Plan For Disruptions - Getting Started With Consulting

One of the hardest parts of building a consulting career is the disruptions that always occur.  This is a path that often follows the feast or famine roller coaster.  Therefore we bounce between too much work to keep up and not enough to pay the bills.  There are ways to soften the blow of these disruptions as well as those that are larger such as health or family issues.  These more substantial disruptions can knock you off of your career path for months or years, and improper planning can extend those even further.

First and foremost, the better you document your current path and plans, the better.  You likely have projects in progress, side hustle work going, and grand ideas for the future.  If you have to walk away for a few months then how clear will these valuable things be?  Will you be able to dive back into them?  I have to hazard a guess that the answer is "no."  That is unless you are already knocking this particular suggestion out of the park.

The documentation needed to soften the blow of those disruptions is not complicated.  You can keep it to bullet points, rough estimates, and any prerequisites.  Information like this can be documented in a few minutes each week, and that investment can significantly improve your time to ramp back up after a disruption.

Disruptions come in all shapes and sizes.  Some of these disruptions can directly relate to your happiness and quality of life.  When you plan for the disruptions, then you can decide to put stuff on hiatus much less stressful.  You have less to lose and thus can choose happiness over your career advancement when it makes sense.  Once you get past the disruption, it is best to get things moving forward again.  A disruption will stop your momentum.  We have often discussed how important that is for success.  Therefore, get it moving forward as soon as possible.  A little planning for a rainy day can help you enjoy the good times even more and switch gears from a hiatus to full steam ahead in your career.

Learn more in the book written for Develpreneurs at any stage in their progress:  https://www.amazon.com/Source-Code-Happiness-Finding-Success-ebook/dp/B07MKZBF6R