When I was a teenager, I could play video games on my computer for hours.
It eventually turned into a general interest in computers and the Internet at large. By age 15, I was spinning up static HTML websites and building online communities as a hobby.
What I can vividly recall is just how effortless it all felt.
Sure, it was frustrating learning how to build websites by hand on a 56k modem. But it was also extremely fun and rewarding.
It didn’t feel like work. It felt more like a puzzle.
All of this led to where I am today—a digital-minded marketing advisor.
I still chase that feeling of flow and ease that came with my early days on the computer. The endless energy that comes with exploration of your interests.
Sure, it was a hobby then. But part of me still knows it’s still possible to incorporate that into my work today.
A few years ago, I asked myself, “what could you do all day long if you had to?”.
The answer for me was talking to people. Helping them with their marketing.
Of all the things I did at the time, it was strategizing and talking to people that gave me the most energy.
The rest of the stuff that came with running an agency felt a lot more like work. It drained me of my energy. Especially the project management and quality assurance stuff. The details.
That’s what led me to advisory work. I sliced off the part I’m best at and now sell that as a service.
So ask yourself this: what do you love most about your job?
What if you could design your business so you only had to do that part? Could you do it?
Sure, there will always be the boring admin stuff like responding to emails and processing paperwork.
But could you design a business that didn’t feel like work—at least most of the time?