When a business becomes bigger it usually adopts more systems and rules to function. Innovation and creating new things becomes more difficult resulting in stagnation. On the other hand you have the creatives who thrive in a free environment and form creative ideas like there is no tomorrow. But the risk thereof is not finishing projects and risking no output. The secret lies in balancing Chaos and Order.

If your work is fulfilling and gives you energy you’re one happy person. Fulfillment is part of self-care and therefore quite important. But when is it not fulfilling anymore? What is the tipping point of your fulfilling work becoming too much? Think about it.

So you feel it’s time for a change. A new plan next to your current business. How do you get there without losing ground? Start small, experiment and accept the transition period. It takes time and you will get there.

Selling your work is much more difficult if you aren’t able to keep it simple. Yes, you are a wonderful complex and skilled human being. To be complete in communicating your capabilities can make your message towards a possible client unnecessarily broad and unspecific. When you get the job you can elaborate on your skills, before that keep it simple!

Many will recognize that the fear that things could go wrong keeps us from acting. When you notice that in yourself, an interesting exercise to do is to ask yourself "and then what?" multiple times. It might change your mind.

Do you keep things from others that you would’ve liked to share out loud? Maybe you’re afraid of their reaction or you think they cannot handle it. Why not let them be the judge of that? So next time take the step and work your way towards mutual understanding.

We think before we act because we want to minimize the risk of failure. But what are we afraid of will happen? And when is enough enough?

Being a creative entrepreneur or freelancer means dealing with your work and the subjective view of people on your work. Your work may suck sometimes, that’s just the way it is. But don’t let that get you down! In order to grow you need to not know sometimes. Be creative, take a hit or a win and move on. It’s about the work, not about YOU as a person.

It is easy to blame others when bad or annoying things happen to you. Lost your job? Don’t feel valued at work? Back in the days you probably had your parents to look out for you and make you feel safe. At some point you have to become your own adult. From an entrepreneurial point of view it means you can take ownership of very interesting things: Choose your clients, create your own business strategy and so on. That doesn’t sound so bad right?

A happy client gives you confidence as a professional, the more happy clients the more confident you will be. But this is not a linear process. There will be negative experiences along the way. And those we remember all too well. There are other ways to boost your confidence! Some funky alternatives exist. What about performing as an artist? Or radiating the importance of the work you do? It is after all what you believe in!

It makes sense to craft services and products exactly the way your clients want it to be. What if you would look at your company and build it up in such a great way as you tend to the wishes of your customers? You make the company fit your needs. It will help you create a better flow and it will help you find the clients that like what you stand for.

Spending more time on working on your business does not make it better. Productivity diminishes. Working 60 hours every week is not sustainable. It sets you at a risk of losing time in a sense. It might be worthwhile to see what output you produce with a work week including a more modest number of hours spent on work.

There is nothing more deliberating than to take Pippi Longstocking’s take on life: “I've never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.” Well, when you take into account two important things: ask for help and do not expect perfection the first time around. Then go for it!

Laatst luisterde ik mee bij een interessante Clubhousebabbel over podcasts, Clubhouse en radio. Gaat Clubhouse het podcastlandschap doen veranderen? 14 overwegingen die bij me opkwamen.