I got FIRED yesterday!

Yup, sounds dramatic. But that's what happened.

In the previous blog, I shared the story of how I found my first client.

We started working on June 1.

Everything was smooth

We laid out the plan for the month and were executing it.

We were progressing well...communicating, and directionally correct towards our goal.

Until yesterday.

Out of the blue, I get an email...

'Your services are no longer required'

Reason? - 'There's a gap in communication'

That's bullshit. There was no feedback, no intimation, nor any clue indicating this.

I know that's what lack of communication means.

But whose fault was that? Since she pulled the plug, was it fair to call it off without any feedback, or a review?

I HAVE NO CLUE what went wrong.

If I had to make a movie about this event, I wouldn't even have a script. THAT clueless.

I gave my 100%. Worked on weekends. 5-6 hours each day.

I was invested. Full on. I was going out of my way to make this a success.

It's only week 3 out of the 26-week commitment, and she already gave up?

This sucks. I promised I would try my best to scale her business from $100k/year to $500k/year. If not, I would give all her money back. We're 10% through our commitment and she pulled the plug for no good reason.

I'm disappointed.

Looks like I'm on a losing streak this season.

Then comes one of the most controversial decisions I've made.

As a #businessman, I shouldn't have done this. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

But the emotional fool I am, I gave all her money back!!

My father is unequivocally against this.

I had worked HARD for this client. Gave my 100%

She breached the contract.

So I get to keep the money.

But I gave it all back.

Why???

I don't know.

The stakes were high. This money was my insurance against the fact that I'll need to start looking for new clients.

And my loan payment of $600/month has already begun. This was my nest money. I SHOULD NOT HAVE REFUNDED.

But my value system says: If you don't provide the value, you should not demand the price.

So not only did I refund her the money, I spent another half day finishing my pending work and future ideas I had.

I don't know if this was the right decision. But it felt right.

It hurts though.

But I guess my therapy is helping

Let me give you an example:

Let's say, you're talking to the woman of your dreams. You think it's going to work out. You invest your time, energy, and effort. She reciprocates a little as well. But when you're invested like this, 2 of the shittiest psychological effects kick in.

1. Endowment Effect
2. Loss Aversion

Endowment Effect: You create a reality where she is already yours. In this reality, everything goes how you planned it to be. (isn't this a fucker?)

Loss Aversion: It hurts twice as much when you lose what you have, compared to the joy of gaining the same thing.

• Would you save an existing, ideal relationship or build a new one?

Loss aversion is a good defense mechanism that keeps you safe.

But the endowment effect is a motherfucker. You've created a perfect version of her in your mind and You're trying to protect something that's not yours. You like the 'idea' of her and not 'real' her.

That's what happened with my perfect client. Based on our deal, she had what I wanted, and I could offer my marketing skills in return.

I already imagined this is going to work EXACTLY how I want it to.

I'll scale her business, and I get a big paycheck.

Turns out, more communication is needed. Aligned goals alone don't make a partnership. If we had communicated more, it might have worked out.

The sad reality is, that I don't have the client anymore.

Update: The next day I got this message.

I wasn't looking for closure but got one.

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