crescentx

Great post $5. I agree.

Guys/girls. You [presumably] are in business for yourself. If someone posts something beyond a single complete sentence or two and you just say, "I won't read that, too long..." you really should question if you should be in business for yourself.

No one working for themselves can sustain or develop a business on their own merits alone. It takes work, input, and attention, much of which cannot come from yourself unless you have twenty credit cards and subscribe to your own sites/sponsors twice with each one. Which is just another form of delusion like...ok, never mind, I won't go there. Outlining GFY delusions is a website in and of itself.

There are, I would say, three sorts of personalities when it comes to adversity. There are those who take it, pardon my, er, I can't say French on GFY, but, up the ass and complain. Those who just take it. And those who fight.

"that is the Question:
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune,
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them"

Especially in this biz, this is a serious test. Conversions are one issue but the bigger one is all the processor shit going on. So xxx processor just fucked you for whatever reason. What do you do?

1, Those fucking assholes just screwed me. This sucks, life sucks, I quit. And I'll make sure I trash them to hell and back when I do.

2, Oh. Well, that sucks but I figured it was coming. Oh well. Maybe I should get another job.

3, I'm fucked now. OK, what do I do? Options - new processors, new ideas. Hell with cutting my losses. I love doing this, I realize that, despite the bullshit, I'm doing what I love and that's what matters. Maybe diversify. I've got traffic, I'm creative, I have skills and ability. I can fix this.

I'd say if you choose anything but 3 when there is a snowball's chance in hell of a comeback you can't cut it running your own business these days. Not everyone is that way, and even though I usually am, like many others the first two options are a lot easier to swallow sometimes. It's a question of how much will you take, can you take?

Because that's running your own business. Running on empty or momentum, you're still in the same stew, it could all go away. Not to be extreme but as Paul Newman said: "This is the life we chose, the life we lead. And there is only one guarantee: none of us will see heaven."

It's an art. Not a pretty one, since if you are an option one person and you trash someone you might find yourself in an untenable position needing them later.

I'm a bit of a nihilist. I don't necessarily expect the "struggle in this life, pleasure in the next" argument (keep quoting movies, sorry) to pan out. It just might. But that's like not having a secondary processor. My dad always told me when I was younger it'd be interesting to see how that perspective changed me. And I think that comment applies especially here.

You do your own thing, make your own way. You treat others with respect and honor. You do a good job at what you're good at, and just perhaps it helps others. I'm sure, paradoxically, we've probably all been part of the glue in many marriages. Not everyone can be a Mother Theresa. But everyone can live their lives by the Hippocratic Oath: do no harm. Which is more than can be said for the corporate governance of late.

If you're in business for yourself, you're in it for yourself. All the way. And that doesn't mean screwing other people over, that's not right. It means fighting, pretty much every day, to keep your head above water on multiple fronts. He not busy being born is busy dying.

Take on new projects, try new things, that push your skills and talents. If someone tells you something is inappropriate and you disagree, make it moreso. Realize the odds are against us.

But I ramble. I'll close with an inspirational quote from Catch-22:

US Army Capt Nately: It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
Old man: You have it backwards. It is better to live on your feet than die on your knees.

-doug