Well I have been off coffee for 48 hours – man what a difference. Long-term coffee toxicity is deadly – I pretty well slept or rested the whole day yesterday. But today, I am on fire! I am drinking green tea now, which seems to be working very well (3 1/2 hours on the job and still going strong at 5:30am).
I have had some major personal shifts / insights in the last few days through the Waking Down work (I had a session with Saniel Bonder yesterday). The book Waking Down is a profound, profound reflection and text / guidebook on the human condition and the nature and steps of the awakening process. I feel a much greater clarity and focus around my work-life issues right now – while realizing at the same time that I exist in a fundamental state of confusion, fear, anxiety and alienation (my human condition). This is the paradox of our "divinely human condition" – that we carry both a divine nature (unlimited freedom and power of consciousness to witness and create) and a limited human nature (stuck and contained within our messy-sticky needs, emotional reactions, relationships and finances). So I can say now that I have "clarity" but only within certain bounds. I have clarity that I want to move forward into the great unknown adventure, yet knowing full well that I really don’t fully know what I want, what is best for me or anybody else, and how it all will unfold. And there are no guarantees of success. A certain level of pretense (and maybe arrogance) has fallen away from me in the last few days. Pretense that I know what is best for me and what I want.
I wrote the following note to a business networking group I belong to (TPNG – Technology Professionals Networking Group). This is part of my emerging clarity around these issues. I really don’t know if this is the best thing for me to do, but it is where my energy is drawing me now, so I feel it’s either going to be this business or something better that will emerge in the creation process.
I used to run a web design / development company for 3 years. It failed for several reasons:
1)Poor business model – insufficiently thought-out from the beginning
2)I started hating the job – too intense and no work-life balance – started feeling like everybody’s slave
3)Insufficient income in relation to time invested
However, market conditions being what they are, and since I can’t find contract work as a technical writer anyway (and, truth be told, I am extremely ambivalent about the 40 hour work model to begin) I am starting up again a different business, which will focus on internet marketing, blogging, and social networking for small / medium entrepreneurs.
Anyone else in this boat and able to provide feedback, form a support group, etc?
PROS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
1) Control of one’s hours (particularly nice for me as I have taken on a polyphasic sleep pattern that works really well – see http://polphasic-sleep.info )
2) Potentially rising salary (increasing rates as interest in the service rises)
3) Building equity – possibility to sell the business or develop products providing passive income potential down the line
CONS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
1) It’s pretty difficult to get the same level of income as a full-time hourly gig, especially initially, plus health-insurance costs etc
2) One needs to be a more "rounded person" – to have skills in different areas (especially marketing and the internet)
3) Work-life balance is more difficult.
I am looking for feedback from others who have made the transition and/or who are considering it.
Thanks!
Marc Beneteau
http://webtechnologyguru.info
