I started a business. It made me want to drink copious quantities, smoke myself into oblivion and hit my head against a brick wall. Instead I wrote a blog.
Site Launch Day: 9
User Count: 36
Going right: This blog was retweeted without me asking.
Going wrong: Brother arrived for week long visit. He slid down banister and fractured ankle. Have to go with him to the hospital tomorrow.
Comment: Work for myself. Therefore theoretically able to take time off. If you work for yourself, life gets in the way a lot of actually working.
The struggle to find oneself, the pushing against boundaries and questioning of the status quo is everywhere - I see it in my daughter every day - only 16 months and she fights like hell to get her own way.
"No Freya, you can't chew the remote/pull that book to pieces/slap Mummy across the face."
Fågel Blå was the name of my boyfriend's punk band back in the days when he rebelled against his mild-mannered, middle-class parents and lived in a squat. It developed quite a groupie following in Gothenburg back in the late 80's. My boyfriend is now a very successful IT programmer, Forex trader and pop songwriter. He has (or had until we recently let her go) a nanny, a cleaner and divides his time between Richmond and Gothenburg. It's a far cry from his left leanings.
Over the years I have had several inspirational mentors. Some who barely know they have left a deep impression on me and one in particular - Ralf Lauterbach, a man of quiet genius - who said to me
"You will know when you have reached your limits; all human beings have a comfort zone beyond which they only stray for a time. It's a natural inclination."
We are like balls that settle into the holes of a puzzle. It takes some longer than others to find themselves - 37 years for me to be exact - because it's only now that I adore what I do (I admit, having a child has something to do with it). Although the frenzy of madness over the last few months has driven me insane, I truly believe in what I have created. A solution for professionals to work around their families; a challenge to those big name consultancies to stop charging the earth for advice and knowledge that should be shared more freely. A move towards perfect competition to topple the oligarchs and a carbon friendly way of working. Hurray!
Why is believing in what you do important for business? Because the internet has opened up the possibilities of fraud like never before. It is faceless. And people are trying to grasp an anything that will give them that much needed trust. The buzz word for it is "Authenticity"...and you can't bottle or fake it.
In 2002 when my stepsister had sent round the link to her myspace profile page so that my aged grandmother, and all my uncles and aunts could see that her favorite article of clothing was crotchless panties, we all gasped in shock. But somewhere amid the mutterings of "dirty laundry in public" I felt a tinge of pride that she did not compromise who she was. For anyone.
You have to be authentic on the internet to create trust, get followers and bond with your clients. On twitter they call it finding your voice. Be yourself. Be consistent. It's the law. Of course, no-one's saying you will have to share as much as my sister did.
NB. For a taste of the true authentic, you can't do better than the now infamous @shitmydadsays