Business inertia: perpetually staying the same in your business (with your structure, target clients, revenue, or anything), because, despite not being entirely happy with your business as it is, you’re caught fast in a swamp-like resistance to change.
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After five long years of “being a freelance copywriter,” I changed my business identity to “running a website agency” — in the span of six months.
Emotionally, it feels like this shift happened furiously, in a whoosh of adrenaline. But if I’m being honest, the website agency was a long time coming, a dream kept dormant for fear of making the wrong move.
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Many times over the years, I would share this idea of a website agency with people around me — business coaches, other entrepreneurs, my boyfriend. Part of me believed I was simply sharing a random idea that had crossed my mind, to which I had no attachment — you know, casual.
I just want to explore if it makes good business sense! I’d think, and maybe even say.Meanwhile, the nervousness straining my voice would reveal how I really felt: I wanted this.
So I’d share the idea carefully, guarding my expression to make sure none of the excitement leaked through. (An intense concentration I hoped was presenting as total nonchalance, lol.)
I’d watch every micro-movement on their faces and listen for every syllable and breath in their words, gleaning anything I could about whether they thought this idea was “bad” or “good.”
Not surprisingly, I never felt like anyone’s response merited the green light for me to take action. I interpreted likely neutral and curious questions as what are you thinking? (I’m not sure what type of response would have shaken me forward enough to break my fearful business inertia — someone jumping up and down with glee?)
The months and years went by, and my copy business grew slowly. I was mostly unaware of any disappointment or stuckness, save for when I’d see someone talking about being “lit up” by their business and I’d wonder why I wasn’t. Then something changed.
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My copywriting business took a nosedive. And suddenly this thing that had been flowing along fairly easily for years became frustrating and scary. After a reasonable period of feeling dejected, I started to feel … Angry at myself. I was certain the business recession I was experiencing was a direct result of my lack of passion for what I was doing. I had been coasting for years, and now I was seeing the consequences.
The anger was activating. I remember thinking a lot of teen-angst thoughts like, Why the fuck not! And Who cares if an agency is a terrible idea? And I don’t care what anyone thinks! And I’m gonna do it my way!
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Something had sparked. I was, for the first time, willing to make a conscious choice to pursue something simply because I felt driven to do it and it excited me.
In the same short timespan, I’ve become better at recognizing the business moves that feel like strong desires … and trusting that’s enough to act on them. And I have.
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I’m not discounting practical, purely business-sense decisions at all, by the way. I just think that, for me, the purely practical often feels paralyzing with too many options. There are a million ways to solve any given business problem — and for years I couldn’t trust myself to know which one was “right.”
So … I’d do nothing. Ask everyone. Outsource the decision entirely to someone else’s framework or strategy. And along the way, I’d wonder why I was feeling increasingly disconnected and lukewarm about my business.
From where I’m standing, it seems when you give yourself permission to follow your heart, the mirror-maze of infinite options collapses into one clear path forward. And, as an entrepreneur, what could be more practical than that kind of clarity?
So, FFT: If you’re mired in a gnarly patch of business inertia right now…. you could… try… just doing what you fucking want. And see what happens.
