The Entrepreneur and and the Pea
The princess and the pea.
Even when she’s sleeping on 20 mattresses she still feels it.
How could she be so sensitive?
It’s such a small thing but it stops her feeling fully comfortable.
Is she the only one?
Would anyone else feel that pea digging into their back and side?
I was reminded of this story this morning.
I was reminded of when I was working at a digital agency feeling like something wasn’t quite right.
- I was well paid
- I was doing work that put me in flow
- I was working for a growing company
But something was missing.
Something wasn’t quite right.
But I felt alone in that feeling.
Beneath the layers and layers of shoulds there was pea poking into my back.
- Where was I going with my work?
- Why was I doing it other than to make money?
- Why was I starting to dread Mondays?
Like the pea for the princess this nagging feeling meant I didn’t always sleep well.
Tiredness added to my weight of wondering.
And so I made a change.
I quit.
For no good reason other than I had to make a change.
It didn’t feel right.
And I had a need for agency.
I knew I could freelance as a stop gap.
I partnered with my best mate Laurence.
That was the beginning of the journey.
20 years ago.
“The rupture” as Christine Raine Rodríguez calls it, in her conversations about the Heroine’s Journey.
My rupture with traditional work.
And ever since then I’ve been on a hunt for that pea.
Lifting up the mattresses.
Working out what’s underneath.
It’s been liberating.
It’s been freeing.
It’s been frightening.
It’s meant stepping into the unknown.
But it’s also led me to cofounding a company that meets my needs for freedom, safety, connection, contribution, adventure and impact.
I’m still on the journey.
And I’m still looking for that pea.
My little pea of purpose.
Something that’s truly, deeply and uniquely mine.
And whilst I may never find it.
The journey has been so joyful that I don’t really mind anymore.
I’ll just keep on peeling back the layers.
Have you felt like this? Do you feel like this?
If so, then I want to let you know that you’re not alone.
I recommend you go on a pea hunt.