Choosing hard.
We are creatures of habit. We like things easy. Our brain prefers to automate and form habits out of as much as possible so that it doesn’t have to work so hard.
We like things easy.
The thing is, most entrepreneurs/solopreneurs know that our chosen paths can be hard. In the online platform sphere, we can feel like we are speaking to an empty room for years before that email list suddenly gains momentum.
I received an email from Justin Welsh, author of The Saturday Solopreneur newsletter. In this email sent on December 30, 2023, he talks about “hard.” He touches upon his exhausting life with his W-2 job, and his transition into entrepreneurship. BOTH were hard.
Both paths required tremendous work. Both paths were very difficult to navigate. Both paths required sacrifice. But his entrepreneurial path was all his. He owned it. He owned the level of outcome and success that his particular, intentional hard work created.
We all know that we choose our hard. We all make decisions that strengthen or weaken. We make choices that bring us right or left.
Stay-at-home mom, leader of your industry in a W-2 job that you love, or solopreneur typing away to an audience of 1- we choose our hard.
And sometimes revisiting that simple thought helps unleash a new perspective on the intentional ways (or sometimes wasteful ways) we use our time.
How are you using your time? Are you intentional about the way you spend the single greatest currency you have?
Sometimes one of the hardest things I do as an entrepreneur is staying mindful of creating the aligned lifestyle I sought to create.
I love what I do. I find great joy in working with clients and writing books. It’s easy and fitting for my introverted side of me to hole up in my office and work. BUT that would be incredibly contrary to the homeschooling/unschooling lifestyle that my family intentionally created.
Often, choosing hard for me means remembering to maintain a work-life balance. It’s remembering that when I am working- I WORK. I stay diligent and intentional with my focus. And when I am not working- I protect that so that work doesn’t seep into every area of my life and burn me out.
This week, keep in mind the lifestyle balance you want to create and be mindful about where you spend your most precious asset, your time. What hard are you choosing?
