Care factor zero

At school the retort we used to indicate that we weren't troubled by something was care factor zero. Every school and every age must have one. Catherine Tate's schoolgirl catchphrase Am I bovvered? springs to mind.

The reality of self-employment means accepting care factor zero. Aside from close family and friends no one out there is willing you to succeed. Not that they want you to fail; they really just don't care. The deal you've struck is that the world will celebrate your successes but failure will render you invisible. It doesn't matter that you got sick or your kid got sick or that you overextended yourself financially or overcommitted yourself or whatever.

All the world will see is that you failed and by the time you stutter through your excuses as to why, its gaze has moved on.

On that cheerful note I'm off to the South of France for a week...