I recently had a client - let's call her Ana - bail on a project. This was a real blow. It was an expansion on something we'd done together previously - I was so excited! I even posted publicly about it once we agreed to proceed (and maybe that was the problem...) I was paid for the work I did do, but it was only a small part of the total scope.
I couldn't help but think back to another client - let's call him Rich - where something somewhat similar happened. I way overestimated his project - it hardly needed anything from me. (Seriously. When does that ever happen?!) I charged him something like 25% or 33% of my original quote because I barely had to touch most of the draft.
Both times, I was very attached to that sum of money I had quoted. I needed it for something- it was already earmarked in my mind for a purpose. And neither worked out!
But Rich went on to refer so many more people my way, which has paid off dozens of times over. And hopefully this instance this will make space too for something else to flow in. Already I've had another former client come back wanting help with almost the same thing Ana did...
Looking back, things have actually happened for me when I least expected them. Usually once I'd given up and let go of all expectation. Not when I was pushing for them, obsessing about them. Only when I finally freed up the space for them to flow.
At work, I'm always trying to figure out if we are tackling the right problem. What are we trying to solve? It starts with the strategy, or you could be focused on answering the wrong question. There can be many different ways to achieve the same outcome. Define the goal but don't dictate the solution or even the timeline.
And I guess it's the same in life.
