Today is the perfect day to discuss this topic. Why? Because thick, fluffy, furry snowflakes are falling outside my window like a stampede of white paint. If that doesn't sound impressive, know that I currently live in Houston, where instead of snow, heat and humidity rule supreme.
So anyway, I'm sitting by the fireplace in my black Thai silk pajama pants and khaki kangaroo leather moccasins, ogling the snow cone explosion outside my window while watching the 2010 World Cup draw on ESPN2 (USA! USA! USA!). With my silver MacBook perched atop my lap, I have complete access to the outside world. Yet here I sit in the cozy comfort of my own home. It's on days like this that I'm grateful for the fiberoptic gods who bestow upon me the freedom to freelance. Having just been laid off from my job at an ad agency a few months ago (due to our country's economic woes), this freelance lifestyle is still new to me. And honestly a bit of a struggle, once again partly due to the economic recession. But I'm making do and making progress. It's a fickle lifestyle, not knowing if work will come as consistently as the Houston humidity, or as erratically as a Texas snow flurry. But that's how you play the game, and I'm fighting to become the starting point guard. I recently read an article about a man named Brett Schklar. Brett was a successful VP of some important corporation, when at the age of just 31, he suffered a heart attack. Stress from being overworked got the best of Brett's heart. Thus he devised a new business philosophy, which has proven hugely successful by the way (his current consulting firm has grown 961% since 2006). Brett's new philosophy goes as follows: "The way to grow is to do what you love to do. Invest in it. Build it. Be willing to take risks. Keep ethics and the best interests of the people around you in mind. And don't always focus on the money." In another article, from the Harvard Business Review, author Steven DeMaio portrays the peace he finds in his new freelance lifestyle. At one point, Steven eloquently states, "My mental image of work/life balance is no longer one of a two-sided weight scale, but rather of a painter's palette with a sensible mix of colors." Well said, Steven. While freelancing can be equally, if not more time consuming than the standard work schedule, I look forward to the sensible work/life balance it offers. If I have to work from midnight 'till 2am in order to bask in the rare snow parade currently dancing down the street outside my window, then so be it. I'd rather work twelve hours a day on my own schedule than eight hours shackled to a cubicle. Sidenote: Read my last post about everything happening for a reason, then check out this article about Winston Churchill. Do you think Winston could have become the great leader that he was if it weren't for his failure years earlier? Everything happens for a reason. It's how you react that makes you who you are. Will you be great like Winston?
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June 2010
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