thinking, I’ve worked in different environments (start-ups, agencies, corps, and npo) with varying degrees of success, but I hadn’t gone ALL-IN for myself before. What if solopreneurship is the best environment in which to “bloom?”
Fast forward to early 2024—
Imagine if you will, there I am, all full of possibility and excitement on deciding to go it alone and live outside the box and be the most true to myself I’ve ever been, only to more deeply discover the absolute truth in, “wherever you go, there you are.”
Yes, making the rules and all the decisions in my day-to-day work life is wonderfully exciting. I am also entirely dependent on my limitations. My quirks, habits, and fears didn’t change overnight or disappear, and any delusions I had about the fantasy of running a business were very quickly dispelled.
While I have undoubtedly become more authentic, it has resulted from so much unexpected inner work. Self-employment was the perfect environment for me to “grow,” which happens before the “bloom.”
I have not found a quicker way to highlight and amplify both the beautifully unique and unskillful parts of the self. I came face to face with all the things I thought, at least partly, depended on external factors.
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It simply wasn’t true—the environment was just one variable in the equation.
That’s why I occasionally flirt with the idea of returning to a 9-5, and have a new hypothesis: with the growth I’ve experienced, the “where I work” likely wouldn’t matter as much.
But would it be as unbelievably satisfying? IDK.
Working for myself has allowed me to explore and transform my experiences. I found myself genuinely falling in love with the reality of this journey, rather than the romanticized fantasy I once envisioned.
As someone interested in understanding people and their behaviors, exploring my own ‘operating system’ has been endlessly fascinating.
Your self-employment experience will be unique to you. Although buried under a lot of noise and minutiae, there are likely already many personal growth opportunities in your current work environment that will improve your overall success, satisfaction, and experience.
IOW, whatever we’re avoiding. You can avoid it in soloprenuership, too, but its direct impact on the bottom line is immediately evident.
FUNCTIONAL FRACTAL No. 2: Create a process for self-reflection if you don’t already have one. This will pay off in spades in more ways than I could ever enumerate or fathom, whether you want a business or not. This could be daily (suggested) or weekly, as simple as writing what’s on your mind for 5-10 minutes, or more formal. The point is to get started and be open to finding a method that works for you. I spend an average of 25 minutes doing this at present.
Examples of questions that I ask myself are:
I highly recommend using Notion or Milanote for this. While you’re at it, add your WHY exploration from PART ONE.
FINE PRINT: Your life circumstances might be wildly different than mine. Before implementing anything I share, evaluate it for its practical application to your own life. Make tweaks and reevaluate. You’ve got this!