It’s that time of year again! Time for my annual year end review where I tell you how much money I made and lessons learned along the way.
I’m not even going to leave you hanging wondering how much money I earned in 2018, I’m just going to tell you right off the bat. (That’s probably why you’re here anyway ;))
2018 Income Report: $155,250
Can I get a hallelujah amen!?!?
I’m so happy to see this during my year end review! This number represents A LOT to me. Here are some of the main things you need to know:
- I made a goal many years ago to have a six-figure business by age 30. Check!
- We DOUBLED revenue and profits from 2017 to 2018! Holy cow!
- I wanted to hit $100K. We hit that by August and far exceeded my original revenue goal for the year
- I’ve been in the online game for a while and this is THE MOST growth we’ve had in 12 months.
There are some other goals I hit this year as well:
- Saved up $10k in an emergency fund
- Started a savings account to start saving for real estate investing
- Was able to drop $12k to work with one specific mentor without even thinking twice about it (Now THAT felt good!)
- Hired a full-time assistant! I’ve been talking about this for at least 18 months and it felt so good to make the hire.
As I said, this is the most amount of professional and personal growth I’ve experienced in a 12 month period. This got me wondering, “What was different about this year than every other year?”
Well, I have some answers.
I quit doing things that didn’t pay enough money.
Listen, this year end review can be summed up with one sentence: if you want to make money just focus on the things that make money.
It’s simple in theory, but it’s not easy in practice.
In my case, that looked like quitting freelance writing back in July. I did it for eight years and it made me decent money. Because I was in the financial space, I also learned a ton about money.
However, things change. When I started freelance writing, I was looking for extra money. Then I started making decent money. But, at some point, I realized there was more money doing brand ambassador work for the same companies. So that’s what I decided to do.
I hired a new manager who has proactively been working on my behalf and I made more money ever this year as a brand ambassador.
The other thing that changed was I finally had a high-end product to sell, Persuade to Profit. When I quit freelance writing I was making just as much money selling that program. So I made the decision to focus on my high-end packages full-time.
Granted, this does not mean it wasn’t scary. But as I’ve learned over the years, our emotions are not really good indicators of what we should do with our money. Feelings are not facts in business and they will screw you over every time.
Once I sat down and crunched the numbers, it became obvious that I had to quit freelance writing so I could focus on bigger goals (and bigger money)
AND BOY WAS THAT A GOOD DECISION.
I went from earning $8k a month to over $25k within a month.
I started focusing on selling – again.
Sales is what makes money. Period. I invested time, effort and money into improving my sales skills and it started paying off very quickly. This is something I will continue to do as my business grows and expands.
Now, I want to point something out here. I was NOT always good at sales and negotiating. Quite the contrary. I used to be terrified of it just like everyone else. But eventually, I had to get over that.
And now that I’m actually quite good and it and train other people on how to sell during VIP coaching days, I can attest to how totally life-changing it is. You want to make money? Get over yourself and learn how to sell. Period.
I’m committed to fixing my money mindset
The only thing that keeps us from making money (and anything we could possibly want) is our own mindsets. Now, I have my own bullshit around money just like everyone else. However, I have committed to changing it. This meant taking radical personal responsibility for my decisions, thoughts, and actions around money.
The truth is – society and culture tell you to play small. I, for one, finally committed and accepted the fact that I wasn’t born to play small – and I’m willing to pay the price to achieve my fullest potential in this lifetime.
I found new money mentors.
Earlier this year, I realized I didn’t want to go The Millionaire Next Door route. Granted, it’s a great book that gives you some insight. It also kept me from making huge common mistakes so it was a start.
But here’s the thing, it still teaches you to play small.
I have an extra personality with extra big ambitions and desires, so it was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. This would explain why it never really worked for me and I always felt constricted.
So I decided to find different mentors. One of those mentors was Grant Cardone. What’s interesting about Grant Cardone is most of what he says about money is the exact opposite of most traditional personal finance advice.
And you know what? He’s right.
You can’t save your way into more money. But you can earn your way into more money.
And the reality is that if you want a full life that was well-lived, it’s going to take a lot of money. Period.
And, more importantly, if you want to help a lot of people it’s going to take a lot of money. Even Mother Theresa knew this.
My mindset shifted from one of lack and managing money to one of earning as much money as I can – while having a really good time!
It doesn’t mean there isn’t hard work involved. There is. But the rewards are so much sweeter.
I quit hoarding money.
Hoarding and saving money never made anyone rich and happy. You know what does make people rich? Investing.
This took me ages to finally truly understand – and this is coming from someone who has been investing since she was 22!
But now I understand what it actually means to invest. It means don’t be cheap with your business or, more importantly, with yourself.
I spent more than ever on my business this year – and it also made me more money than ever.
I also spent more money investing in myself than ever before – and it will make me a better person for the rest of my freakin’ life.
I started focusing on my personal development too.
I used to think I could only handle one thing at a time. So that meant if I’m working on my money, then I can only focus on my money. This year I learned this isn’t true.
I also learned that the wealthy spend a TON of money on their own personal development outside of their businesses. After all, their best investment is themselves. So, I went back to my roots and started focusing on personal development and not just business development.
When I found the perfect mentor for the next life area I wanted to tackle I had no qualms about forking over a total of about $12k to work with her. And you know what? It started paying off almost immediately!
People often times ask me how I’m so confident. It’s because I’ve done a lot of inner and outer work over the years. I got me and I know I do. A big part of that process has been investing to get the help I need.
I strengthened my faith.
I can’t do any of this without tremendous amounts of faith in myself and in the universe.
If there’s one thing this entrepreneurial journey will do it’s force you to take full accountability for your thoughts, beliefs, decisions and actions. You will learn so much about yourself in the process – what risks you can take, how you think, how resilient you are and what you can achieve in both business and life.
In fact, most clients don’t know this when they come to work with me, but entrepreneurship will teach you how to stand in your own personal power and have authorship over your own life. Through this process, you learn to have tremendous amounts of faith in yourself.
However, it’s not just faith in myself that I need, it’s also faith in God and the universe. After all, I am only human. This means I have off days. It means my human experience affects the way I see things. I get scared just like everyone else. In those times, my faith in the Universe pulls me through.
What’s to come in 2019
Now that I can see how much progress I can make in a year, I am even more committed to this new way of thinking and being. I am also committed to helping thousands of people to change their own lives. Here are some of the ways we’re doing that:
- I hired my first associate coaching to start helping me
- I know have a full-time assistant who is solely dedicated to me
- We moved to a new private office space to accommodate the changes
- Continuing to work with individuals on a coaching basis privately and through my programs
- Working on creating a mastermind that does a deep dive into our emotional hangups around money
I have to say I’m really excited for 2019. This year showed me that my intuition has been right all along. It showed me how much progress someone can make in as little as 12 months. It taught me the power of saying no to things that no longer serve me. And now I can’t wait to teach you the same things.
Your Time is Now video premiere on January 1st 2019
I am committed to help you become successful in your own life.
No more playing small. No more dead-end jobs. No more toxic relationships. No more being broke. No more lack of purpose.
We’re kicking things off with a new video I’ll be premiering January 1st 2019 on Facebook and YouTube.
Because you can achieve this success too, and the time is now.
Click here to set a reminder for the Your Time is Now video premiere on Facebook!
Click here to set a reminder for the Your Time is Now video premiere on YouTube!
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