Only The Curious

Yesterday I was writing about how the biggest thing that I hear from my traditionally employed friends is that they could never go without the security of their paycheck. And someone made a great point in the comments that job security is kind of a fallacy.

When you’re self-employed, it’s simply a different kind of security. To me, it’s just a redefinition, and one that I prefer for three reasons:

1) I can’t get laid off. Nobody else is going to tell me when I’m done working. Even if, say, all the publications I’m writing for go out of business (R.I.P. Wisconsin Woman) I can just go find more gigs elsewhere. Or if that doesn’t work, I can just take my work in a different direction, like working more with web copy. Which brings me to my second point:

2) I can take steps to prevent a downturn for my business. When you run your own business, you are both more in touch with your clients’ needs and more able to respond to them. Instead of going down with the ship, I can change course. If the service I’m offering isn’t one my clients want, I can look at what they do want, and adjust to it. You create your own security by catering to your clients’ needs. The key to this is that you have to put their needs ahead of your own desires when it comes to your business. If they’re not going to pay you for whatever it is you want to do, hold on to that idea and figure out how you can use your skills to provide the service they need.

3) Multiple Streams of Income. To me, this is the heart of stability and security for the self-employed. Even when I have had full-time jobs, I was always freelancing and doing massage on the side. As I’ve mentioned a few times, having someone else tell me that I will only earn X amount per month is the opposite of security to me. Being able to control my income and earn more than my salary every month – that’s great. Not to mention that whenever I was between jobs, it was okay, because I could just work harder on marketing my other businesses, so even though I’ve been unemployed several times, I’ve never actually been without a source of income.

Even if my primary income source disappears, I always have something to fall back on. That’s a kind of security that traditional employment simply cannot provide. Traditional employment favors experts – people who having one job in one field with one skill set- but even for them, it can be a very eggs-in-one-basket kind of deal. Even if you’re THE expert, if your company goes out of business, you’re out of work. I have several interests. I love learning. Therefore, I prefer to have several fields and skill sets, so even if one dries up, I always have something else already in the works.

Admittedly, entrepreneurship will never have the stability of traditional work. There will always be ups and downs to deal with, and never a set payscale to count on. We the self-employed always need to have more savings on hand for the dry spells, and be willing to cut back if necessary. But, with multiple sources of income, self-employment can have more security than any traditional job will ever be able to offer. Having been laid off three times myself, I’ll trade my short-term stability for my long-term security any day.

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In my opinion, the biggest difference between those who desire to be entrepreneurs versus those who prefer to be employees has to do with risk aversion. Most of my traditionally employed friends tell me that they couldn’t imagine not having the security of their jobs. They like and need the stable, dependable paychecks and benefits. The idea of not having these things is terrifying to them.

And I want to say, once and for all, THAT’S OKAY with me.

I’m not going to lie, going the self-employed track is not for the faint of heart. I’m also not about to pretend that I’m remotely financially stable at the moment. Were it not for Karl and Heather, I would probably be back to living in my parents’ house right now. Were it not for Jon, I’d just have left my car broken in the driveway and be biking everywhere. I am not proud of this. (also, thank you three times a bajillion and a half. Free massages for all of you. All the time. Go.)

But I do have absolute faith that things will turn around. Because I believe that the only way to fail at self-employment is to give up. So long as you keep working at it and keep trying new things, you will find a way to succeed. And it is this undying belief in my own power to succeed that makes me the second least risk-averse person I know. My friend Dwight is the first. Nicole is somewhere up there, too.

It is in moments like these where I think to myself that maybe getting another job wouldn’t be so bad. I mean, yeah, it would be REALLY NICE to have regular income, and actually get some student loans paid off eventually. Maybe save for a vacation. Ooh, maybe have some co-workers to go to happy hour with. Not to mention that it would feel great to feel needed somewhere. To have somewhere to be every morning. I do miss that part.

Then again, I get to go to whatever meetings and events are most pertinent to my work. I can exercise in the middle of the day and work in the middle of the night. I don’t have to wear business clothes, and at the moment, I get to spend the majority of my work time interviewing fascinating people and then writing about them. And while my salary might be zero today, it might be several hundred dollars tomorrow. Or, dare I dream, even more. Not to mention if there’s some new, great, creative idea I have about my business, I can just make it happen. Talk about empowering.

So it’s an ongoing struggle for me. I know that deep down, I REALLY want to do my own thing. And I know that I can. But I fully recognize why most of you have regular, stable jobs. And I thank goodness that a few people in my life are happy with that kind of employment. And I may return to it at some point. Possibly sooner rather than later, if the right opportunity arises. If for no other reason that to fund my business.

As much as I am thinking and writing about the differences of employees and entrepreneurs, and generally land on the side of cheerleading we the self-employed, I just want to give a shout-out to my traditionally employed friends, and to recognize that my winging-it lifestyle is decidedly not for everyone.

So Grace, thank you for the comments you have left on many a person’s blog regarding the reasons you work the way you do. Not to mention your own posts and thoughts you have shared with me in person. You are a role-model to me as someone who lives life on her own terms and has found a way to make regular work not only part of that, but an inspired part of it.

Karl, thank you for being my sugar-daddy while I figure my s4!t out.

Jon, thank you for being supportive, even though I know you’d rather see me doing things a different way.

Alisha, for showing me that sometimes the greatest discoveries of your passions can, in fact, happen because of a regular job, and for being my all-purpose venting buddy.

And to a few not-traditionally-employed friends:

Heather, for letting me pay you in massages and eventually promised shares of the rent, and continuing to be my friend anyway.

Barbara, for continuing to be an unrelenting cheerleader of the self-employed.

Laura, for proving that you can, in fact, support yourself as a writer.

Angela, for your advice and assistance. I’m sure I’ll have tons more questions for you in the coming months, so thanks for being open to my queries.

And ALL OF YOU reading this blog, for letting me be transparent and honest. Also, if you’d like to support me, go read my Examiner articles so I can get paid for that work.

And tomorrow: redefining security and stability. Stay tuned.

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Okay, this is not the follow-up post to my previous post about entrepreneurship vs. the 9-to-5. Sorry. I know I promised it like, a week ago, to be written the next day. And yes, Aly, I know you’re dying for the next installment. Mom and Barbara have been haranguing (how is that even supposed to be spelled? I’m a former spelling-bee champ, but I have no idea. And it’s Friday afternoon, so, no, I’m not going to go get the dictionary to look that one up,) me about it too. Sorry ladies. And everyone else. I’ll write it early next week. Finger-crossie promises.

It’s my blog. I can write about what I want.

And what do I want to write about?

I don’t know. Stress, I guess. It’s been a terribly. stressful. week. Which I didn’t know that you could have when there are neither bosses nor deadlines present in your life, and your family isn’t nearby, and your life is primarily filled with beautiful weather, bicycling, and your sweetheart.

Actually, I think I’m stressed because of the lack of both. As referenced in my post about why I need a boss, I find one of the biggest challenges to trying to start my own business/freelancing is being my own task master. (Okay, so I guess I am going to write about entrepreneurship today. Who knew?) It’s really a struggle for me to get stuff done. Like write promised blog posts. Or do things I know I need to do for my business but OH MY GOD LOOK AT THE LAWN. IT NEEDS TO BE MOWED. NOW. See?

Barbara Winter talks about this in her workshops. It’s really easy when you’re working form home to feel productive because you cleaned the entire house, organized the last 10 years’ tax documents, or made your sweetheart a gourmet dinner and mowed his lawn. (Not a metaphor. And yes, I’m really excited that the freaking lawnmower is fixed. Apparently.) But the reality is, you’re not working. You might be being productive, but it’s still just productive procrastination.

And hence, an entire week has gone by without an article written or a blog posted. I did a couple of interviews. And, admittedly, I had to deal with things like a broken car and spider infestation (hence the stress. Like whoa. SPIDERS. EVERYWHERE. IN MY BEDROOM. NOT OKAY.) and these things take up time and energy. Oh, and money. That I don’t have. More stress. (Shout-out to Jon: thanks for the help on the car, bro!)

But I also know my lack of work-related productivity is primarily due to the fact that I haven’t given myself a schedule, or an editorial calendar, or even written down goals. So, starting Monday, I’m going to try doing some of those things. Why not this weekend? Well, as luck would have it, there’s a wedding. No, not my wedding. (Karl, deep breaths.) And the rehearsal dinner is at Karl’s folks’ place. And I am now apparently coordinating it. So, little busy. Lots of fun. Also the World Cup starts like, now, so productivity is at a standstill until that’s no longer a novelty.

If you have ways to schedule, keep yourself on task, etc. I would love to hear them. Help me out readers, PLEASE SHARE! What do you do to manage your time and productivity?

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