Getting Out Of The Business Rat Race
“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” - Lily Tomlin, American actress & comedian
So here we are.
Excited to build a business that we hope will bring us a good enough financial return through the sharing of our passion.
And before we know it, we’ve been sucked into the online rat race, because we feel we have no choice.
Slowly, but surely we start to lose our identity, our uniqueness, our natural voice and character, as we try to squeeze our messaging into increasingly smaller corners, at an ever increasing speed.
The 6-12 second reels are an example of this. We celebrated when they finally gave us back 3 minutes, as if it was something to applaud the platforms for.
Everything is done fast, and then gone in a minute, leaving us at the mercy of creating more and more of the same short form content, as we try desperately to get people to stop the insanely speedy scroll and put their eyes on us. We do this over and over and over, because we’re told it is the way to grow.
It’s exhausting. Especially when our investment of time in the small corner brings little in terms of reward.
I stepped out of the corner. And back into the space. It feels good to be here.
There are many other business owners following suit. That’s may be why you’re here on Substack.
I made the decision that I no longer wanted to try and force my messages into seconds or short minutes. I no longer wanted to stand before my iPhone churning out short form video content, in the hope someone, somewhere would stop the scroll to absorb some diluted down message - forced to be that way by the options social platforms give us.
Like many, I felt overwhelmed and under pressure, constantly creating shorter ‘geared to keep you scrolling not stopping’ video based content.
I moved away from the mass noise. And I got back to writing on platforms that allowed me space.
I felt like a human again, being creative, sharing my real voice in a way I love - through words on screen.
The more we allow ourselves to buy in to the small corners we are forced into. The more the giants will push to keep us there.
For me, that’s no longer an option. Sacrificing my sanity, happiness and voice for short form content on those platforms is no longer something I’m willing to do in order to try to capture a like, a comment, a share, or (wishful thinking), growth in my following in those spaces.
I’m back to writing. Here on Substack. On my blog. On X. On LinkedIn. Spaces that still allow me to put words on screen, without the need for an image, or a short form video, or trending audio, or a 5 minute message squashed into 3.
It feels like I’ve found myself again.
