I’ve been consulting for a while. Working on my own. I miss working with other professionals. They make me up my A game each day, every day. Working as a team getting the job done. Coming in under budget meeting deadlines.
Then everything ends. Completion. End of project. We all move on to the next gig. The next contract. Maybe we’ll work with other professionals, like us. Or maybe it will be just us, alone, hired by a board, or group, or someone that you only see at the start and end of the project. A resource hired to get the job done. A lone professional. Someone with a particular set of skills and the experience to get the job done in the time and budget allocated.
It can be lonely. A new place, new people. You explore the area on lunch breaks. Go for walks, find new places to eat. Getting the steps in. Back at your desk you make progress, complete tasks, move closer to the end.
Then the end comes. You move on again to the next contract, and the next, and the next.
It can be rewarding at times, lonely at others. You take pride in your work. You complete each contract leaving happy clients behind as you move on to the next. Maybe there will be a new friend at the next, or maybe a fun team that you will be a part of. While it lasts anyway. Nothing lasts in this game so enjoy it while it does. One day there will be no more contracts.