What will your first day as a solo look like? Picture your first day.
Four years ago. I’m sitting here. On a bucket…or maybe it was a step ladder. Or a fixture that had been abandoned by a clothing store that previously occupied the space.
There is dust. There is an old record – maybe Streisand? – in close proximity. There are plans. Lots of plans. There is hope. But mostly there is anxiety. My once stable professional life was in uncharted waters.
This is the day that it got real. There was no more paycheck. No actual office to work in. No staff. Months of planning lead to me being here.
Months of office construction would come to an end. There would be nights assembling ikea. Meetings with clients at Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Outback Steakhouse and Starbucks. An opening would be delayed by a November hurricane.
A year later, I’d be starting over again. A new office to paint. In a new town. A new logo. A new website. A new email. New insurance. New walls to paint. New furniture to buy. New bank accounts to set up.
And two years later I’d find myself in the position of designing a new office. Adding members to my firm. Adding staff. Filling an office with wonderful colleagues.
But that dusty room is where the first day of the rest of my life happened.
Not all of the plans I had that day went as planned.
I can still smell and feel that day. It’s humid. It’s musty. It’s dirty. It is a day waiting to happen.
It’s a day I go back to.
When you start your journey into forming your own practice. Take a picture of what is in front of you. Maybe it is your bedroom wall. Maybe it is a friend’s conference room.
Take that picture. You’ll cherish it.