Everything is impossible until it's done. Everything worth doing, at least. The industrial era created a culture based on seeking certainty rather than exploring possibility. It created fear and scarcity as tools to increase compliance and it created an ecosystem which made it a norm to hide. But now, the hollowness of the system based on
Slippery slope. The walk away from creativity and professionalism is a slippery slope. The rational mind distracts us from the work and takes us towards the temptation of the displacement activities. It starts with a harmless seaming action, but keeps gaining momentum with each subsequent iteration. Taken alone, none of these iterations
Doing the hard part first. The hard part is customer traction. It starts with choosing the people who would benefit from what you are offering and building your presence in the community to earn trust and permission. It's tempting to focus on frills like making a fancy website or setting up automated funnels
The beginner's mindset. The beginner's mindset begets curiosity. It enables learning. It weakens the symptoms of the imposter syndrome. It says, "I am not an expert, I am trying to learn. I am merely doing a job. " The expert mindset takes us towards the other extreme. It creates pseudo-confidence.
Toolkit for solopreneurs Groove is the best place to meet like-minded solopreneurs and work with them. Check out their writing on medium here: Groove Sunsama is a tool that can help you gain sanity in your workday. It is mindfully designed to help you design your day. Hey is email as it should
Slow change. Just like a child feels afraid on his first day of school, we don't want to leave the predictable certainty of the status quo. It's just that we are not given an option as a child. One thing we can do to help is to make
Deactivating the amygdala. When we try to work on something new, something audacious, something that will change the status quo, the amygdala gets activated. An activated amygdala creates doubt, it wants us to play safe. It wants us to get our ducks in order before we go out and make the change inevitable.
Empathy is hard. And empathy is what the work is all about. What does the person you seek to serve believes that you don't believe? What do they care about that you don't care about? What do they want that you don't want? What do they see
Treat projects like milk. Starting a project is relatively easier than getting it to the other end. And starting a new one before we ship the one in progress is tempting. It's all okay as long as we are clear about what's in progress and what needs to be shipped,
Promises to keep. As professionals, we make and keep promises. To our customers. And to ourselves. That's what this is about.
What does it look like when it works? Before we begin any project, it is helpful to see what it would look like when it works and also, when it doesn't. If you are preparing for a marathon, would you be happy if you complete the marathon or only if you win the marathon? In any
Action first, permission later. What actions can take things forward, change our identity, and make things better? It’s tempting to wait for permission, wait for instructions, wait to be selected. But the more we select ourselves, the more we act without waiting for permission, the more we will see ourselves getting selected to
The deal(s) with the devil. I don’t need to work on myself. Things are good/decent as they are. I have enough on my plate already. I can’t afford to invest in myself. I need someone to give me instructions or permission. I can't manage myself. I am not creative enough.
Embracing the finishing mindset. Done is better than good. - Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic The planning mindset is addictive. It is a devious trap of procrastination because it gives the illusion of progress without anything happening. It's motion without action. Planning and preparation can help but not in the prime time, not
Books a solopreneur must read. This is Marketing by Seth Godin: Learn how to market with empathy and connection by earning permission from the people you seek to serve. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: Understand how self-doubt & procrastination and other self-sabotage forces stop you and learn how you can overcome these forces
Organise it yourself. There are many things in life that we want, that we would like to have. There are changes we want to see in the world, communities that we would like to be a part of. But if we wait for someone else to initiate, someone else to do the hard
Trusting our selves. The search for certainty and guarantee in our work comes from our lack of trust in ourselves that we will figure things out when we get there. Most times, we want to be sure of the outcome before we even get started. Until then, we are okay with delaying the
The reward is a distraction. It distracts us from our process and the work that we need to do. The universe keeps providing rewards for the work that we do and the more we look at them like a wage worker looks at his wages, use it for what the family needs, save the rest
Keep writing. The voice inside your head will ask you to stop. It will ask you to do something else instead. It will tell you that the idea you are writing about is corrupt, that you should change track, that there might be a better way of writing it, that this will
What would you do even if you'd fail? This is another way of asking what is important to you, what is non-negotiable for you, and what is it that you can't leave alone. Which process are we willing to commit to irrespective of whether we get the outcome or not? A sales professional who loves to
If only I did not have to do marketing. Many entrepreneurs, freelancers and creatives cringe when they talk about marketing. All they want is to do the work they are good at. Why do they even need to do marketing? One factor that causes this distress is that they have not yet worked on building the skill of marketing.
Amateurs, hacks & professionals. Amateurs work when they feel like it. Hacks work when it pays. Professionals work.
A professional is an imposter. There is no true professional, to begin with. There is only acting like one. You sit down to work on time, like a professional. You do the work despite not wanting to, like a professional. You show up, day after day, countering the voice inside your head, like a professional
The fear of new. We stick with jobs that don't fulfil us, we prolong relationships that we should have ended long ago, we hang out with friends we don't feel like hanging out with, we live in cities we don't feel a belonging to, we stick to habits
Making & keeping promises. That's what entrepreneurship and creative work come down to, doesn't it: Can we make and keep promises? Promises to our clients, for sure, but more importantly, promises to ourselves. Because in most cases, no one's watching and no one knows what we are working
