I wasn’t looking my finest.
My lips were an unnatural shade of orange. Splash marks dotted my blouse. I had cocktail sauce in my hair. Seagulls were flocking overhead, ready to dive-bomb me if I so much as moved an inch from the picnic table.
I was a super mess…and I was also super happy.
Diving into Chesapeake Bay blue crabs on a gorgeous, sun-splashed day, watching the boats bob in the bay with a table littered with lemons, shells and piles of used napkins? I’m callin’ it. Heaven.
Who cared about polish and a perfect appearance? This was my time for a breeze in my hair, my dear family around the table, the distinctive waft of sea salt and a sublime margarita as my “bestie.”
And as I sat there on that picnic bench covered in cracked crab bits and Old Bay seasoning, I realized this is what freedom felt like to me (and maybe because Chris was tending the biz while I was away).
“This,” I said to myself, “is what Freedom looks, feels and tastes like.”
Freedom.
Most often when I ask clients and prospects their Big Why…why they set out to be in business for themselves…they say “freedom.” Freedom from some things and freedom to some things.
It got me to thinking…
…we don’t talk often enough about “why” you do this work. Why you might have given up a good paying j-o-b to start something of your own.
Why you might be working many more hours than you originally calculated to make your business dream come true.
Why you get up early and go to bed late so you can be of service to those whose lives you can make better.
Why you fight through the times you get stuck, and things might not be as easy as you want them to be.
Your Why sustains you.
Your Why leads you to your Freedom.
Your version of Freedom might not include being dirtied by messy blue crabs while watching the sun set over the bay with your family and a margarita to keep you company.
You have your own version of Freedom.
Write it down. What does Freedom look like to you?
Knowing in detail will sustain and propel you on those wonderful days…and the ones that challenge you the most.
Go forth and do great things,
Martha Hanlon & Chris Williams