Nowhere to Hide Is a Good Thing

There’s nowhere to hide in my one-person company, not from my brain, not from my work, not from my fears, nor my hopes.

I’m finding that immediacy an unlauded upside to running my own show.

It’s easy to think about the porch work session, the spontaneous eclipse road trip, the flexibility, all of which are real bonuses. I’ve found, though, that they are secondary to the ownership I feel over my time and my mind now that I’m running my own business. There’s nothing separating me from what needs to be done most days.

Ownership, not feeling owned by my schedule or clients, (hi, you’re all great!), or owned by my aspirations, but instead having self-determination in the concrete details of what, how, and why, even as I’m helping others answer those same questions.

I like teams, they may be the part about companies that I find the most fascinating, yet, for the first time, I’m the boss. I have the freedom to make (and the responsibility for) all the decisions, but I don’t feel like I’m alone.

A few past conversations with others out on their own has sometimes made this solo thing feel heavy, burdened with the extra emotional weight of “dangerous shoulds.” Lately, those conversations with other solo, or nearly solo, pros have been full of breezy optimism. Maybe it’s an economic change, or maybe it’s just a different mix of folks, but whatever it is, I’m loving it.