Seeds of Wisdom: My Declaration of Interdependence Why Doing it Alone is Slowing you Down

When I chose to be an entrepreneur some 30+ years ago, I was seeking freedom.

· Freedom from workplaces that placed an artificial start and end to my days.

· Freedom from bad management and nonsensical office policies.

· Freedom from being held back from leadership.

I remember the moment when I declared my independence.

It was right after I was fired for the third time in two years.

Not because I was incompetent or unable to do the job.

I was let go because I didn’t want to do it the way they wanted me to do it, when they wanted me to do it. I was let go because I had my own ideas about how the job should be done and how the company could be managed better.

They weren’t interested in someone with her own ideas.

As I pondered my potential unemployability, I realized that I was never afraid of working hard. But I didn’t want to work like that to build other people’s businesses. If I was going to do what it took to succeed, I wanted to be the boss.

When I considered my options, the Path of the Entrepreneur felt like my Yellow Brick Road to freedom. I still think entrepreneurship is one of the most empowering routes for women to take.

By the time I was 27 years old I was a partner in a small consulting firm in Burlington, Vermont and creating my own destiny. That was 35 years ago, and I have never looked back.

From Independence to Interdependence

While seeking freedom was the motivation, it has been the interdependent web of colleagues, collaborators, clients, staff members, and vendors who have helped me keep my freedom.

No matter how smart or hard working you are, you cannot do it alone.

My first hire was a bookkeeper. I am capable of maintaining my bookkeeping, but it is a terrible use of me. What took me several hours to accomplish, my first bookkeeper could do in an hour.

A few years in, we had to move into a new office to accommodate our full-time office manager and team of consultants.

The next big area of growth was creating a vibrant referral network. I joined groups, started new chapters, networked, spoke at conferences, and generally got involved. In the process, I developed long-lasting relationships with colleagues and collaborators who helped me expand the business even further.

You see, I didn’t do it alone.

And neither should you.

You may have started your business because you wanted more freedom, more authority, and more room to do things your own way. But there comes a point when the same independence that helped you begin can become the very thing that limits your growth.

The Hidden Ceiling of Self-Reliance

The problem is that self-reliance can look responsible for a very long time.

You get things done, keep the business moving, and know how everything works because you are touching every part of it.

But over time, doing everything yourself creates hidden ceilings. Your reach stays limited. Your opportunities depend too much on your own energy. Your growth slows because every new idea has to pass through your calendar, your inbox, and your available capacity.

Connection Is Leverage

The more I relied only on my own effort, the more growth depended on how much I could personally do. But when I built relationships with colleagues, collaborators, clients, referral partners, and community leaders, opportunity started moving through more channels than just me.

My effort mattered. But relationships multiplied that effort.

This is the difference between working harder and building leverage. A referral partner, collaborator, vendor, colleague, or amplifier is not peripheral to your business. They are part of the ecosystem that allows your business to grow beyond your personal capacity.

A Two-Part Interdependence Exercise

If you are doing it all by yourself, take a moment to do this two-part exercise.

Part 1:

· Make a list of all the tasks you did in the last week to keep your business running.

· Divide the list into $10 items and $100 items.

o The $10 items are the administrative tasks. This includes bookkeeping, taxes, launching email campaigns, scheduling and posting on social media. And yes, you will likely pay more than $10/hour to hire these tasks out, but this is an exercise.

o The $100 items are the client work, sales calls, and strategizing. And yes, of course your time is worth more than $100/hour, but this is just an exercise.

· Next, gather all the items on the $10 list and use your favorite AI tool to create a simple job description for your first contractor or assistant.

If you are thinking, “I can’t afford to hire anyone,” remember this: your time is your most precious asset. Every hour spent on low-value tasks is an hour you are not networking, collaborating, serving clients, or creating new opportunities.

Getting help with tasks is a powerful first step, but interdependence is bigger than delegation.

It also includes the relationships that expand your reach: the people who refer clients to you, collaborate with you, open doors for you, and help your work travel beyond your own immediate audience.

Part 2:

· Make a second list.

o Who already knows, likes, trusts, or respects your work?

o Who serves the same audience in a different way?

o Who could introduce you, refer you, collaborate with you, interview you, feature you, or invite you into a room you are not yet in?

· This list is part of your growth strategy.

It’s time to declare your independence from doing it all alone.

The real freedom you wanted when you launched your business does not come from carrying everything yourself. It comes from building the relationships and support systems that help your work grow beyond you.

Let Freedom Ring!

Ready to see where doing it all alone may be slowing you down?

The S.E.E.D. Code™ Assessment helps you identify where your business is over-relying on your personal time, energy, and effort, and where the right support, relationships, and systems could help you grow with more ease and intention.