Hey, Free Agent, Did you eat breakfast today?
And when you finally sat down to eat breakfast, was it morning
or … 3 pm?
When the phone is jangling, the pace hectic and deadlines
looming, do you stop … to eat?
All self-employed people share the title
Chief-Cook-and-Bottle-Washer. Which is just another way to say
that it is easy to get stretched thin when you are responsible
for everything.
In a perfect world, our work would keep us stimulated, pay the
bills, and provide us with a sufficient income to allow a decent
quality of life. We would have neither too much nor too little
work and it would come in an even flow. Not only that, but our
clients would be pleasant and they would pay us on time.
We, in turn, would find it easy to perform our services to the
public with excellence because we would be able to stay in touch
with the joy that made us choose our line of work in the first
place.
But the reality is that most of us are lucky if we can get
within spitting distance of our perfect world, much less live in
it.
While many of us are drawn to freelance living by the prospect
of freedom from having a boss, the truth is that we are at the
beck and call of our clients. And, often, through no fault of
our own, our workflow is one of feast or famine.
So … did you eat breakfast today? And when you did, was it
morning or 3 pm?
We self-employed folks tend to drive ourselves to go the extra
mile. For too many of us the reason is fear. Fear that if we
turn down a job there won’t be another.
We know that is illogical, but being self-employed means living
with a great deal of financial risk. We often feel we can’t take
the chance. So we take on the new project even though we are
exhausted. Or, against our better judgment, we take on a new
client whose behavior forewarns of difficulties ahead.
But there is much wisdom in the flight attendant’s canned speech
that ‘in the event of emergency, place the oxygen mask over your
face’ before assisting your children.
The logic is obvious. You can’t help your kids, or anyone else,
if you lack basic oxygen.
When you take proper care of yourself, you work better and feel
better. And that shows up on the bottom line.
So … did you eat breakfast today?
