Ever watch CASTAWAY with Tom Hanks?
I’m remembering the antagonist Wilson… a volleyball. A ball with dried blood painted to look like a human face.
It’s the only companion the stranded lead, Chuck Noland, has for years on a remote island.
See, Chuck washes ashore with few tools and waits for rescue, which doesn’t come. With no radio or phone, he can’t call out for help, and is probably assumed dead by friends and family.
He then has to learn to survive solo. No friends. No survival training (he’s a systems engineer). All alone except for his imaginary pal, Wilson. A ball.
He talks to his ball. Asks questions, tells jokes and listens to what the ball has to say.
After four years stranded Chuck is thinner, beardly. More tenacious too. He builds a raft mainly from materials on the island so he can head anywhere but the lonesome island.
Towards hope.
It’s a story that I can’t help but recall because it’s not unlike the life of a freelancer.
When you first make the move away from your 9-5, your relationships with colleagues fade away. If you’re not careful, they outright die while you’re left on your freelance island. You’re solo.
Committed to your new choice, you wait for your first set of clients, desperate they’ll save you from your island of isolation. They never do, at least not in any consistent way.
After a while, you muster new nerve to try different ideas, different angles. Instead of pitching via email, you build out samples. Go out to more Chambers’ events. Offer free work.
All the while you’re not seeing your friends much. Spending more time talking with inanimate objects and your pet dog. Having conversations no one else can hear.
You’ve hit rock bottom. And that’s when things seem doable.
That’s when you realize new ways to solve problems that actually work.
You remember what friends said once before that you were too young and dumb (and admittedly prideful) to appreciate. You apply them finally, and see the results.
After so many months (4 years) you have a new plan to put yourself out there and dare different ideas because… why not? You have nothing else to lose. This is when things start paying off with interest.
See the BIG mistake Chuck made on the island?
The mistake he later corrected?
He thought he needed more outside help to save him.
Same goes for freelancers.
You “need” more money to invest in software, incorporate your business, get an office.
You “need” more time to build a website, do social media, pitch more clients.
You “need” more energy to pack in all this work, and still see family ad friends so they don’t think you’re dead after not hearing from you.
You “need” a different President in office to get ahead.
As if any of that matters when it comes to building a relationship with people who NEED your help.
Like Chuck, you fail leaving your lonely island because you think what you have is your value.
While mentors and customers really see YOU as the ultimate value in their lives.
But none of that matters if you don’t recognize it yourself.
It wasn’t until Chuck recognized this that he made the raft to leave the island, instead of wait for one to wash ashore.
So maybe that’s what you need. A friend to support you. Might as well paint a face on a ball.
Or skip the next 4 years of lonely misery, and join TOP OF MIND.
Develop your skills like how to pitch clients and VIPs, how to boost your confidence and charisma so you recognize your value, and how to attract opportunities to you instead of convincing people to like you and pay for your work.
It’s not cheap. It’s not easy. But it’s not something you can continue doing on your own, and when you join I’ll help you map it out in 30 days so you can see the results you need to stick with us or drop it altogether.
Be well,
Max!