“Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance.”
– James Baldwin, in The Writer’s Chapbook
Yesterday I hosted an online networking & brainstorming session. It was my first this year event like that. I had only a couple of people signed up and, on the day, I wasn’t sure whether I should go ahead with the meeting. After all, I thought people probably expect more attendees to network with. However, the main idea behind my Simply Inspired Business Networking & Brainstorming Sessions was to meet with other home-based business owners and chat about the topics that are related to running a business solo. And brainstorming can be successful and inspiring even if you have just 2 people chatting.
I decided to ask those who bought a ticket whether we should go ahead with the meeting, or I can cancel it and refund their purchase.
I am glad I asked! One person said she wouldn’t be able to attend anyway as she had a very busy day and the other one wanted to go ahead with the meeting. So, we meet for a 1-1 brainstorming session, and it was amazing!
Not only did we have enough time to share what our businesses are about and what we offer but also exchanged our thoughts on how we work on our mindset and find balance in business as women. The best part was when we realised we are both polish and so we started chatting in our mother language ?
Ania gave me the confidence to share this post with you today.
At first, I felt like it was a failure that I only managed to attract a couple of people to my online meeting. But sharing this feeling with Ania helped me see everything from a different perspective:
- It may take just ONE person to open the door for you to other opportunities
- Success happens one step (person) at the time
- Sharing the journey of how I am slowly growing in my business can be inspirational to others and showing my authentic, imperfect self is my strength, not my weakness.
Great things take time
So often we get discouraged by watching other businesses online doing everything in a perfect manner. We put on ourselves pressure that we should also be there without respecting the fact that GREAT THINGS TAKE TIME. That everyone has to start somewhere. That doing business solo means doing lots of work by yourself and you might not have the resources yet to outsource social media management or video editing. And if you do, you might be reluctant to let go of control to trust that someone will do those things for you the way you would (or better!).
On the one hand, I want to be open and raw about how running a business solo can be sometimes hard. But it also feels quite uncomfortable to share these roadblocks with my audience. I keep worrying: will they still accept me for who I am? The imperfect, struggling human being? Will they still want to do business with me knowing that I don’t have everything sorted out? Is it ok that I serve my clients better than I do it for myself? Will I ever learn how to be nice to myself and stop feeling guilty for not being perfect?
Be more positive
This year one of the promises I made to myself was to be more positive. Which to me means quitting the all-or-nothing mindset, learning how to manage my energy, and working in line with my natural cycle. Being positive means to me staying focused on the bigger picture and balancing discipline with self-care. And self-care means being kind to myself. Appreciating and acknowledging the progress I make in my business simply by showing up every day. And giving myself a pack in the back at the end of each day when I manage to tick all the tasks on my to-do list. But also, being able to sit down with myself when the day wasn’t as I was expected and tell myself: It’s ok. I’ve got you. You are still enough. And tomorrow is another day.
