I want to talk about two themes that keep coming up for me: freedom & guilt. You might not think those go together, but I am quickly finding out that they are directly related. The past couple of weeks have been super productive and positive ones for me. I have been able to exercise in the mornings, cook dinner for my family (a rarity in my agency days) and have had the pleasure of meeting two great friends for lunch (also unheard of prior to working for myself). In between all of this I have been working, working, working. Booking new clients, wrapping up lingering projects and pushing myself beyond what I was able to do with less time. Sounds just perfect, huh? When I stand back and take a look – it seems to be all working out. But being my slightly neurotic self, I  keep hearing a whisper. It says, “This is too good to be true. You shouldn’t be enjoying this so much. It is WORK, after all.”  Yep, the dreaded voice of guilt. I also heard myself saying these exact words when I answer the “So, how’s work going?” question. Why can’t I just enjoy it? I think we are programmed to adhere to the old adage, “expect the worst and you won’t be unprepared.” Or something like that. What a dismal outlook! I want to always be prepared for less than perfect situations, but I don’t want the fear of them to totally overshadow the freedom and flexibility I have right now. So…when I am cooking dinner and I hear that little voice start to say, “Too good to be true. Something is wrong.” I quickly remind myself of how many challenges I met that week. How many new skills I learned that I otherwise wouldn’t have and how much satisfaction I get from helping my clients. What are some ways you defeat the guilt?