Paul Jarvis finds his "enough"
@pjrvs of Fathom Analytics tells us a story about going from panic attacks to liberation, cities to the woods, and 'business as usual' to a business of one.
At first, I thought I was dying. Sharp chest pains. Dizziness. Sweats. I was only in my early 30s, but I figured this was it for me. When I finally saw a doctor, I learned it was panic attacks from acute stress, not the heart attack I'd feared.
At the time, I was working as a freelance designer for some of the world's biggest tech firms. And what I'd thought was normal for a business owner was overwhelming to the point of feeling like I was dying. On February 28th, 2010, my wife Lisa and I packed our belongings into a tiny cube-van moving truck and headed to the ferry terminal. We were moving from the fourth most densely populated city in North America to the woods.
I had had enough of 'business as usual.' I had become enamored with 'more equals better.' I had been focused on making more money, creating more products, getting more customers. It became my mission to rebuild my business around a life that fulfilled both my health and long-term success. So I cut the parts of the business that weren’t serving me, stopping my consulting work altogether and focusing entirely on selling a few digital products and writing books. I became okay with this idea of enough.
There's a point — and it's different for everyone — where you realize that having more won't affect your quality of life or create more resilience for your business. When your own 'enough' happens, it’s liberating. At least it was for me.
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