The Line Between Yes & No = The Line Between Freedom & Profit

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The Upside of Yes:

My road to a seven-figure business began by saying yes.

A decade later, it burned me to the ground for not saying no.

I have discussed how important it was for me to understand the concept of giving to the community around me in order to contribute to the law of giving and receiving in my own life.

My advice to other solopreneurs would be to find that equilibrium between giving to others and giving to yourself. That line is found between the yes and the no.

The magic of solopreneurship is that your work is a piece of you that you can use to define your freedom and happiness.

Solopreneurship doesn’t have to be your whole life, but it also doesn’t have to be separate from you. Whether you are a member of a family, in a long-term relationship or marriage, raising children, or have a best friend for life, you get to view yourself in those modalities without them being your defining self. Together, they make up individual pieces of who you are.

That magic is something I was never able to find when I was an employee in Corporate America. I found myself constantly working in order to live, often bored, restless, and unable to understand how wearing khakis, being in a building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and taking orders from someone I didn’t respect was in any way a sign of me living a successful life.

That is what I love about being a solopreneur. The sky is the limit.

I get to decide who I want to work with, how much I am worth, how much I want to work, and what I want to work on.

The Downside of Yes:

With all that magic, too much “yes” and not enough “no” started taking its toll.

My back blew out, and I could barely walk. I went to a chiropractor who thought I was suffering from a major sports injury before diagnosing me with “severe stress.”

A massive anxiety attack followed not much later.

When the pandemic hit, I had a hard time adjusting to this new life, and I found myself crying every single day while I was working… for over a year.

I’m not making that up. It wasn’t pretty.

In the pursuit of building to 30 clients, I also sat at the table of two dozen boards and committees, did regular pro bono work, did speaking engagements to help young minds, had a long list of nonprofits I worked for, and took on endless volunteering opportunities that I took seriously, but I never took a vacation.

I wasn’t keeping score of my dedication to all of these things in my mind, but my body certainly was.

I knew that if I didn’t change something quickly, I was going to end up with a serious health diagnosis.

The No:

I withdrew from every board and committee that I was on.

I went from 30 clients to 12.

I tripled my prices.

I went from working 70+ hours a week to 20+ hours a week.

I moved to a bigger city where no one knew me or needed anything from me.

Instead of making $35k a month, I made $25k a month, and the new time, freedom, clarity, and devotion were evident. I continued doing all of this with no employees and almost no overhead.

During my period of “no”, I rejected over half a million dollars worth of income. I had six-figures in savings and that money was going to have little impact on my happiness. What I wanted most was peace and clarity.

I started sleeping more, spending more time alone, doing what I wanted for myself instead of for others, and spent zero time on social media.

The Line Between Yes and No:

When I started saying no, it wasn’t easy.

I was worried about letting people down, unsure if it would cost me future opportunities, and didn’t want to be seen as difficult.

The truth is that none of that mattered.

I would say no probably three to five times a week.

No to a new client. No to a new website build. No to being on another board. No to going out to lunch with someone who wanted free advice. No to a magazine feature. No to all of it.

Now I say yes to me.

Yes to feeling good. Yes to being profitable. Yes to owning my happiness. Yes to no one else owning me. Yes to feeling renewed each morning after a good night’s sleep. Yes to my future.

Where is your yes, and where is your no?

The answer will not only dictate your freedom but also your profit.

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