It Takes Only 1 Trigger to Push You to Pursue A 1-Man Consulting Practice
It did for me. I think it will, for you too. Find your trigger!
Books can be scary.
Especially so when the author fiddles with our minds. The Last Lecture, written by Randy Pausch created a storm in my head.
This is no simple storm. It does not go away. It buttressed into my neurological circuitry and influenced how I think about my daily life.
And my work.
It Started With Hate. That Was Yesterday.
I suffered from a career crisis. Starting from my first day in my first job.
The funny thing about a career crisis is this. You get hit by it when you do not have one.
Absurd, I know. But true.
I knew no crisis in the beginning. All I had were unrealized ambitions. My goal was to realize them.
The journey, however, created deep-seated questions.
I want to climb the career ladder. But promotions elude me.
What is the point if everyone is moving upwards as you do? Aren’t we at the same spot we started?
I want to be the Number 1 man in the consulting firm (my first job). But the original Number 1 man was glued to his seat 10 years before I joined the firm.
And then, I was given the golden handshake in 2016. You might think I am one of those in the bottom 10%.
Nope. I was rated Significantly Above Peer.
Yet, the privilege to resign from my first job was taken away without my consent.
All because the firm is not well, mate.
I think you get the point.
“Getting fired is nature’s way of telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place.”
It feels awful trying to realize my ambitions. And I thought that was the bedrock of self-actualization.
Unless I got it wrong.
And YES I Did!
And it has nothing to do with realizing ambitions.
It has everything to do with chasing irrelevant trophies. And I was pursuing too many shiny objects.
“The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
Time is an elusive concept when I was in my mid-20s. I never pegged the 4th dimension to my life and goals.
I have enough time to achieve whatever I want. I am just not smart enough. Therefore I am not fast enough.
There must be a way to get there. All I need is to find the correct mentor.
In short, I was willing to pay the price. No self-improvement guru taught me the importance of personal sacrifice.
But I knew that. In fact, I learned this lesson from investment finance. There are no free lunches in this world.
I waddled along from my 20s into my early 30s. I was a baby growing into a toddler in the Corporate World. I fell and got up and fell and got back up.
Failures are our best experiences. Okay, self-improvement gurus, I will give you credit for that.
But.
Are we spending our time on the right things?
The mirror question is equally scary.
Are we spending time on the wrong things?
When I realized that I did, I freaked out. It came to me so suddenly and quickly one morning that I couldn’t bring myself to the airport for a business trip.
I was 34. And handicapped.
Shock gripped me for weeks. It was like I lost my North Star. And usually, in times like this, I take to the road with my running shoes.
I Think When I Move
Meetings kill me. It kills my brain as well.
I used to chime the usual Management Best Practice stuff.
- Our meetings are too long — Kill them!
- Our meetings are directionless — Kill them!
- Our meetings do not produce the outcomes we need — Kill them!
But, it has nothing to do with the meetings. It has everything to do with me.
I cannot think seated. My brain spins when I move.
It kicked into high gear when I was running that one 34-year-old night. I asked myself one simple question before I started.
“What do I resonate with in my life?”
Note. I did not ask what I wanted. That question typically yields no answers.
As I motioned forward, thoughts whizz past my head.
Do I see myself as a consultant?
Yes.
Do I want to be a managing partner?
Sounds good.
Do I want to work on complex issues?
Yes.
Do I want to manage people?
Hell no.
Do I want to do my own thing, run my own business?
Yeah!
I ain’t no Forrest Gump. I love running, and it straightens the neurological noodles between my ears.
A thousand questions must have whizzed past my head that night and many running nights that followed. My focus was simple.
What did I say yes to?
Really. That was it.
Because that is what I want to say in my Last Lecture.
I said yes to consulting because I am a consultant. I am today, and I will always be one.
I said yes to running my own practice because it brings me excitement. It did for me 4 years ago and continued to excite me today.
I said yes to solving complex issues because straightforward answers are not present.
And I said no to the rest because…
They do not light a spark in my head.
It is my way or the highway.
Parting Keynotes
Perspectives matter.
Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture influenced me to become more self-aware. What confused me in my mid-20s lost its glitter as I marched into my mid-30s.
It’s been 10 long years.
But I am glad. Do you know why?
10 years sounds long, but it is way better than 20, 30, or 40 years of drifting directionless in the ocean we know as Life.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
