Member-only story

The Obscure Polish Proverb That Helped Me Launch My Freelance Career

“Don’t divide the skin while it’s still on the bear.”

Christopher Kokoski
4 min readJan 26, 2021
Head of a bear against a black background or The Obscure Polish Proverb That Helped Me Launch My Freelance Career
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash and edited by Author on Canva

Against all odds, I finally launched my freelance career last year.

For the last quarter-century of my life, I only fantasized about being a freelance writer with geographical and financial freedom. As much as I envisioned my goal, nothing ever materialized.

I just never seemed capable of making it happen.

Do you have a dream? Do you fantasize about a life of freedom but never seem to get any closer to making that fantasy a reality? If so, I can relate 100%.

Who knew it would take an obscure Polish proverb to prompt me to follow my dreams. Maybe it will do the same for you.

The Polish Proverb That Changed My Life

There’s an obscure Polish proverb that goes, “Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu.”

Ah, the Polish language just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? 😉

Translated into English, it means, “Don’t divide the skin while it’s still on the bear.” If you’re thinking the translation reminds you of an English proverb, you’re right.

--

--

Christopher Kokoski
Christopher Kokoski

Written by Christopher Kokoski

Endlessly curious| proud word nerd| Don’t miss my next article — sign up to my Medium email list: https://bit.ly/3yy18Bc

Responses (10)