Silent Night Insights as a Solopreneur
It’s New Year’s Eve! I sincerely love the change of year, at least that is what I tell myself. This time of year can be difficult for some people. Holidays trigger a whole host of baggage, from family dysfunction to self-worth. I’m not immune AND I’m grateful that I have many tools and resources to leverage. I haven’t ‘blogged’ in a couple of weeks for several reasons. In the spirit of the season, i.e. sharing, I’m going to reveal some personal insights that I have learned over this past year as a solopreneur.
Silent Night
As a single person, who is an extrovert, going from working in a corporate environment with people you enjoy, respect and appreciate, to well…being a solopreneur working primarily from the home office is lonely. And, to add to this feeling, I’ve been blogging for a year with very limited engagement from the virtual world (aside from Todd Weber, one of my former Cisco executives… Thanks, Todd!) It’s been quite silent. While I appreciate the practice of silence, this is something entirely different. I’ve struggled with feelings of isolation. I’m also living in a new city and state, so I’m currently building my local tribe, again. To combat this, I’ve made it a concerted effort to connect with local executives, business people, church community and bully-breed volunteers. And, I chose to work outside of my home office at least one day a week. All of these actions are helping, and I’m still feeling isolated. Any suggestions?
Mission I’mpossible
Another personal insight from this past year is the importance of a vision and mission. There are periods of ebb and flow in the first year of business. It’s uncomfortably exciting. My business is building. I have my plan. I’m working my plan and yet, I have my days where I doubt. Days where I’m frustrated. This is when I ‘look up’ (thanks Dad) and see my vision. It’s my personal ‘why’. It re-energizes me, focuses me and reminds me that great things happen over time. There are no quantum leaps!
Outsourcing
While immersing myself in all aspects of building a business, I’ve learned a lot about myself. There are definitely parts of the business building that I enjoy and parts that I honestly do not. A mentor shared with me the importance of outsourcing the tasks that aren’t in ‘my wheelhouse’ earlier. It seems counter-intuitive to spend start-up monies on these things, especially when revenue is growing. It’s been enlightening to look at where I’ve been spending my time and the return on that time spent. Additionally, I’ll be looking at ROI for those things that I have ‘outsourced’. It’s a healthy practice to ask myself, how much time will that take me ‘to do’, and is my time better spent connecting with prospective clients? I’ve done a fair job and I’m looking to make some further changes in 2019.
Collaboration, Co-opetition
I have a dear friend, coach extraordinaire and former high-tech executive, Susan Palmer Wood. She planted the seeds of doing a collaborative project over a year ago. Over time, we’ve watered those seeds and built momentum and excitement for the opportunity. Now, we are getting ready to launch an exciting group coaching program in early 2019 called Transformation@work! Stay tuned for more information. Developing this program has been an amazing experience, especially because of our shared vision. Collaboration harnesses the power of the collective, which is something I highly value. It also shares the ‘load’. Our styles are different, our strengths are different and we have been leveraging both. The personal insight is it’s been an exciting process. I can’t wait to share it with you.
Here’s an additional article, that accurately captures a lot of my experience this past year, as well: Challenges of Solopreneurship.
With all the ebbs and flows, ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. It fuels me to be of service to you. I’d love to hear from you about your reflections of 2018. What was your biggest learning? Biggest challenge? How did you work through it all?
We only have a finite amount of time on this planet, and you can choose how to spend that time. I hope you have a wonderful New Year celebration. I wish you 12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of success, 365 days of fun, 8760 hours of great health, 52,600 minutes of personal fulfillment and 3,153,600 seconds of purpose!
Are you ready?: Press HERE for Success
I wish you much success in your career quest. Yours in balance, learning, growth, and harmony. – Melissa DeLuca, CEO
I admire how you recognize things that aren’t working for you and solve for them. That sets you apart!