Pound the rock. No risk it, no biscuit. If you follow the NFL, you’ve heard these terms before. And if you follow the Tampa Bay Bucs (like I have, since 1998), then you know these terms come from two of the team’s most formidable coaches, Jon Gruden and Bruce Arians. While I knew about these football strategies when I was watching the Bucs win their Super Bowls in 2003 and 2021, I got a refreshing history lesson on their origin stories when I checked out the new Amazon Prime series Raise the Flags. Tracking the 50-year history of the Bucs, this eight-episode series reminded me of how Gruden preached the “pound the rock” philosophy to inspire his team to win their first Super Bowl. It was enlightening because I was too young to truly understand his take on resilient football back then. But now, I see how it relates to improving myself as a solopreneur. The same goes with Arians’ approach to aggressive play-calling. Be relentless When Gruden was hired to coach the Bucs in 2002, they were a hot mess. Their offense was stagnant despite having a top-tier defense, and they couldn’t close games. They needed a change at the top and Gruden’s hard-nosed focus on grit was just what the Bucs needed. He needed a metaphor to revitalize this struggling team. “Pound the rock!” he demanded from his team. What that meant was grit, adaptability, and accountability. They used the running game to hit the defensive line relentlessly, ensuring their pass game would open up later. On the defensive side, Gruden wanted his all-stars (such as Warren Sapp and John Lynch) to use their strength to bully the other team. Don’t give them an easy down, Gruden said. It came down to this tagline after Gruden made “pound the rock” the slogan for his squad: “If you hit a rock with a hammer 99 times and nothing happens, the 100th blow might finally shatter it.” This idea instantly resonated with me as a freelance journalist and solopreneur. I might not be able to win over an editor with my first pitch. I might have to “pound the rock” and be relentless with finding the right story for that specific news network. I can’t give up when I get that first rejection; if I followed that path, I would have never written 60 articles for BBC News, which weren’t interested in my first three pitches. Also, I “pound the rock” with my marketing initiatives. My first 99 LinkedIn posts may not be as popular as I wanted them to be, or reach the right clientele, but that 100th post just might. I can’t give up simply because something isn’t working (the exception to the rule is when I feel it’s important to pivot away from a strategy that is proven fruitless, as opposed to sticking to something I feel we eventually score with readers). Buckling down and continuing to market yourself is the self-discipline we solopreneurs need to instill into our everyday processes. Great rewards come with great risk I can honestly say I’ve lived a generally conservative life. I’m no daredevil, I don’t leap out of my comfort zone very often, my social vibe could be described as “chill and laissez-faire, with a dash of weirdness.” I’ve always been fine with that characterization until it came time to take a hard look at my freelance writing business. If you’re in the same solopreneur boat as me, we can’t be risk-averse. We have to try some things that might not work at first but, heck, at least we gave it a shot. That’s what Arians told his Bucs team in the early 2020s when he helmed the infamous Tom Brady-led squad that eventually won the Super Bowl. His term, “No risk it, no biscuit,” essentially means you can’t live scared. You can’t be conservative in how you live life or play football. On the field, Arians wanted to ensure his quarterback had two primary reads: one that can pick up a first down (the safe “biscuit”) and one that could end in a touchdown (the “risk”). Arians wanted to see those explosive 20-plus-yard plays. He encouraged his QB to throw long on third down, even if the first-down market was a few yards away. It doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that during his time with the Cardinals and Buccaneers, his quarterbacks (like Carson Palmer, Jameis Winston, and Brady) consistently ranked at the top of the NFL in Average Depth of Target. How does this circle back to my solopreneur journey? I’ve taken more risks and will continue to do so, especially in the realm of client acquisition. I used to think I would only write for news outlets big and small but I decided to branch out with my content marketing programs and PR business, two branches that can be seen as an aggressive move for a long-standing journalist. The reward, the biscuit, has been scrumptious. My revenue has increased, word-of-mouth buzz has spread to other clients, and I feel more fulfilled as a solopreneur. I have interests in more than just covering the news, and I love working with brands I respect and admire. If I never risked it by venturing outside my cozy zone, my bank account would look a lot flatter now. We should all take more long shots. Apply for that grant you don’t think you’ll get. Email that big-time editor running that wildly popular magazine. Approach a source you thought would be off limits. Find a new revenue stream that is outside your circle of familiarity but could nourish you both mentally and financially. Be open to possibilities. If you want to learn more about how I’ve been helping solopreneurs improve their own approaches to running a sustainable business, contact me anytime.

What separates great work from good work? Deep focus. Whether you’re coding a new program or writing a profile for an alumni magazine or copy-editing a start-up’s new site, your attention has to laser in on what needs to be done, distractions be demned.   That’s all well and good and Pollyana to believe but the reality is much more of an audio barrage. Pins from texts and blips from Slack messages and Insta DM dings…every Pavlovian bell steering our focus from important work undermines the value-prop of being a solopreneur. We don’t have bosses, we have to manage ourselves, and the flexibility of being able to work anywhere and untethered to the office only encourages us to fine-tune our project management skills.   We have an obligation to our clients to invest in uninterrupted sessions of quality writing, in my case. The more we give in to our cellphone’s bells and whistling randomness, the easier it is to procrastinate and lose our path to deep work.   Numerous studies have found multi-tasking is hurtful for our productivity. When we switch from one task to another, your attention won’t immediately follow. A “residue” of your attention remains frozen thinking about the previous task.   Students should also practice deep concentration. One study found that focused research led to signal transmission, effectively cementing and reinforcing the learning pathway.   When you sit down tomorrow morning, silence your phone, turn off haptics (to avoid that inevitable buzzing), toggle off notifications, close any browser tabs unrelated to your work and steer clear of the TV. This is your time to shine on you crazy diamond of a freelancer, so give your client the most polished gem you’ve ever crafted, and revel in the silence of a mind-meld between your ideas, your creativity and the task ahead.   Enjoy it while it lasts.