It’s that time of year again – it’s time for my business anniversary post!
July 2016 marks three years since I quit my job to pursue coaching and blogging full-time. It’s been a completely wild ride since then and I like to document the journey each year with an annual posts that details the business lessons I’ve learned in the last year.
These kinds of posts are a favorite of the Make Money Your Honey community and they are a favorite of mine as well. They allow me to take stock, practice some gratitude and acknowledge how far I’ve come. On top of that, these types of posts tend to be more personal and allow me to connect with you on a deeper level.
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With that being said, let’s get to the business lessons I learned from July 2015 to July 2016. Trust me, this won’t be what you expected.
(P.S. If you’d like to start your own business with a blog, click here to check out my free tutorial on how to get started with WordPress.)
Lesson #1: Patience is a virtue
Patience is by far one of the most difficult business lessons I’ve had to learn because I’m not a naturally patient person. Running a business, starting something from the ground up, starting something with no money – it all takes a tremendous amount of patience.
There is no instant gratification when starting a business. It took years before I reached a tipping point about a year ago. In that time there were doubts, fears, and concerns.
But I kept going.
Lesson #2: Surrender the outcome.
It’s about to get real woo, ya’ll.
Around mid-2015 I was feeling very frustrated. I’d broken even the first quarter of 2015. The second quarter wasn’t much better. On top of that, I felt like I was sucked dry of my creative juices and I was hitting an income plateau every single month. I was starting to wonder if I’d made a mistake in deciding to become a full-time entrepreneur in 2013.
I finally gave up and had a moment of surrender. I got in front of my prosperity altar and let it go.
(Yes, I have a prosperity altar and members of the Make Money Your Honey Academy will get a video tutorial on how to build their own. You can get on the waitlist here.)
I simply said, “Universe, God, whatever is out there – I’ll do whatever you want. I give up trying to do this all on my own. I’m over it. If you want me to get a job I will. If you want me to keep going with the business I will. Take the wheel. I’m listening. Just tell me what to do.”
Funny enough, a few weeks later things started to shift. I started getting offers to film financial and business education videos. I got spokesperson deal. I got some of the highest paying writing gigs I’d ever had until that point – and I didn’t have to strive or struggle for any of it.
Three months later we had our best quarter. Then another really good quarter. And then in May we had our first five figure month. I know this has all been a result of handing it over to a power greater than myself.
Now, there’s a difference between surrender and giving up. Surrender means I have up control of the outcome, but I was still showing up and doing the work. Giving up looks like apathy. It’s taken me a long time to truly understand this, which is why the act surrendering is one of the top business lessons I’ve learned.
Lesson #3: Health is wealth.
Last year I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. There was also a good chance that I had ovarian cysts.
This was not all that surprising considering I’d been running myself into the ground for years prior to quitting my job. The first few years of business are also really time consuming and stressful.
Add to that the fact that I’d stopped taking care of myself – was eating crap, gave up my yoga membership, was doing things that I thought were healthy but weren’t – and I was a hot fucking mess.
A part of it was because I was struggling with lack mentality when it came to my health. I thought I couldn’t afford healthy food or my beloved yoga classes. As a result, I really got taken out.
I ended up doing Alisa Vitti’s Flo Living Protocol, which is a women’s hormonal health program. As soon as the OB/GYN said “You may have ovarian cysts,” I was signed up for the online course and the biggest package of health coaching sessions they had available. I didn’t even think twice about it.
I was terrified. It was a lot of money. It was a lot of money to do the protocol and a lot of money to buy the right food and supplements. But I moved through the fear anyway.
(Note: This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to have savings in the bank. I personally use Digit to automate some of my savings. You can learn more about Digit by clicking this link.)
Sure enough, I started to feel better and have more energy. My problems aren’t totally healed, but I am doing much better than I was a few months ago. Additionally, because I was feeling better and learned ways to organize my business in a way that worked with my body instead of against it, I was able to show up. Soon after I started making more money than ever.
This is not a coincidence. First, money is energetic. Sometimes you have to put some out to get some in. I was falsely assuming I couldn’t afford healthy food and I was wrong. My internal sense of lack was leading to external lack. Second, you can’t work if you’re sick.
Lesson #4: Say yes to opportunities even if they scare the shit out of you.
Abundance mindset is about being open to the opportunities that are available to you. You can always make more money, but if you’re not open to it because you’re worried about what you don’t have it will affect your ability to see those opportunities when they are in front of you.
Lesson #5: Your crew affects how far you can go in business and your life.
If you’re spending your time with people are not supportive and don’t give a shit, it’s up to you to keep it moving.
Fortunately, I haven’t had to move on from too many people. Barely any actually. Even my family is really supportive. What I have done is expand my horizons by hanging out with new people.
One of the coolest things about running an online business has been the opportunity to meet people. I literally have friends all over the world. Back in March, I crashed at my web designer’s house in Mexico. Every year I get to run around with people doing amazing things at FinCon. I certainly have a support system that I didn’t have a few years ago.
When you’re trying to drastically change and improve your life – whether it’s getting your finances in order or getting healthy – you’ll notice that your priorities change. You may also notice that you need to start hanging out with new people. Speaking as someone who’s been coaching people for four years now, It’s pretty normal for relationships to shift. Don’t be afraid of it.
This year’s theme: SURRENDER.
This year was a major lesson in the spiritual principle of surrender.
When I was in a place where I was trying to control everything, I was miserable and broke.
By surrendering my control over the outcome and surrendering to what my life could be, I started to make the room for my desires to come into fruition.
Have Your Own Sacred Surrender Ceremony
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