Don't Even Joke about It. Really.

There were times during the last three years that I kind of used humor to get by. Just cynical humor. Like when I just started and had no clients, I used to call myself "self-unemployed."

One day, my wife mentioned how our house was "starting to come along." We'd been painting here and there, tearing up some floors, other very minor and inexpensive home improvements that were starting to make a big impact. So my wife says, "We're getting this place in shape, hon! It's gonna look good!" To which I cynically responded, "Yeah, we ought to have it all fixed up right around the time we have to sell it."

It really wasn't funny then, back when I still had money in the bank. It's really not funny now.

Bottom line: don't joke about failure, even if grim humor has worked for you in the past. It has a way of becoming self-fulfilling, I think.