The Truth About Consulting, and a Few Wellness Hacks
I created 4 health hacks to help even the worst of us workaholics. You can read it here published on Medium or published in Workforce Magazine HERE.
We all struggle with work and health balance. On social media you see someone living their best *shiny version* self: traveling, networking with the biggest entrepreneur rockstars on Earth, etc.
Pretty unbelievable, right?
Here’s the ugly reality inside of consulting:
When you are consulting you are giving everything to your client. Your time, your health, your fitness, your personal relationships, your fluffy bed; everything.
You are isolating yourself from everything and everyone who matters to you in service of others.
A noble cause; not one for the faint of heart.
I mentor students for the University of Miami. They come to me romanticizing a life of consulting. So I'm going to provide you with a warm dose of reality now:
- Consultants cannot sustain relationships. Or homes. Or pets. Or plants.
- Consultants have a hard life, generally terrible health, and high levels of stress.
- Consultants cannot guarantee their schedules at any day, and cannot keep social plans.
- Consultants work 24/7. If you have a client in more than 3 timezones, expect to work until 3am pretty regularly.
- Consultants don't make much money and don't have benefits, unless of course you are a partner, manager or create your own firm AND a hearty funnel. There are a few of us who are extremely lucky. Don't expect you will be lucky. All consultants who are successful work hard; it really is just luck.
- The lifetime of a consultant's career at a firm is 2-3 years before you completely burn out.
*So you know, none of this applies to my firm. We are in culture design, after all.
This is all top of mind at the moment, as only yesterday I had an assistant sneaking me into a client's bathroom to vomit in between executive meetings. For that I would like to thank the poisonous kale salad at my hotel restaurant. I won't disclose your name. :)
if you don't have the guts (literally) to put the client first in everything you do, this may not be for you.
If you love travel and helping others, I can say it's well worth the costs and I wouldn't trade this amazing traveling, bi-coastal life. At least for now.
But only because I put my happiness and health first.
