Somewhere along the way, we bought into a lie: if you’re a consultant, struggling is just part of the deal.
- Feast or famine? Normal.
- Overdelivering to prove your worth? Of course.
- Unpredictable income? That’s the price of freedom.
But what if it’s not?
What if the grind isn’t a rite of passage—but a warning sign?
The industrial economy trained us to wait to be picked. To follow the rules. To bill by the hour, compete on price, and stay busy.
But independent consulting isn’t industrial. It’s personal.
And that means the old rules don’t apply—unless we drag them with us.
The consultants who aren’t struggling?
They’ve shifted.
- From selling time to selling outcomes.
- From chasing leads to building trust at scale.
- From saying yes to everything to becoming known for one thing.
They don’t hustle harder. They design smarter.
They own a method. A voice. A point of view.
They make it easy for the right clients to say yes—and for the wrong ones to walk away.
Struggling isn’t noble. It’s not proof you’re committed.
It’s just a sign you’re playing by rules that no longer serve you.
You don’t have to wait to be chosen.
You can build a practice that works for you—on purpose.
The only real question is:
Are you willing to stop struggling long enough to rethink what normal could be?