The hardest part so far about being on my own is celebrating my successes.
Whenever colleagues ask how my business is going, and I truthfully answer, I feel as if I’m bragging. So for the most part I’ve made vague statements such as, “I’ve been really fortunate” or “so far so good.”
When I started DeepSky Consulting, I intended to be transparent about my experience for those who may be contemplating chasing their own dreams. I expected to share the challenges and roadblocks that I would face. However, something made that much more difficult than I expected: I almost immediately experienced success and I didn’t want to come across as boastful.
As I’ve contemplated this dilemma the past few months, I came to the conclusion that it would be OK to still be transparent even though what I’d be sharing would be far different than that I had expected.
When I was pitching my business plan for DeepSky to my wife, attempting to get her buyoff, I had forecasted that it would likely take 4-5 months before my new income would exceed our monthly expenses and 2-3 times longer before I would surpass my old income (my most optimistic projection was 7 months).
My projections were way off.
Even though I started without any clients lined up, I ended up making more money my first month than I ever had before. The next month I nearly tripled what I had made my first month and my third month is on a similar trajectory.
(Not bad for not having any clients when I started, eh?)
When I pointed this out to my wife she said, “yeah, you’ve been really lucky.”
“I’ve been very FORTUNATE,” I corrected her.
“What’s the difference?” she countered.
I’m the first to admit that many things outside of my control have bounced in my favor. I’m not anyone particularly special and I haven’t done anything remarkable except for one thing: I put myself in a position to be a recipient of good fortune.
My experience reminds me of a line from one of my favorite songs:
“You can’t get struck by lightning [in a good way] if you’re not standing in the rain.”
By taking the leap of faith (quitting my job to start a business) I was standing in the rain, even though it seemed like a crazy thing to do.
And that has made all the difference.
Are you willing to stand in the rain to chase your dreams?