Like my childhood hero Batman, There are reasons why I generally work alone. You can’t deny he has an unrelenting determination towards his goals and beliefs. He may seem deranged the way he stays focused on crime-fighting. He puts in the effort to become the greatest martial artist, and detective the world has ever seen. Bruce has sacrificed his personal life, friends, and family. The only real friends he can have. Are ones just as crazy for the same beliefs?
Alright, so my point in all this? I’ve become Batman! Well minus the whole billionaire playboy, cape crusader, crime-fighting, and detective thing.
It’s difficult to find my Selina Kyle or Barbara Gordon in this world of Millennials. So I work alone. It wasn’t until Batman was succeeding in his goals until the right help (friends) came into his life.
As I am right now, it’s harder to attract sidekicks to my entrepreneurial journey. So let’s get into the 5 reasons why I work alone
1. Priorities, priorities, priorities.
People will not have your full attention, no matter how established you are. When you're aiming towards a goal, It is near impossible to find someone who will follow you. Someone who will allocate as much focus and determination as you do.
Let’s face it, today people have dozens of priorities, and you aren’t one. For the average person, you may not realize it. But people have jobs they need to focus on. That job brings income for bills, family, and personal matters. That job can mean the world to them, regardless of the reason. There are family matters, friends, and their hobbies, and dreams they care more about.
It’s selfish to bring someone onboard your pursuit. People have their own goals they’d like to accomplish. Granted, some are lacking direction in life. It’s still their life. If that life seems lackluster to you, it's a priority to them, they care more about it. Hell, today, a cellphone is the primary focus of one's life.
If someone isn’t on their focus or purpose, that's not someone you'd want to work with. The trick is, they’ll find you, or you’ll seek them. Find a common goal. Jason Todd, Barbra Gordon, Damien Wayne all have a common goal that perfectly aligns with Bruce’s (Batman’s) vision. If you're a content creator with a similar vision, find the ones like you. The people walking alongside you should be a reflection of your dreams and goals. Find like-minded people along your journey.
2. Communication
There’s nothing more important than having effective communication. All parties involved should be 100% in agreement in all decisions. If you make a decision, everyone agrees; then come crunch time. They’ll do something completely different from what was agreed on. They’ll say well that plan wouldn’t have worked, or this way is better for me. That’s a disaster, vent them and see the early signs before that happens.
Hang out with the individuals, test them to see if they’re a good fit. Often Communicate with small projects and plans. If you can’t agree on smaller things and a smaller setting, they aren’t for you. If you agree on something. Then come to find out that person just doesn't get it. Or they don’t want to do it, just aren’t interested in you, your thoughts are what you're saying. Run for the hills! If they're also expressing concerns to others and not you. Move on. Life is too short for others to waste your time. If you do decide to address them to see what happens, and it persists, this isn’t a communication issue. It’s, and I don’t respect your time, or your dreams issue.
These types of individuals aren’t worth the time and stress. Make sure there mutual respect and understanding. You have to respect each other's time, and agree that you respect each other's time.
3. Work Ethic
A lot of people don’t bring anything to the table. They just want, what they can get from you. Don’t be the person doing all the work. The people you’re around you should reflect you entirely. The right people will gravitate to you and respect your work ethic. Be sure you have the same gravitational pull towards them. There should be no one trying to use or manipulate one another. Be vigilant of those that see you going places, and use that as an opportunity to tag along.
You’ll be fooled by empty promises and lackluster work. They may be occasions where they may not know as much as you do. But they can assist in other areas. This is up to you. It can work, but I prefer the Batman approach. I like to have as much in common as possible. Aiming for the same dream at the same unrelenting rate. The ones that batman brings in his corner. He trusts completely. They don’t slow him down nor do they fall behind, chasing an adjacent dream leading him on.
4. Passion
Imagine having a dream of becoming a big-time YouTuber. This dream, has tech reviews, day trading, investing, self-improvement, and so on. This is a very specific and complicated goal. Not too many people have this dream. Now imagine coming across another person following that same dream. Not just a talker saying there going to do it. But a person that's actively putting their work online. You two meet to share ideas, and eventually, start working and collaborating; for what is now a common goal.
That’s the best-case scenario, finding a person who shares the same passion as you do. While following your dreams, you know have found the right people in your life. Have you ever tried to bring someone onboard your mission; Just to later find out they don’t care about helping you. They are more or so careful about what they can get from you during your journey. Their priorities are completely elsewhere, giving you half the attention, and a fraction of the work done.
Well, this person just doesn’t have the same passion for your dream as you do. Regardless of how you may feel or what they care more about. It’s selfish to believe you can have someone give the same amount of effort and consideration as you do. I’m sure their goals aren’t film making, editing, fitness, trading, and so on. They're not going to give it much concern to learn how to edit professionally, help you film, and share ideas.
Befriend others like you. Be with a dream girl or guy like you. Share the same passion. Become better at whatever that goal may be. In this scenario edit each other videos, motivate each other, give pointers, help each other film, share equipment, and so on. Just be sure you can trust them and make sure that person goes in 150% just as you do.
5. Trust
There’s a lot of fake people in the world. Most of which are standing right beside you. So you need to be able to trust the ones you bring to your team.
The list can go on and on, so you need to thoroughly vent the person beforehand. I can’t tell you how many times companies and startups have invited the wrong kind of a person into their projects.
Conclusion
I’m going to be a one-man army for quite some time. Furthermore, I’ve learned many skills over the years. And work extremely hard on improving what I’ve learned. Luckily what I need to be done in life I already know, and I’m very good at. There is no reason why I need someone with me. However, if I come across a Selina Kyle, or Barbra Gordan along the way. Then hell yeah, let’s work together!
The benefit of this is that you can see their passion displayed through their content. You don’t have to waste time seeing whether they're serious. You two know what is needed and are both willing to make the sacrifices to get the job done. At some point, they can use me for my resources and I can use them for theirs. Mutualism. Until that time comes, I’ll remain a recluse and stick to my 5 reasons for working alone.
