“Business is the ultimate sport. In business, as in sport, the one thing you can control is effort.”

Ponder that and… have a great day!

Bye!

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What? … You’re still here?

Like a rugrat clinging to my ankle aren’t you?

Well… I guess I can spare another word. Maybe two…

The quote is from Mark Cuban — one of the “sharks” from the reality TV show Shark Tank.

Plus… being a “billionaire businessman”… he knows a thing or two about the game.

As freelancers… most of us being solopreneurs… we’re playing the same game. Just on a much smaller field.

And at some time or other we all have to go through stages of realising just what on earth it is we’re doing as business owners.

One of the things that can trip you up. And then keep ankle-tapping you over and over if you’re not aware of it is: wanting to control the outcomes for your business.

You know… setting a goal like: “I’m going to make $10k next month”.

Or: “By the end of January I’ll have 3 new clients”.

That’s how I thought for a long time.

But I’m now yanking hard on the roalroad switch… so the train clickety-clacks onto a different track.

Namely, the one that Sharky Marky is talking about.

Because what can I really do to ensure I reach my specific financial goal or client goal?

I can’t wave a wand and make these things happen how I envision them. Even stacking the deck in my favor still brings no certainty.

Bottom line as a freelancer: Results are not guaranteed.

Tony Robbins now steps for his signature face slap move:

“If you focus on what you can’t control, you’re a little crazy inside, angry and depressed. If you focus most of the time on what you don’t have instead of what you do have, you’re going to be extremely unhappy.”

So, me doing business as a freelancer comes down to the one thing that is in my hands to control: effort.

And we’re not talking about burning the candle at both ends in order to hit your financial goals.

But effort includes giving energy to things like upskilling, playing to our strengths, and being selective with what we give our time and attention to.

And… you know what?

I find thinking like this incredibly freeing.

I don’t feel like I need to be chasing after this and that and everything else. Because doing the boring business things is enough.

Like:

Getting a little better at what I do every day. Keeping focused. And serving my clients well.

It helps also to remember that people wiser and more experienced than me do have a thing or two I can learn. 🤓

So… if you’re looking for some sage advice: only try to control what you can.

Which means when it comes to goal setting…

If you decide your goal is to regularly earn 1k, 5k, 20k per month by a certain date.

Think about if you can really control the outcome?

But perhaps you CAN control:

Writing a blog post every day. Sending an email every day. Designing a website every day.

Thinking like this means goals become decoupled from money. Which I think is a good thing.

Because then — at least in our own minds ­— there’s no question about how genuine we are when serving clients.

Because wanting to serve others has to be part of the mix. It’s what makes (good) business… well… business.

Rewards then have a mysterious way of finding their way to you.

Let’s make it a trinity of quotes to wrap up:

Worry about the things you can control; the rest will either work themselves out, or they’ll kill you. Either way, no more worries — Laurell K. Hamilton

🤣

Chris “reforming control-freak” Milham

P.S. Always feel free to disagree with my pontifications. Questions are welcome. Just email me.

P.P.S. And feeling a bit gutted… sending this off just after midnight… so technically missed today’s daily email. 😑 But on the plus side: there’ll be two today! 😁

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Chris Milham