This past weekend I celebrated 2 years as a mostly digital solopreneur, by hanging out in the woods with no wifi :) And I reflected a bit about what I’ve learnt on this journey. It’s been a wild ride of course, mainly emotionally, but it’s also been so rewarding, teaching me things about life more than about business. I could probably come up with many more but these are three main keys that’s worked as guideposts to my entrepreneurial journey so far.
Alignment before action
I’m a very action oriented person. Or, maybe, I used to be. The first six months of my journey was a lot about getting things done. Creating for the sake of production and getting the word out to as many people as possible. I hustled. Very little happened.
At the beginning of 2018 I took an online course, with Jess Lively, called Flow with intention. It was all about the law of attraction and talking to my intuition and I realized one main thing; alignment needs to come first. When I get into action from a space of forcing or striving or needing to be “the good girl” I attract tension, and neediness and guilt. When I first focus on my alignment; meaning feeling the way I want to feel and taking care of myself properly, I’m a vibrational match for all that I want more of.
As I started focusing the first hours of every day on alignment things really started flowing for me. Opportunities showed up from unexpected places, creativity started flowing in a new way and most importantly, I was so much happier in my life in general.
Focusing on alignment first doesn’t mean that it’s not okay to have a bad day. It’s about adjusting schedule, plans and goals when needed. We can force and strive and do as much as we like, but if we’re out of alignment doing it it’s time wasted. At the same time, one email in alignment can change the whole trajectory of your business or life.
My main commitment every week is still this: Alignment before action. And I still forget sometimes. And when I do, I’m reminded by the way I feel and by things not flowing as they normally do.
So many people say that you need to work day and night, and so hard as a solopreneur to make it, quite the opposite has been true for me.
Community is everything
Just as I was leaving the uncomfortable but safe cocoon of my corporate career two important things happened; I connected with Intenco and I walked into the castle. I was clearly lead to both places.
My “door opener”, who called me the night I knew for sure that I could no longer stay in my current job, collaborated with an HR consultancy firm called Intenco. Getting to be part of this community of senior HR professionals with so much love, confidence and experience has had a huge part in my first two years being so rewarding.
The Castle is a co-working space located opposite the royal castle in Stockholm where a new acquaitance invited me in the spring of 2017. I knew, the moment I stepped foot in the door, that this was the kind of energy I needed in my life. This is where I go to feel at home, to meet my family/colleagues/friends, and this is where I get so much inspiration for my creative work.
Following the cues when it comes to building my network as an entrepreneur has lead me to so many amazing people, experiences, lessons and adventures. I’ve grown so much from all the community I have around me everyday.
So many people say that being an entrepreneur is lonely and isolating, quite the opposite has been true for me.
Intuition leads the way, authenticity is key
I started blogging about my health journey seven years ago, in the midst of my own despair. I continued blogging because I wanted to log everything I learned and share it with others who might benefit. I’ve always written with an intention to serve, myself or others.
As the blogging grew and I grew as a teacher, student and communicator with different tools I slowly realized that I was growing a business. But as soon as I realized that I thought I needed to change. And I have, of course. But there’s a lot of do’s and don’ts out there when it comes to digital entrepreneurship and so many self-proclaimed gurus in the field.
I love to get inspiration and some advice is really great, but whenever I get too influenced I lose my footing. I wanna be real with you. And, I wanna reach the people who really need the advice/ inspiration/ knowledge/ hope that I can offer. It’s a balance I’m still trying to find, and it will probably always be a balancing act.
So many people say that there’s a proven formula for how to do this thing, quite the opposite has been true for me.
Two years has felt really long and super short (there’s that paradox again). But I’m so grateful, most days, that I get to do this, that I get to be here. And to be able to conclude that I work less, feel abundant, have more fun and feel like I’m actually making a difference in peoples lives is worth it all.
If you’re an entrepreneur - what do you think of my lessons above, have they been true for you too? If you’re not an entrepreneur - what did these lessons bring up in you? How could you translate these into your current job?
With all my love,
Helena