The State is the Work

In my work as a solopreneur, and in working with other solopreneurs, I find that the most difficult part of our work is not the work itself.

The most difficult part of our work is being in the right state of mind. The right energy state.

In a job, you are forced into a state. The workplace meetings, the expectations of someone in power, and team members keep us in check. We show up and do our work, even when it can grind us down.

There’s a reason that half of us are unsatisfied at our work.

But when we work for ourselves, the difficult part is cultivating this mental state. Sustaining it also takes effort.

Instead of being unsatisfied in a job, we end up being unsatisfied and blaming ourselves. So we end up in this ebb and flow.

For most of us, the day to day work itself is not hard to get into. It can be challenging, sure. But once you are in the swing of things, the work gets done.

The hard part instead is to get into the state where we feel good about our work.

We need rituals to support our work. This seems like a “soft” thing. After all, work is work and we can get it done wherever. But I think these rituals are the main part of work.

These rituals can sustain us. These rituals cannot be mechanical. They must be deliberate, mindful, and real to us.

What rituals support you?