Like a lot of people, I tend to want to be really good at things without practice. The “windowpane” of social media makes everything look simple, and we often don’t see the hard work and toil people are putting behind their success. We don’t usually see the failures, only the successes, which makes success seem a lot easier than it really is.
But when I started my latest venture earlier this year, I knew it would be hard. Most of my prior businesses were side ventures, and while that has its own pitfalls, one benefit is that failure is less painful. Ok, so my app didn’t pan out? No biggie, my paycheck is still coming.
This year, as I transitioned my marketing and business consultancy from part-time to full-time, failure could be a lot more painful. Even with the foresight that it would be tough, and it would be a lot of learning, some days and weeks are still unexpectedly hard. Am I doing a good job for my clients? Am I acquiring enough new clients to survive? Is my business sustainable?
The answers aren’t usually clearcut and tend to boil down to “I’m trying my best,” which so far has helped my clients be successful.
As a person, I tend to be fairly tough on myself. So about once a week, someone reminds me that I’ve been a business owner for less than a year and am making a full-time income from it, which in itself is an achievement. So there’s that. Every day I get a little better at this, and every day I learn something new, which was a big motivator to starting this business in the first place.
What are you doing in your life to stretch yourself? What new skills do you want to learn?
Greg Palmer 