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This week, another celebrity who loudly gave up on Twitter returned to Twitter.
That’s perfectly understandable. The pain of being criticized by legions of strangers is the price she’s willing to pay for the adulation of other strangers. It’s a deal she’s happy to agree to, especially when it comes on the classic intermittent reinforcement schedule that keeps gamblers addicted to making bets.
How many of those zillions of followers wish they were in this celebrity’s shoes?
Read MoreWorking with fellow business owners, I see patterns arise in the concerns and insecurities we share.
It is common for these leaders, be they entrepreneurs or freelancers, to believe that they aren’t real business owners for one reason or another.
Their website still needs work. Their social media accounts are placeholders. They haven’t figured out how to file their quarterly taxes. They’re just winging it when it comes to sales.
Read MoreAimee Mann’s 1995 album I’m With Stupid closes with a truly beautiful, profane song called “It’s Not Safe.”
"All you want to do is something good,” she sings, “so get ready to be ridiculed and misunderstood.”
I rarely feel that cynical, but I often come back to that song to appreciate the solidarity. It helps to know that I’m not alone in feeling so alone sometimes.
Read MoreAs a business owner, I often hear from friends (and friends of friends) who are headed down that path. They’re looking for advice and encouragement.
Often, I can’t help very much — we have a mismatch of values and priorities.
One woman called wanting to learn about finding commercial space for a school she hadn’t started yet. She was disappointed in my recommendation that she start humbly (for instance, leasing from a church) instead of forging ahead with a multi-year commercial lease in a high-traffic area. Her plan was to raise money, which sounded terrifying to me.
Read MoreA friend of mine is investigating a business idea.
In fact, he’s been investigating various business ideas for the past few months. He’s not sure whether the idea he has now will turn out to be a good one.
I wonder if what he’s really asking is, “Will my idea be successful?” And perhaps he would define success as, “Will it yield a profitable business?”
Read MoreI came across a plaintive blog post by a struggling entrepreneur. “God,” she said to the Internet, “Why won’t you send your blessings to my business?”
Yesterday, I wrote about how we can succeed with something if we stick with it and refuse to entertain the possibility that we don’t have what it takes. But that’s about our own skill and persistence. We run into trouble when we think we can control what other people do if we just try hard enough or show up long enough…and if that is the case, controlling the actions of an almighty deity would seem to be to be off the menu as well.
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