Ya Gotta Have Faith.

Illustration by Enoch Bolles

All entrepreneurs are gamblers. We are people who figured out that job stability is an illusion and that we want to make more of the money for ourselves instead of someone else. So we jump off of the precipice into the free fall that is self directed freelance employment. When all goes well, it’s incredibly rewarding and when it doesn’t...it’s downright scary.

In order for me to make it all work, I have a variety of jobs. The good thing about that is that if one dries up, I have other avenues of income. The bad thing as of late is that in this rocky economy, several of them are drying up simultaneously. Over the past few months I’ve had a few regular sources of income either disappear or shrink exponentially. In the past two weeks two have completely fizzled out, one with a rather large and unfortunate fizzling sound. I’m in that free fall mode and the only rip cord is my faith in my abilities. Is faith enough?

I guess I’m going to find out.

I think people look at me and assume that since I’ve built a brand and brand recognition through extensive viral marketing that I’m making a lot of money. That’s simply not the case...yet. I’m building something that I truly believe has a big pay off down the road. This is the gamble. Will all of my hard work result in licensing, better book sales, TV hosting, new on air sales positions...or will it all sort of fizzle out like a birthday candle in the rain? (Good grief let’s just hope it doesn’t fizzle out like that lame arse metaphor!) The truth is it’s often one step forward two steps back and I am on a daily basis having to spin the straw faster and come up with new straw sources. I’m not whining mind you, I’m simply stating the facts.

The thing is we’re all in this boat these days. Many, many of us are a paycheck away from that free fall. I believe that the only way we can survive is to get very resourceful and very smart. That means assessing our talents and skills and figuring out new pathways for success that don’t rely on one source or one job. It means being able to take the blows that knock us to our knees without staying down for the count. It means being resilient, strong, tenacious and it means having faith. No one is going to rescue us, so we’d best figure out how to do it ourselves.

I think I can...I think I can...I think I can.

I know I can.

xoxo
Dread Pirate Maggie