Perseverance and the Sole Proprietor

by Karen Mathieson

On that summer afternoon in California’s Sierra Nevada, the trail was long and the sack of potatoes heavy for a child of five. I set down the lumpy bag along with the doll’s suitcase stuffed with my clothing, and recited from a beloved Little Golden Book: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

Then I renewed the trudge upward toward Morning Meadows, a cluster of dilapidated mining cabins where I and my family would spend the coming weeks.

In “You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself,” Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith tell of a columnist who consulted the proprietor of a bookstore on the topic of career advancement. The owner cited several tomes before stopping to lead the way to a shelf holding his favorite guide to success in business. It was, of course, “The Little Engine That Could.”

The Beckwiths are firm proponents of a positive attitude in the pursuit of goals personal and professional. While their advice is largely geared for company folk, I’ve been thinking about what best supports sole practitioners like myself on our vocational climb.

Put too much of a load on your locomotive and inertia takes the day. Approach the elevation gain in stages, breathe deeply at the switchbacks, and rely on your buddies for support, and it’s more likely you’ll reach the place where you have set your heart.

The Beckwiths speculate on why we choose people to provide our goods and services: “Time and again, you bought their hearts and souls. You bought them and their spirit: their enthusiasm, and warmth. Without realizing it, you bought their love of life and their love of people.”

I’ve written a High Five Tip Sheet to help keep independent contractors chugging toward the clients who will love us for our enthusiasm, and our warmth. Click here for a PDF.

And check out these related links: Lori Grant of Smart Lemming posted an interview with the Beckwiths shortly after “You, Inc.” came out in 2007, and Adam Jesko gave the book a thoughtful review in the Technorati online magazine, BlogCritics.

Finally, if you enjoy connecting childhood experience with adult understanding, click here for a PDF of my evocation, “Orpheus, Sierra Nevada.”