Lessons From an OG Solopreneur

balancing business with life

Me, my dad, and my daughter at the La Jolla Cove.

My dad was a solopreneur before it was cool.

He’s a numismatist: an expert in the rare coins of the world. Collecting coins was his hobby as a kid, and he turned it into a career. Starting in college, he traveled all over Europe, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Morocco in search of rare coins.

Every month, he wrote up a price list on his typewriter and sent it out to his international list of clients via snail mail.

For 40 years, he had the same office, two blocks from the beach in San Diego. The walls were completely lined with bookshelves, sagging under the weight of hundreds of volumes of esoteric coin lore.

He took walks when he wanted. He played tennis when he wanted. He had season tickets to the Padres. And on Fridays, he met his best friend for beers at the bar across the street.

It wasn’t always easy, of course.

Supporting a family of four as a self-employed businessman is no mean feat. There were lean years. He worked his ass off, and he was always in and out of the post office, shipping catalogues and packages. But he also had the flexibility be there for family dinners, birthday parties, and school events.

He was and is a great dad.

And growing up, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to work for a boss if they could have their own business, instead.

His example was a strong inspiration for me to start my own practice as a therapist and coach, and a big part of the reason why I empathize so much with both the highs and lows of my clients who are small business owners.

Yesterday, my dad turned 75—or as I joked with him, his “Diamond Jubilee.”

So, happy birthday to a great dad and OG solopreneur. Raise a glass. 🍻

Book I’m Reading

The Way of Hermes (translated by Clement Salaman et al.) This slim volume is a translation of the Corpus Hermeticum, a body of writing attributed to the legendary figure Hermes Trismegistus, or “Thrice-Greatest Hermes.” It has its origins in the fusion of Greek and Egyptian thought that came out of ancient Alexandria, and, once translated into Latin in the 15th century, was a major inspiration for the Italian Renaissance. What I personally find compelling about the Corpus Hermeticum is how it provides a Western model of a nondual philosophy—”all is one”—similar to ideas found in Buddhism and Hinduism but expressed in the language of the ancient Mediterranean.

Podcast I’m Listening To

Dr. David Spiegel, Stanford U. — Practical Hypnosis (etc). This episode of the Tim Ferriss Show features Dr. David Spiegel, one of the foremost researchers in modern clinical hypnosis. He even hypnotizes Tim during the episode! I’ve been studying hypnosis for the last two years, and am currently doing a yearlong intensive training through the Milton Erickson Foundation. Dr. Spiegel makes a compelling case for hypnosis as a powerful—and under-utilized—tool for mental health care and personal development. PS: Dr. Spiegel makes some comments about EMDR during the episode that I only partially agree with. It should be noted that Dr. Spiegel is an expert on hypnosis, not EMDR.

Quotes of the Week

“How can you be praised to others or to yourself? And where shall I look to praise you: above, below, inside or outside? For you there is no direction, no place, nor any other being. All is within you, all comes from you. You give everything and take nothing. For you have everything and there is nothing you do not have.”

—Corpus Hermeticum 6.10

“In literature it is only the wild that attracts us. Dullness is but another name for tameness. It is the uncivilised free and wild thinking in Hamlet and the Iliad, in all the Scriptures and Mythologies, not learned in the schools, that delights us.”

—Henry David Thoreau

---

That’s all for this week! As always, I appreciate your feedback on Mindful Mondays. What was your favorite thing I shared this week? What would you like to learn more about? Let me know by replying to this email or leaving a comment, below.

Thanks for reading,

Chris Cordry, LMFT

PS: I’ve quietly been incorporating hypnosis into my therapy and coaching work. If you’re inrigued by the David Spiegel podcast and want to try a form of personal growth work that taps into the extraordinary creativity of your unconscious mind, just reply to this email and we’ll set up a time to chat.

PPS: Not subscribed to Mindful Mondays yet? Enter your email address below to get my latest writing delivered straight to your inbox. One email per week, no spam ever, and you can unsubscribe at any time:

If you enjoyed this week’s edition, please consider sharing it with a friend. Personal recommendations are one of the best ways for me to grow my readership and share the benefits of mindfulness with the world. Thanks!