I moved to New Mexico back in mid-June of 2005. Back in February, my sister put me in touch with a friend of hers, a graphic designer, and him and I had been communicating and doing occasional work together since then. My ideas for a job when I moved here would be to do freelance programming, partially with this guy and partially through other sources. But once I got settled out here, him and I started working full-time together since he had enough work to keep me as busy as I could bear. Over time, we learned how complimentary our skills were and how well we worked together.
I had visited New Mexico in October of 2004 for Yogi Bhajan’s memorial service, and during the three days that I spent out here, I had a couple of experiences with the land where it revealed its amazing beauty to me. These experiences gave me a deep sense of contentment that I had not felt in a long time, and I knew that I had found a land that was home to me. Soon after, I began to prepare for moving in the spring, including contacting the director of the technology arm of a non-profit organization to negotiate a position on his team once I moved out here.
After I had been here for a few months, I was offered a full-time job with that technology division. At the time, I was also working for the graphic designer, so I discussed the offer with him to get input from a third party. His response was to reflect on how well we had been working together for the last couple of months, and that he wanted to continue our relationship indefinitely. He decided to offer me a partnership with his previously-one-man-company, and suggested that we take the path of forming an incorporated company that would grow and prosper far beyond our individual talents.
The last three months of working with him has been absolutely wonderful! I personally learned a lot about being a business owner, being my own boss, setting rules and standards that defined our business processes internally, and about the terms of engagement with our clients. These last three months have also been extremely difficult for me emotionally since I work much better when I have structure and know what I am doing. Instead, I have been learning about running a business through trial and error, and without much mentorship to point me in the right direction.
Personally, this business has taught me to face my own dedication to self-control and discipline, since in the past I have always had bosses or other authority figures to nudge me whenever I stepped out of line. One of the hardest lessons in life is to keep a daily discipline or routine of something that is beneficial to you, though not always enjoyable to do every day. It has been the hardest lesson for me to police myself and appreciate my own dedication for personal growth.
So now, my partner will be getting married soon, and with the marriage, he will be moving away to another state. Our partnership will mostly dissolve since I don’t have the motivation to continue working by myself at this time. During these last few months, I have also realized how much happier I am working with a team of people, and how much more I enjoy programming rather than being involved in administrative tasks. This isn’t to say that I will be giving it up, but rather that I will reevaluate myself while I work with a team of talented and motivated individuals again, and I will continue working towards independance as a self-motivated, self-disciplined business owner and operator.