MAJOR LIFE ANNOUNCEMENT, ONE YEAR UPDATE
Today is one year to the day since I started working for myself full time. What have I learned?
2021 / November 02 / Ottawa, ON
Nothing.
There are no secrets. Everything you need to know about building a business has been covered a million times over by other people.
Nothing I can share would be something you haven’t already heard from someone else.
I have of course learned a lot (I mean, how am I supposed to get your attention without a little click bait? 😉) , but I also would have learned a lot working for someone else.
When building a business the learning is about first hand experience, it’s not about finding the secret to success or discovering something that no one else has discovered. It’s all been done before, and it’s all public information.
And whether or not I was working for myself, the last year was going to be hard for many reasons. Lots of which are not specific to me, they are things that you are all experiencing too.
The difference is that working for myself and building my own businesses is something I’ve always wanted to do, and now I get to do that. On the other side of the hard times is a bigger reward for myself.
I love doing things for other people, but sometimes you need to put yourself first. This one was for me.
I quite literally just thought of this simile as I am typing this post, so excuse me if it’s a bit cheesy (or hits a bit too close for some people given the market), but it’s like renting an apartment vs. owning a house: either way I’m paying my dues, but this way I’m going to be the one who sees the benefit of those dues at the end of the line, not someone else.
A lot of people are starting to see their career the same way, and that’s great. You’re now seeing that in the news every day. But there are lots of people happy to work for someone else and clock out at the end of the day, and that’s great too. We need both. It’s about what you want, and what is right for you.
So, what I CAN tell you is that this is what I want. I made the right decision for me.
(But I also could have told you that a year ago… Like I said, I’ve learned NOTHING 😉)
Another quick note:
Over the last few months I have been building up my LinkedIn network by connecting with people in the same or similar/adjacent industries.
I’ve taken my network from 200ish connections to 1,500+ because I intend to share much more steaming hot content, some similar to this and some different, and I’m hoping others can find some benefit from it.
So to all my connections, old and new, here is some stuff you will see from me in the near future:
– Sun Devil Signage website update & blog
– Still Creek Studios Branding & Marketing website update & blog
– Martensen.ca website update, personal blog & store
– Life philosophy blog & podcast
– hustledouble.ca clothing & baseball content
– …maybe more?
All blog content will also be posted here and on LinkedIn.
https://www.SunDevilSignage.com
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sun-devil-signage
https://www.StillCreekStudios.com
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/still-creek-studios
If you enjoyed reading this article — or if you learned something while reading this article — please like, share, subscribe, comment, mutter it to yourself or, conversely, shout it from your rooftop. Or even just slightly nod your head in acknowledgement.
Not only would it mean a lot to me, it would appease the Almighty Algorithm. Praise be to its humbling omnipotence.
Thanks.
—James
