Do you ever feel like bragging — and wish there were people around who knew what you were talking about?!

Long ago I worked at a newspaper in Iowa. A string of banter filled the newsroom. Our talk would begin as a torrent but disappear to a trickle when a deadline approached.

I’ll never forget our sports editor. He was a one-man department, a nationally renowned writer who probably cranked out more copy each week than any journalist in America. He called himself Robowriter, and he earned the nickname.

On Fridays he would add up the column inches he’d produced for the week — it was always a ridiculous total. He’d clear his throat and announce: “540 column inches, ladies and gentlemen!”

I would shake my head in disbelief. If he ever left the newspaper, it would take two people to replace him.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like our sports editor was bragging. It wasn’t bragging to us; we understood the awesomeness of his weekly writing totals.

As solopreneurs, we seldom get to brag to people who understand that we’re not bragging. Nobody’s around to hear us say:

“I bought extra RAM for my laptop and installed it myself. Nothing exploded!”

“Somebody just booked an appointment using my new scheduling software!”

“Five people whom I don’t know just RT’d a link to my post. And one person wrote: ‘I love this.’”

“I finally figured out why Bluehost has been throttling my site. And I fixed the problem. Hallelujah!”

“I’m up to 95% complete on my LinkedIn bio. And it’s taken me only 3 years.”

“I reconciled my checking account and I’m off by only $1.”

“I picked up the kids from school each day this month and was never late.”

“A client just sent me an email that read: ‘I really need your help on this project. It’s going to keep you busy. And I have another project for you after that.’”

It begs the question: if a solopreneur brags in her office and no one was there to hear it, was she bragging?

Are you new here? This is a good place to start.

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