Today, I am going to show you how to stop postponing your solo path until “after X” and start building proof right where you are. No drama. No “burn the ships.” Just small, steady moves that turn fear into evidence.

I’m not speaking from a pedestal. I lived in the Readiness Trap for years. I told myself I’d go solo when I had more time, when I felt ready, when I moved to a “better” city.

I stacked courses like trophies and convinced myself that preparation was progress. It felt safe—like “job security.”

In truth, it was the Job Security Illusion: one paycheck, one point of failure, and a growing dependence on conditions outside my control. That’s not safety. And certainly not progress.

The Readiness Trap (Why Our Brains Love It)

I used to believe readiness was a feeling that would eventually arrive if I just waited or learned enough.

• “I’ll build the offer after this course.”

• “I’ll post consistently once I quit.”

• “I’ll start outreach after I move.”

It sounded responsible. It was my brain smoothing anxiety by pushing the start line into the future.

Here’s what’s really happening: uncertainty triggers threat detection. To protect you, your brain offers “smart-sounding” delays—finish the cert, wait for a calmer quarter, move to the right city. It sounds like prudence; it functions like procrastination.

Examples I’ve lived (and see weekly in clients):

• Course stacking as progress. You buy another €499 program because it promises clarity. Three months later, you’ve highlighted half the lessons and shipped zero offers. You are back at square one in your transition to solopreneurship. Energy spent; evidence = 0.

• Milestone gating. “After the launch at work.” Then “after the holidays.” Then, “after finishing the course.” You always promise it’s going to be the last one (until the next one). I know it goes that way because I kept pushing the milestones into the future. The milestone changes; the inaction stays.

• Geography fantasy. You tell yourself London, Athens, or Copenhagen will make it easier. You move… and take the same decision habits with you. New cafés, same avoidance. Exit fantasies don’t move the needle.

• Perfection as a mask. You tweak your About page for the 7th time instead of sending five DMs. It feels like work; it creates no proof.

The reframe that cracked it for me was this:

Not pep talks. Not perfect timing. Tiny, bounded improvements that produce evidence this week. Not next week, month, or year.

How To Think About Readiness (So Action Feels Safe Enough)

I rewired two questions:

• Old: “Is now the right time?” → New: “What’s the smallest shippable step I can take this week with the time I actually have?”

• Old: “Would this work better if I lived in [cool city]?” → New: “How do I create one piece of evidence here that still matters even if I move later?”

This shift did two things. First, it shrank the step until my nervous system calmed down. Second, it made proof—not perfection—the goal.

I didn’t need a “service line”; I needed a one-page promise I could deliver in a week. I didn’t need to relocate; I needed one local pilot and a before/after screenshot. Once I had proof-in-motion, time and place became amplifiers, not saviours. Conditions amplify; actions initiate.

Quick translations I still use on myself:

• “Launch the service” → Send 5 curiosity DMs today

• “Perfect the website” → Write a one-page offer with a tiny, clear promise. No website.

• “Move first” → Run one pilot here, capture proof, then decide.

Proof changes identity; then time and place help it travel.

How To Spot The Trap (So You Can Redirect It)

You’re not broken—you’re human. Notice the pattern, then redirect.

• Course collecting without shipping. Two programs in six months, zero offers. To escape the learning and inaction loop, pick one tiny outcome and promise it to five people this week.

• Moving goalposts. Your start line keeps sliding to “after X.” To stop that, pick a 7-day pilot start date and protect it like a client meeting or project deadline. You wouldn’t miss it in your 9-5 job; are you going to miss it now that you are setting off for greater things?

• Waiting for permission. Boss, partner, market—someone must bless it first. Instead, ask three prospects if your tiny promise is useful this week.

• Research loops. Lots of reading; very few conversations. Instead, book two 15-minute problem-mapping chats and give one practical tip in each. They don’t have to be paid. You need action and evidence that what you are planning to do works and can help others.

• High-planning, low-execution. Planning gives you a dopamine spike; execution drains you. To reverse that, shrink the step to 20–30 minutes with potential for a reply, a yes, or a before/after.

Spot → shrink → ship. That’s the whole move.

The Anti-Readiness Protocol

The longer we sit in “not yet,” the more the job security illusion hardens—comfortable paycheck, growing fragility. This protocol provides a safe on-ramp: actions small enough to do now, yet strong enough to generate portable proof.

The Anti-Readiness Protocol is a three-step loop that you can run in any week, utilising two 30-minute blocks. Each step lowers threat, raises clarity, and creates evidence you can reuse.

Step 1: Shrink the scope

One person. One week. One promise you’re 120% sure you can deliver. When I made the step this small, my resistance fell through the floor. You don’t need a “service”; you need a single outcome people actually want.

Use: “In 7 days, I help [who] achieve [tiny outcome] via [simple method].”

Example I’ve used: “In 7 days, I’ll help a stuck mid-career marketing professional find exactly what they want to do as a solopreneur and start building it on the spot - without fancy funnels.”

P.S.: The above is a real mini coaching bundle I still offer (called “Minimum Viable Identity + Clarity Bundle"; bestseller for months). For more, DM me on LinkedIn.

Step 2: Make a tiny, clear promise (professional = clear)

Clarity beats size. Put the promise on one page: what’s in, what’s out, the timeline, and how you’ll communicate.

Add a 10-minute mid-week check-in to adjust before it drifts.

Clients relax when they can see the boundaries. You relax because you know exactly what you owe.

I literally write: “Included: X, Y, Z. Not included: A, B. Cadence: kick-off today, 10-min check Wednesday, coaching session Friday.”

Step 3: Ship once & capture proof

Deliver the outcome. Save a before/after, ask for two lines of feedback (“What changed? What was most useful?”), and write a 200-word micro-case.

This single page is how you trade the feeling of job security for real security—because now you have something measurable you can reuse to book the next three pilots.

A tiny marketing case (with real numbers)

Meet Lea—nine years in marketing, excellent at her craft, stuck in “after this quarter / after this course / after I move.” We ran the protocol, exactly as written.

• Week 1. She sent 10 DMs, booked 2 short calls, and pitched a €99 pilot: “Positioning Clean-Up: 90 minutes + a 1-page clarity brief in 7 days.” Nothing fancy—just a tight promise. She was nervous; we kept the scope tiny so her nervous system would cooperate.

• Delivery. It took ~4 hours end-to-end. The founder messaged her: “This saved me 8–12 hours this month.” If you value that time at €50–€70/hr, that’s €400–€800 back to the client—real value, not vibes. Stress down, decisions up, momentum back.

• Week 3. She reused the exact offer, tightened the promise, set the price at €149, and got 2 buyers. Three-week total for Lea: €397. Not lottery money—proof. At two pilots/month, that’s €298–€447; at four pilots, €596–€894—and now she has the receipts to nudge to €199–€249. More importantly, she kept her paycheck while reducing dependence on it.

That’s how you quietly defuse the Job Security Illusion: by building options that don’t require leaps.

Same city. Same job. New identity: “I help early-stage founders clarify positioning in 7 days.” That sentence is momentum you can feel.

From Objections To Counters (3 Big Ones I Hear - And Felt)

I’ve had all of these. Your nervous system isn’t saying “stop forever.” It’s saying, “lower the stakes so I can move.” You need to translate each fear into a smaller step that creates real safety (evidence), not just the feeling of safety (waiting).

1. “I don’t have time.”

   I didn’t either. That’s why I run this with two 30-minute blocks/week. Scope tasks to fit the box—“send 5 DMs,” not “launch a service.” One reply outweighs three hours of polishing a page no one reads. Four blocks across two weeks = 2 hours; that’s enough to run one pilot in the real world.

2. “What if I look unprofessional?”
   Professional isn’t big or fancy; professional is clear. One outcome, one week, one page. A small, fair price. A kickoff note that says what’s in/out and when you’ll check in. When I tightened my promises like this, trust increased because buyers finally knew exactly what they were buying—and what they weren’t.

3. “What if no one buys?”
   Then you purchased clarity cheaply (far better than buying another course you won’t use). Diagnose one variable at a time: who / pain / promise / price. Change one, resend to five people. Silence is feedback on the message, not a verdict on you. Some of my best offers were one tweak away; I only found it by trying again.

A Final Word (And A Tiny Dare)

Readiness isn’t found; it’s built.

Two small blocks. Five messages. One one-page promise. One delivery. One micro-case. That’s how you trade the illusion of job security for the real kind: portable proof and repeatable value you can carry anywhere.

If you’ve been looking for a sign, this is me—someone who got stuck for years—handing you one:

Start where your feet are. Make the step so small your nervous system shrugs. Ship it. Capture it. Repeat once.

You’re not behind. You are not broken. You are no less than others who made it (went solo and thrived). You’re one rung away from momentum.

If you feel stuck and struggle to transition from corporate to solopreneurship with calm confidence, I can be of help.

Book your free Clarity Call with me here.

We will explore the barriers that hold you back from transitioning and lay out the next steps for your unique solo path (no ready-made one-size-fits-all systems).

The call is 100% free. No strings attached, no obligation to anything. It’s an informal virtual coffee to meet and share our stories.

If you are not ready for that yet, it's okay. You are in a safe space here, and you are already on a path towards freedom and meaning. You’ve not landed here by accident or luck. Trust me.

PS: You may want to check this out if you struggle to make the bold move but still want to test the waters, explore and embody your new identity without risking your job (for now), income, or sanity » 7 Low-Risk Entry Points For Pre-Solopreneurs (Before You Quit)