Sucks being alone, but here you are
The scariest thing about being on your own in business, is that you're on your own in business.
We start off so excited. We have the ideas, the business name, the website even, and then we sit here and we wait.
We wait for customers. We wait for revenue. We wait for our lives to change.
And then we wait some more.
I want to tell you about something.
This year, I left my marriage. I did it after decades of trying to make it work. In the end it never did.
I left behind a lot, and one of the biggest things I left behind was the business I helped build, and if I am being honest, it was me who mostly built it. I had the vision. I had the goals. I did the tradeshows, I traveled alone, I did a lot of it alone. Then I left it.
So, now, here I am, 50 and starting from the bottom again, but this bottom is radically different than the last one.
This time, I have 25 years of marketing behind me. 25 years of entrepreneurship, of money spent making me better, and 25 years of skills I have earned through sheer will.
Is it scary? Sure, but nothing I have done in this life has been easy or "not" scary, that never stopped me.
Maybe you can relate? Maybe you have done some scary shit, or maybe you have some big scary shit hiding somewhere in your mind that you haven't quite pulled the trigger on.
Who knows?
What I do know is that when you reach a certain time in your life, things change. There is a feeling that time is not fully on your side like it was in your 30's. You feel a sense of urgency that can either scare you or motivate you.
I am choosing to let it motivate me, sometimes it scares me too, but I give the motivation the power.
Starting a business can feel really daunting, especially if you're on your own doing it.
How does it feel?
Like you have no idea where to start.
Like if you fail, you'll be the joke of your friend group.
You're afraid to waste money.
You have to do it perfectly or it won't work.
You don't want to fail or some of you might even fear success.
All of it is normal. I promise.
Community is one of the ways I have learned to just get on with it. To get over the reason not to start.
In fact, I leave for Quebec soon to attend a small mastermind group I put together for this very reason. I was sick of coming home from events that were filled with thousands of like-minded people to a place where I felt completely isolated and alone.
I knew the longer I let myself fall victim to letting loneliness be the force that drives me, the longer I would have to put my dreams on hold. And to be honest, fuck that. The urgency is here and I wasn't going to let it waste away anymore.
The other thing I did was invest in a coach again, something I hadn't done in years. I had to get resourceful to make this happen, remember, I left my business behind, but I knew I needed the help.
These two things, the mastermind and coach, have already shifted me into an identity I thought I had lost. This was me about 5 to 6 years ago. The queen of investing in herself. The woman who had fears, but powered through anyway. The unstoppable version of Cara.
I am still a solopreneur, that isn't what has changed, what HAS changed is who I am around now.
I have started to practice my favorite Tony Robbins saying, "proximity is power," again and it feels really good.
So maybe this is you? Maybe you are feeling alone, and you're staring down the same fork I was staring down a few months ago. Keep going it alone, or find your way back to the version of you who invests in herself.
I chose the second one.
I'm opening my business and marketing coaching back up. It's been years since I offered it, and I'm genuinely excited to be back in it with people who get that you have to do something to get something.
If any of this resonated with you, or you're just curious what it looks like to work together, drop a comment or send me a message. No pressure, I'd just love to hear where you're at.
Big love guys,
Cara
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