BRETT JARMAN - Coach, Consultant
Things are pretty quiet here on account of the fact that I’ve been busy with my wife putting our new project together – SelfEmploymentMastery.com.
We help people who are self employed identify and overcome hidden barriers that are limiting or preventing their business success.
Self Employment Mastery is our contribution to reducing frustration and failure in self-employment and small business.
Jump on over and sign up for our free video series while you are there.
Don’t get me wrong. Self-employment is awesome – I’ve been self-employed for nearly 30 years and I love it. But it’s been so oversold that it’s become a bright shiny object in and of itself. Take control of your life/time/money; monetize your passion; become wealthy beyond your dreams; retire early; determine your own destiny; blah, blah, blah.
Yes, all of these things are possible but being self-employed has little to do with it. You can have any or all of these things by working for someone else. You may not have them in your current job but there are certainly jobs where all of these things can be available to you. Self-employment might bring some or all of these benefits but they are the exception rather than the rule. Read more »
For many, the lure of working for yourself is actually more about wanting to not work. Stories of four hour work weeks or early retirement pull some folks away from their job in the hope that self-employment will deliver a passive income stream to fund the dream. Easy money. Easy life. For some that works out but for most it doesn’t. Not necessarily because they can’t do it but because there’s a structural mismatch in what they are trying to achieve and what needs to be done to get there.
My wife and I attended a Stuart Wilde seminar in New Zealand 20 years or so ago. The penultimate experience was supposed to be a fire walk on hot coals. While that was indeed an experience and a highlight, I have a more enduring memory of a raisin. Not just any raisin but a special raisin.
The raisins were brought out on a silver platter. We were each given one to sit in the palm of our hands. Wilde then guided us on a gourmet dining experience. Read more »
My fourteen year old son is in those middle years of high school. He’s a smart kid but he’s not an academic. For him school is more about endurance than excitement. School’s over for the year. We haven’t got his report yet but he tells us he got average results. My wife and I know he can do better. So does he but average is good enough for him, especially considering what he has to endure.
He’s recently developed an interest in spear fishing. Hasn’t done it yet as he needed to do a ‘free diving’ course first (free diving = diving without scuba gear). So that’s where he’s been the past three days. Read more »
Part of the fun working at the strategic level is in challenging assumptions that clients have about their work or business.
The market’s saturated, we’ve left our run too late. I’m too small. We don’t have the experience to take this on. We’ll never be able to compete with the big guys. I don’t have a unique selling proposition. I’m too young/old. I don’t know enough. Read more »
Had the pleasure of attending a 2 day workshop on the Enneagram this weekend just gone. What a trip! The enneagram works on the premise that we all view and operate in the world from one of nine fundamental viewpoints.
I’m still processing what I learned but the big take home for me was that advice or insights on the personal level really need to be structured to match the lens of the recipient. Generic tips that resonate or produce an ‘aha moment’ for one person might just get a shrug of the shoulders from another. Read more »
