W03 Reflection: Entrepreneurial Journal Blog

Lessons learned

I thoroughly enjoyed the videos this week. As always, I have to listen to them on double-speed. Plus, I had to search online for the video version of the “True Blue, Through and Through” talk in order to listen at double-speed, because I’m still in so much pain that it is pretty excruciating to look at the computer or phone screen to read anything. So, I have a great time listening while coloring quietly, which helps the information quickly absorb even while I’m in pain.

The Making a Living and a Life talk was terrific and very appropriate for our own lives. We are starting a new business venture and the things that were said were in line with what I’ve set as our core mission for our business. Since I cannot “work” in traditional jobs any longer, I have to get creative and find things to work on during the very few days a month that I’m functional. Since my energy is so much more limited, I have to be extremely critical of how I spend those “spoons” of energy. There is not enough money in the world to make it worth wasting my energy on people and businesses I disagree with or that goes against my values. I don’t even care if we make any money, as long as I’m out there helping others online, as much as I can within my limitations. The 10 Must Haves for a Start-Up was very cute and I got a giggle out of the talk. We definitely have “skin in the game” because every business we’ve built has been bootstrapped from the bottom up with our personal funding. We definitely agree that putting your own funding in changes the way you think about those funds being wasted or misspent. Every financial purchase is considered carefully because we know that we cannot afford to lose that money on wasteful spending. Ken Zolot sounds a lot like myself, as I struggle with autism and ADHD and the experiences he spoke about really resonated with me. I can definitely see where those have become a strength over my career even while I struggled to “conform” to neurotypical ideals. I have always been someone that was considered different and I struggled to pay attention, always very restless, always the outcast. I loved his question of “who cares?” and I often teach that very same concept to the people I help. As far as the formula for happiness….I have spent the past 10 years seeking “my oil”. What it really boils down to is “self-reliance” is my “oil” and everything we do, in our personal lives as well as our new business venture, focuses on self-reliance as the primary goal. We want only to help others become self-reliant in whatever way they can, starting where they are even if its in an apartment in a huge city. While I cannot “get up early” I tend to “stay up late” getting work done at night after everyone else has gone to bed and the world gets quiet enough to hear my thoughts. I’ve always worked hard, so that’s never been an issue. I absolutely hate the idea of formal education, but I’ve instead fostered the “lifelong learning” model and voraciously devour everything I can get my hands on. It’s very much time to make my mark serving others.