The most costly way to live is to stay inside your limitations.
Limits are often just old blueprints of what we used to be able to handle, dressed up as laws. In the mind, they feel like facts. In the spirit, stepping past them starts with looking up and seeing how much has already been provided. And in action, it means breaking ground on the uncomfortable, trusting that the Leading Hand goes before you.
The word was notice
This week I spent two days at the Workplace Health & Safety Show in Sydney. The word I heard most was “notice”. Not only noticing the weight we carry ourselves, but noticing it in someone else.
The next night, at a small business event in Newcastle, I saw what that means. A man was standing on his own, away from the group. I didn’t know him or his story. As we talked, it came out: a business that was going well, and he was carrying all of it alone. Every hat, every bill, every system, and nowhere to put it down.
Isolation feels safe. It isn’t.
When the pressure builds, pulling back feels like protection. Go quiet, keep to yourself, deal with it later. But left alone, the doubt grows, and it takes a toll on body and mind. SafeWork NSW lists loneliness and withdrawal among the harms of isolated work. A sole operator in a crowded room can be just as isolated as someone on a remote site.
He didn’t need someone to say “you look lonely”. He needed to hear: we’re here, we’re in this together, what you’re carrying is real, and you’ve been noticed.
You don’t need the right words
Most of us hold back because we’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to start.
- Go and say g’day. A plain question is enough: “How are you going, really?”
- Listen more than you talk. You don’t have to fix it. Let them say it out loud.
- Remind them of their track record. The hurdles they’ve already got over are proof they can adapt.
- Point them to support if they need more than a conversation.
- Check back in. The second conversation often matters more than the first.
Connection can be deliberate. It doesn’t have to wait for the right moment.
If you’re the one carrying it
Reach for one connection on purpose this week. A mate, a mentor, someone in your industry, or one of these:
- Beyond Blue NewAccess for Small Business Owners: free, confidential coaching by phone or video, no GP referral needed. beyondblue.org.au
- MATES in Construction: 1300 642 111, any time
- Lifeline: 13 11 14, any time
- 13YARN: 13 92 76, any time
If the weight is the business itself, the numbers, the compliance and the hats, the practical side is in the Champion Business Builder Library: The Sole Operator in the Corner of the Room, with a free map of every obligation a one-person company carries.
Who’s standing on their own near you this week?
Today is a good day, remember you have a sweet heart, and be kind to yourself.