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After working with hundreds of folks selling expertise, it’s pretty clear that the way to happiness as a Soloist is discovering your unique balance of these three things:
Generating “enough” revenue at a sustainable pace from a continuously replenishing pipeline.
Doing interesting work that accesses your genius while providing deep value and lasting impact.
Spending only the time you want to devote to work, working in the ways you prefer.
It’s really that simple.
And yet getting—and staying—there can be a twisty road filled with enticing diversions.
There is one way to keep as close to your ideal road as possible—to make decisions that don’t overly favor one category.
If revenue is always your prism, you’re unlikely to ever downshift for a spell to regroup, much less take a risk to make a bigger impact.
If you’re focused mostly on the impact of your work over its value, you may well miss opportunities and sabotage your revenue line.
And if it’s about never crossing a hard “hours worked” line, you might miss chances to contribute on a grander scale.
Instead, when considering taking on a new client/project/offering (or making a pivot), try asking yourself some practical questions:
What’s the true risk here? If I say yes to an exceedingly tempting revenue spike, what’s the downside? If I say no, what are the short- and long-term prices I might pay?
Does this support my ideal work cadence? Will I have to be available mornings when I’m a night owl or deal with a chaotic client culture when I prefer calm?
What will I learn here? Is it challenging in ways that intrigue me and will use my genius?
What impact will successful completion have on the client? On me? On the industry? On the world?
Stopping for a moment to ask these sorts of questions on the regular is one more way to accelerate yourself to “happily successful”.
Related: Stay in Your Lane: When to Say No to Work Outside Your Expertise