Life of an Entrepreneur

Life of an Entrepreneur by Kristy Dalman, The Odd Girl

First off I got to say, feet on the desk like that isn’t as comfy as you would think, especially for long periods of editing.

I’ve been working from home since November 2010

that’s almost 4 years of working in pjs, making my own schedule, deciding the course of my business and my own future. At first, and still is largely true, I was in absolute heaven. Here in Michigan when the snow is up to your tuckus and you don’t have to go out in it 5 days a week for 3-4 months that is a beautiful thing.

The life of an entrepreneur and owning your own business is heady, its daunting but its also empowering. You learn about yourself and your capabilities working for yourself than you do in most 9-5’s. 

You don’t have a boss or co-worker depending on you to meet deadlines; there are no company goals and quotas to be made handed down by “the man”; no one is going to come finger waggle at you or fire you if your work isn’t done. You can quickly find out if you have what it takes to be your own boss, what your standards are, and what you expect from yourself. You’re the only one that can give yourself the ambition, drive and constant reaffirmation that what you’re doing is going to work out. Procrastinators beware! There be sharks in these waters. 

I’ve learned that:

I thrive on check lists. Damn I love checking things off!

My skills at communicating my ideas needs work, not everyone is in my head and sees what I see. (you wouldn’t want to be in there either, fyi)

I need things to work towards. Without goals I have the sense of treading water, I hate treading water.

I have to work at trusting people more. I am very trusting with some things but absolutely not at all with other things. Being burned in the past (badly) shouldn’t keep me from trusting trustworthy people now. It does though and I’m working on that.

I can’t do it all. I hate admitting that bc I SO want to be the all-in-one-badass but that leads to burnout. Speaking of…

I can easily take on too much. I’m much better at this than I used to be but I still do like to heap extra on myself… not intentionally but it still happens. 

Things take longer than you expect them too (like all the things).

Social Media is not a replacement for real people and real relationships and OMG is it distracting.

You have to take time to savor what you’ve accomplished, appreciate it, and not kill that by comparing yourself and your company to the works of others. This is probably my biggest problem. All-in-one-badass-wanna-be see’s Miss ABC rockin this or Ms XYZ creating something SO similar to what I’m doing and it can get in your head that what you’re doing isn’t enough. 

 

 

I’ll be talking about some more of those in depth. There’s a big nugget in there that isn’t spoken but I can see it in the writing that maybe we’ll talk about in the fall when I’ve addressed it with myself. Being an entrepreneur is a tough job and not for everyone or the faint of heart.

I think it will be fun, or good for me, to share this side of myself with you. If you can think of anything you want to know about, just ask! I will be happy to answer 99% of your questions 🙂 

4 Comments
  • Charity Chamberlain says:

    Thanks for sharing. You have no idea how much I can relate. How has the ball been working for you? Did it help at all?

  • Anna Sigga says:

    I am in awe of your talent and of all you do. You go girl and keep up the fantastic good work!

  • Janet Anderson says:

    Thank you today’s inspiration. You have no idea how prolific it really is. I am in the midst of starting my own business and working from home. Travel related not talent related… Travel is my talent! There is so much to learn and so much to do. Thank you,…….

  • Paola says:

    I can relate to what you wrote…thank you for sharing and I look forward to reading more. 🙂

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