Intro
As I mentioned in the last post, 1,5 year ago, I started my own business and became a freelancer & entrepreneur.
On 10-March-2022, vSAM Consultancy officially existed for 1 year 🥳. Just a few days after I quite my former job, I went to the Dutch KVK and registered the company “vSAM Consultancy”. A simple procedure, but at the same time, a beautiful and important moment that officially kicked off a new adventure.
The Start of a new Adventure
And what an adventure it was😁 …
In my first year, I worked for different clients in industries like: finance, governments, MSP’s, health care, and the semiconductor industry. Besides that, I also had the chance to work in different forms & roles and meet great people. Starting with a short term contract with a double role as a Team lead & Architect. The company who hired me had a security breach, and needed someone to step-in and help them with micro-segmentation and other projects that improved security and the stability of the environment.
Becoming a Dad
Just after I finished the contract, my baby girl was born and I enjoyed life as a newborn dad and watched how the story of my baby girl unfold & progressed. To me, becoming a dad is the best thing that ever happened, and also the biggest adventure that I ever started. It sounds cliche, but it is. That’s why I’m happy that I took the time to enjoy every moment, and also proud that from such a uncertain beginning, I was able to provide myself and family that time. Instead of going directly for the next big assignment, I paused.
As a freelancer it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the opportunities that lay around, the people & organizations you can help, the amount of work that needs to be done everyday, and also, the money that you can make. The best tip I ever got from a fellow IT freelancer:
Keep making time for your family and yourself. If not,
You’ll end up being a slave to your own ambitious goals, Forgetting why you started out in the first place.
Ambitious Traps
Knowing myself and having my own ambitious trap of always shooting for higher goals, I know that I often forget to take the time to enjoy the achievement, success, or life that I created and the family and friends that I have. Since the birth of my daughter, I make sure that I do make time to enjoy these precious moments. She reminds me there is more to life then work, goals and the never-ending rat race. She keeps my goal clear and is the biggest reason for why I do all these things in the first place.
The Reason Behind Everything
To be honest, my daughter Aylena, was and IS the biggest reason to start for myself. The story of becoming a father is at the same time also the prequel to the story that I’m writing as a freelancer & entrepreneur. She is the reason that I started, the reason that I work, the thought behind certain goals, and conditions that I set when I take on an assignment, and she became my biggest inner-drive. A drive to live life on my terms and to create a life and lifestyle were I can become the best version of myself, for myself, my friends and clients, but most importantly,
For my family.
Samir Verkuijlen
