Contending with Loneliness as a solopreneur

Launching a business can be a lonely proposition. While you may have some cheering you on from the periphery, they can never know what it's like to feel totally and completely responsible for this thing that is your livelihood.

Loneliness can stem from many places. Maybe you are used to having a work team to lean on where you could solve problems together. Maybe this venture was not celebrated by anyone and, in fact, was ridiculed. Or maybe you feel ashamed to ask for the help you so desperately need.

All of those feelings are completely understandable. Know this—no matter how you feel, you are right! You are allowed to feel the emotions this journey is bringing up for you. Give yourself permission and time to deal with them as they come.

Running your own business can indeed be a lonely journey. Here are some science-backed ways to combat loneliness and improve your mental well-being:

1. Build a Support Network

As an introvert myself, this can be incredibly difficult to do. I really struggle to put myself out there with new groups of people. What has worked for me is reaching out one-on-one to new connections and scheduling short calls. It helps me meet more people but takes away the fear of a larger group.

With that said, I am also beginning to join and reach out to networking groups that fit my ideal client profile. To honor my nature, I space these meetings appropriately and set the boundary of giving myself time after the meetings to recharge.

If you are more extroverted, this process may be easier for you. Honor yourself and find a solution that works best for you.

2. Schedule Regular Social Interactions and Don't Forget to Have Fun

The duration and frequency of social interactions depend on your nature. For me, this means finding time to engage one-on-one with others who love to dive into life's most existential questions. For someone angling more toward extroversion, this may mean scheduling time with groups of people. Either way, making time to do something other than work is key.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast on fun. As adults, we tend to think of fun as a nice-to-have—something we will get around to if there's extra time. Catherine Price says that fun is something we should incorporate into our lives often. She suggests that giving ourselves the opportunity to have fun and let go makes us better at our responsibilities. I couldn't agree more! Fun can and should look different for all of us. Find YOUR fun and engage in it often!

3. Work Alongside Others

Way back in 1920, social psychologist Floyd Allport showed that a group of people simply working independently at the same table performed better on a whole range of tasks. They weren't working together or competing to get the task done better or faster than another—they all just had their heads down working. Allport's research shows how the mere energy of others can fill in for a team of people. Fascinating stuff!

How can we replicate that as a business of one?

There are many virtual coworking platforms that offer sessions where you can work alongside others from the comfort of your workspace. Building on Allport's research, even having others on your computer screen can give you the accountability you need to keep plugging away.

If you prefer a more in-person approach, you can get the same benefit from working in coffee shops, libraries, or co-working spaces. I will note that my distractibility sometimes gets the best of me if I spend too long trying to work out in public. Do what works best for you as an individual. You know yourself best!

4. Take Care of Yourself

Take time for you! For me, that looks like taking a walk, drawing a hot bath, listening to podcasts, or putting some music on and dancing like no one is watching. For you, that might mean engaging in mindful meditation, doing yoga, grounding yourself in nature, or going for a run. Taking care of our bodies is taking care of our businesses—your business does not exist without YOU.

5. Help Others

Helping others can get you out of your own head and improve your sense of purpose. This may look like volunteering at local charities or events. Look up organizations needing volunteers in your community and get connected. There is never a shortage of organizations needing help.

Consider mentoring someone just a few steps behind you in this solopreneur journey. No, you may not have all the answers, but you likely have more than you realize! I've heard it said that the best mentors are those about two steps ahead of you. While it may seem like Mark Cuban could give far better advice than you, he is: 1) inaccessible and 2) far enough removed from his struggle days to not be able to relate to you in this moment.

Be proactive and reach out when someone posts that they are starting out. Offer to jump on a call or grab coffee—they may just teach you something in the process!

Implementing these strategies can help you manage loneliness and build a more connected and fulfilling experience as an solopreneur.

From Teacher to Solopreneur: Mastering the Art of Pivoting in a Career Influenced by Parenthood

Are you navigating a career path influenced by the demands of parenthood or seeking flexibility in your professional life? Here’s how my journey from teaching to solopreneurship taught me the art of pivoting and adaptation.

I want to offer some perspectives you might not find on my website. Inspired by a LinkedIn post on motherhood and its impact on careers, I realized how closely my career path is tied to my children.

Before having kids, I started as a teacher and later moved into private school teaching as my children reached school age and needed alternative schooling options. I even co-founded and ran a non-profit school to address unmet needs in our community. When that school couldn't secure enough funding, I pivoted to homeschooling my kids and sought flexible work-from-home opportunities.

Whenever a position didn’t accommodate my schedule or our family's financial needs, I pivoted again, continuously learning new things on the fly. This constant adaptation has given me a vast skill set I wouldn't have acquired otherwise.

Elizabeth Gilbert's analogy of some of us being hummingbirds and others being jackhammers has always resonated with me. I've always seen myself as a hummingbird, transferring ideas and skills from place to place, allowing them to grow with each new experience. I know how to succeed, and boy, do I know how to fail. I’ve become adept at the art of the pivot, learning many hard lessons and finding ways to navigate through them.

Solopreneurship is hard, lonely, and often soul-sucking, but it can also be exciting, fulfilling, and collaborative if you allow it to be. On this solopreneurship journey with me? I’d love to connect and hear your story.