“There is much to be said for having a small, manageable dream.” Douglas Coupland

Watching a Gary Vaynerchuk video and thinking about business, there is a difficulty in reconciling certain things. We all want to do something we love, but since we’re in the era after the industrial revolution but before the machines take over, that just isn’t yet feasible for everybody. Somebody simply has to do those jobs which can’t be anybody’s dream – and perhaps those people should be rewarded more than those of us who do follow the rainbow, stars shining in our hopelessly naive bonny faces. The producers of food, and managers of waste are more useful to humanity than the creator of the latest trendy app or singer of the hippest tune.

I like coding, and learning, and not having to go out every day, and I’m sad that it has taken me so long to figure this out. I also like blogging, but it’s difficult not to feel self-conscious about it, or even masochistic, when you figure that something you write might be read by a potential customer, and do yourself damage. I know there are businesses out there, near me, who would benefit greatly from the service I provide. The problem isn’t even finding them : it’s winning them over. I’m sure anyone in business is familiar with this feeling, and I guess you either love it or you hate it.

Making money is about solving problems, and working for yourself is about finding a problem that needs to be solved and finding people willing to pay you to do it. I love doing what I do, but being a classic introvert, what I don’t love is ‘putting myself out there’. No matter how lovely people are (and they almost always are) I find it excruciating. I read a fascinating book last year called ‘The Power of Introverts’ by Susan Cain, and I’m a great believer in just that. I think that half of humanity are like me, and would rather sit quietly and make our millions by the sweat of our brow than by the dazzle of our presence. This is my small and manageable dream. Creating websites, writing database statements, making backups. This is what I want to do with my work time.

I’m very lucky.