Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about entrepreneurship, dreams, and life in general. Now that I’m not rushing around like a crazy person I have time to reflect on how I feel things are going personally and professionally. And, in the process I’ve discovered some unexpected money mindset shifts that indicate that I’ve finally made some personal breakthroughs and also indicate that I have some more work to do. Basically, I’m talking about the difference between dreaming vs. action.
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Dreaming
At the end of 2014, I quit my job and set off on an adventure. After years of working at a punishing pace, commuting over 20 hours a week, and feeling lost, I decided to kick my job to the curb and “find myself again” basically, I embraced a pseudo “Eat, Drink, Pray” moment.
Freedom was in some ways even better than I ever dreamed.
- Waking up when I decided
- No commute
- Working for whomever I wanted to
- Learning what I would like
- Doing all of the professional development I desired
Basically, I was able to craft my life and live it the way that I wanted. It was, for the most part, glorious.
However
The reality is that I spent the last 3 years in a slightly disorganized state of flux. Despite myself I was able to continue paying off my debt and basically live my life.
But, there were a couple of problem areas that I want to share in case you decide to work for yourself.
- Be honest-About what you really want to do. I’ve always wanted to grow passive income. I’m basically super obsessed with it. And, really love the process. I should have focused on that from the moment that I decided I wanted to quit my job. I would be earning a hell of a lot more in passive income than I do right now. And, each time I receive a payment I experience a huge adrenaline rush that I want to experience over and over again.
- Know the difference between being an entrepreneur vs. self-employed-What in the heck is the difference? For the past 2 1/2 years I was self-employed. Basically, I sought out projects to work on for other people. Currently I consider myself an entrepreneur. Even thought I still work on projects for other people, I’ve also begun developing my own products (connected to growing passive income-my favorite thing ever!) Knowing that there is a difference will help you navigate the different moments in your self-created career.
- Understanding Your Worth-One of the most difficult issues that I’ve had to deal with the past couple of years is being comfortable with growing my income and asking for what I believe I am worth. In fact, later on today I am sharing a podcast episode with Candice Marie from Young Yet Wise, and we talk about this issue. We had no definitive answers other than if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Kicking your 9-5 is a ridiculously terrifying experience to a certain degree. And, it should be. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Success Comes
At a different pace than you would like. For those of you who are wondering about how to be successful as an online entrepreneur here are some things to think about.
- Every single digital entrepreneur becomes successful in different ways. Basically, each successful online entrepreneur has a business that is unique to that person. Think, like a snowflake. One person could be a writing ninja like Holly Johnson who has also has blog that is nicely monetized. OR, another person could have a great email list and a meh social media following. Or, the next person makes bank as a speaker. Because of this, you can’t compare your process to other people’s. If you do, that comparison is guaranteed to drive you nuts.
- Consistency and Systems-Are the gateway to success. It’s not lost on me that as soon as I’ve become consistent I’ve begun to get results in the area that I’m most excited about (passive income).
- Education is Key-Almost every single year since I’ve begun blogging I’ve purchased a course about blogging. If you’re serious about blogging (and have blogged for at least 6 months) then you should check out the free resources for Elite Blog Academy. It’s a course that goes on sale once a year. For me, I’m looking to take a course called The Six Figure Blogger Course. Because I know of so many six figure bloggers, I felt that this course would be a great one to check out. It’s still REALLY affordable (which is usually when I like to purchase courses). Will keep you posted on how it goes.
- When You Decide-Recently I spoke with Jason Vitug, founder of Phroogal. He mentioned that he used to spend almost 100 hours a week working on Phroogal and couch surfing in the beginning. Jason is now a making a ton of money via passive income, speaking gigs, products, and an event he created called the The Financial Road to Wellness tour. He took risks, owned his vision, and got to work. He is not the only person to be frank about the amount of time he put into growing his business. Michelle Schroeder-Gardener from Making Sense of Cents also shared that she worked like a dog to grow her website. Basically, there will be a point where you will put in the time to grow your vision. It might not be 100 hours, but, it’s highly likely that it will be more time than what you’re working now. That’s just the reality. And, for those of you who will write a comment about the 100 hours-please be clear, I’m not telling you to work 100 hours. I’m just saying that you will have to commit to what you’re doing and that the hours will probably go up for a period of time. That’s just reality.
Action
This is where everything comes together. To be honest, I’m working a heck of a lot harder now than I was before. The difference is that this action is very focused and specific compared to before. Also, I would like to mention that my Mastermind group has played a big part in my success. Basically, all of us are a lot more invested in getting results with our businesses.
We’ve always been pretty focused, but, there is a big difference in the group this year. The difference is in the amount of action that we’ve been taking specific to our businesses and our lives. And, we’re seeing results. Here’s what I’m doing differently:
- Publishing my podcast episodes on time (ahem) this was actually a very difficult habit to build up. And, I’m not the only podcaster who struggles with episode consistency.
- With Blogging -Last year I rebranded two of my sites and dropped the third. And, this year I’ve noticed that everything has gotten…easier. Shocking. For a long-time I wondered if what I was doing would ever get easier? Would I ever understand what other bloggers were doing to get results? Yes, because it’s not rocket science. But, you do need mentors and support. And, I slowed down on buying new courses. In fact, I think it has been at least a year since I’ve purchased a training tool. This has worked out really well because I’ve focused on implementing the different skills that each course set out to teach me.
There’s other stuff that I’m doing but I wanted to end this post on the following random note.
Writing My 1st Book!
My first memories more often than not include reading, the magic of stories, or going to the library. As an only child I found myself spending a lot of time in the library and escaping into faraway places that sometimes felt better than my life.
At any given time I’m reading several books at the same time. Because there isn’t enough time to read all of the books I want to read in life. I digress.
For the past couple of years I’ve watched my friends write books and share their stories and wisdom. Some friends self-published, others had book deals, and then there’s the third group of overachievers who did both.
I’m going to publish my own ebook. And, I’m so excited! If you would like to get on the list to stay in the loop, sign up below. In the next couple of weeks I’ll also send a free chapter out to you as well. By the way, the book will be free.
What is the book called?
Unsexy: A Savage AF Money Story
“For those of you still on your financial journey”
It’s Garden Time!
Yay! This week I began clearing out my garden and getting it ready to plant. One of the best things about staying home this year is that I now have the time to really enjoy my garden. I have three different sections to my plot, so right now I’m figuring out where I’m going to to plant everything.
Here is a short-list of what I’m planting:
- Arugula-A LOT of it.
- Lemon Cucumber
- Regular Cucumber
- Okra
- Broccoli Raab
- Basil
- Tomatillos
- Tomatoes
- Parsley
- Watermelon Radish
- Cauliflower
And, a couple of other things.I have to look through my seeds to see what else I have.
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Congrats on writing your book! I look forward to reading it. I think having a strong focus is really important as an entrepreneur and knowing you can’t, and shouldn’t “do it all” just because someone else is doing something you’re vaguely interested in. Like say for instance speaking…when it’s not something you’re really willing to put the time, money, and effort to get better at, or perhaps hate traveling a lot. You can easily get pulled into a thousand different directions if you let yourself.
Thanks Tonya! I’m very excited about it. Writing a book has been on my list for AWHILE. And, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I should write and then one day it came to me. Aggressively saying NO! This year has been a wonderful experience.
“Every single digital entrepreneur becomes successful in different ways.” A very true statement that a lot of folks don’t realize. A lot of folks try to do things one way and then wonder why they aren’t successful. Sometimes you have to do things your way. If you’re true to yourself and your audience, you will become successful.
This speaks to trusting your gut, and a lot of people just haven’t built up that type of intuition. They’re afraid to listen to what they know about themselves.