Self-Belief, Structure and Strategy

20 Oct Self-Belief, Structure and Strategy

How to get through one day at time when you’re self employed

On the days when work is in short supply and you are wondering if working in a bank might be a better option (it never is), I am coming to understand that being self employed is all about structure, self belief and never ever giving up. As a full time male voice over artist, I get lots of work, praise, compliments and financially awesome days. But I also get the really crappy quiet days where you are staring at your phone, willing an email to ping into existence, so that you can feel like you have made the right decision on being self employed and that the world doesn’t think you are an untalented waste of space.

This is backward thinking though and it gets you nowhere. I find myself writing this as much for myself as for you, the reader. To believe that validation comes from the outside is nonsense. It has to start form within. You have to have the acceptance and trust of self to know that you have made the right decisions in life and that what you are doing is valid and worthwhile. Self belief is of course a tricky one. Maybe ask yourself, “what do I like about me?”. If the answer is “nothing”, go for a walk for 10 minutes and then ask yourself the question again. If the answer is still “nothing”, call someone you love and ask them what’s good about you. If you don’t want to do that, or if you don’t have close people, then you I would say look online for a good therapist. I did Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for 4 years and it changed my life (if you would like to know more email me).

Whatever your reason for being self employed is, you need to have it clear in your mind. Whether it’s to have enough sweet potatoes in the fridge (yes sweet potatoes – I love them) or whether it’s to change the world, your why has to be there.

Then you have to have strategy. I’m finding these days that my self discipline is in high supply (I’m writing a blog amn’t I?). But this didn’t come by magic. It came from so much trial and error. So much trying things one way and failing and trying things another way and yes… failing. But after 38 years on this little blue dot, I’m starting (just) to get the hang of things. If you listen to my podcast ‘That Sober Irish Dude’s Podcast’, you’ll know that I am sober (the clue is in the title) nearly 4 years now. Sobriety is certainly a big part of my finding some level of structure and self acceptance and strategy for life, but really it was just the beginning for me of finding out what it is to be a human being of positive action in this life. And so I offer you a taste of what I’ve been doing in recent days to create structure in my life…

1. I now work in 90 minute chunks… I stole this from Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Podcast, ‘The Huberman Lab’… and by God does it work!
2. I can do whatever I want for the 30 minutes in between each 90 minute chunk… I meditate, journal, work out, eat, shower, whatever.
3. I have all devices off by 9:30pm and I get into bed with a good book and my wife. Whichever interests me more will fill in the remainder of the day.
4. Oh and I wake up at the same time every day, 7am.
5. On Sundays I do whatever the hell I want.
6. NATURE…enough said on that one

So that’s it really at the moment. It’s not that that’s all I have to say, but that’s all I feel like saying right now.

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