Cultivate Resilience So You Can Defy The Odds

by vanessa | May 11, 2022 | motivation, personal development

CULTIVATE RESILIENCE SO YOU CAN DEFY THE ODDS

Cultivate resilience so that you can defy the odds and achieve your dreams.

What is resilience exactly? We hear it often. It’s cheered on when someone is battling a difficulty or when someone wins at life. Our peers and the people around tell us to be more resilient. It isn’t an unfamiliar word that the dictionary came up with recently. No. Though that doesn’t take away its relevance. In fact, the more problems get thrown at us, the more important this word is.

Simply put, resilience is having the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. In this life, we will all go through difficulties. That is life. Often, our difficulties might mean that getting up isn’t as easy as we wished it would be. Going after your dreams isn’t easy. Not settling isn’t easy because often the easiest route seems the most satisfying. That, though, is temporary. Cultivating resilience is how you defy the odds and achieve your dreams.

They are people who get knocked down and are up before you can count to three. Okay, you probably will count to three before they get up. I’m sure you get the point. These people seem to never let failure pull them down. Maybe you have admired that and even wondered how to do it as well. In this blog post, I will talk all about how you can cultivate resilience.

A strong why

One of the easiest ways to cultivate resilience so you can defy the odds is having a strong why. This here is the key to many things. Think about. Think of anyone who you admire. What has kept them going even when they get knocked down? We all have struggles. Struggles isn’t something that only the unsuccessful go through. Every successful person has gone through struggles.

What separates them from you isn’t a magic word or an unexplained tour de force. Nope. It isn’t something that we can’t understand. Yes, some people have had help to get to where they are. Looking at you, Kylie Jenner. Still, starting and running a business isn’t easy. Got to give credit where it is due. You need a strong why. A reason to get out of the bed.

Most people don’t have a strong why. Many people come up with a flimsy reason. Making lots of money. That lasts as long as you’re willing to keep grinding in the early morning. Then it’s gone. Faster than you can count. So, making money isn’t a powerful reason. It’s a reason everyone uses, but it rarely works well. And you will become aimless. Point is cultivating resilience is about getting up and when you have a potent reason, it’s easier.

Also Related: Why Should Find Your Purpose

Your defining moment

We all need a defining moment. Something that changes course and helps us to keep going. This is how you defy the odds and cultivate resilience. I remember the moment well. I was in grade school hoping to be something more than what I was. It was career day. Until that point, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. Sure, I was ten. I was still very young, but I had no clue. Not a smidge. I changed dreams according to what was trending. Yeah, I was that kid.

There was nothing I could hold on to. I wasn’t gifted or sporty. It was as if I was just there. Now I know that was the pressure society pushed on young children. When it was my time, I did not know. What I knew, I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to live an extraordinary life. Something worthy beyond measure. Ordinary actions don’t equate to an extraordinary life.

Thing is we have several defining moments in life. That was maybe my second. My first was when I was eight. I digress. These defining moments set you up for life. They change your course. It helps you cultivate resilience. So, at ten, I had my second defining moment. I went onto have different ones at different points in time. Though, whenever life beats me down, I remember the ten-year-old me. The one who didn’t believe in giving in, despite the frantic sprays of the children in the sandbox. I kept going and you should as well.

Remember your defining moment as the time when things shifted for you. This will help you cultivate the resilience you need.

Your inner voice

We all have two inner voices. The critic and the cheerleader. The critic admonishes you for mere mistakes. Whereas the cheerleader tells you to keep going. Many of us listen to the critic’s voice more. That is why it’s always the loudest. “You aren’t good enough.” It tells you. “What makes you think you are anything or worth anything?” Yeah, the critic’s voice sucks and often you wish you could mute it.

Well, you can. It requires training. Not hectic. Sweat on your brows and panting loudly type of training. You just have to train your voice. The voice that tells you can, but is so low you have to increase the volume. We all have the potential for greatness. I know how cliché that sounds. How many gurus tell you that? How many say that you can achieve X, Y and Z. Yet, they don’t give you the tools?

I was highly critical of myself. I used to be a negative person. The one you want to avoid. Sure, I had my moments, though that didn’t take away my critical inner voice. So, when I’m telling you can change, you can. This is how to change the tone of your voice. Keep telling yourself you can do it. When your critic tells you otherwise, remind it of your successes. It can be small. It doesn’t matter. What matters is to stop giving your inner critic relevance. That is how you defy the odds and achieve your dreams.

Also Related: How to Silence Your Inner Critic

Baby steps

Ancient Rome grew from a small town on Italy’s Tiber River into an empire. That took years. Hundreds of years. It didn’t happen overnight. So, you got to be easy on yourself. Cultivating resilience isn’t going to happen overnight. It takes months or even years for you to achieve this. The key here is to keep building on it. To keep focusing on what you can achieve and go after it. You got this.

For me, it took constantly having to reinforce it. Sure, that was annoying, but now it’s worth it. There are a lot of reasons for cultivating resilience. One of the most vital ones is you don’t give up as easily. You keep going after your dreams. That is so important. Because when you don’t give up, there’s a reward at the end of the rainbow. Something you always envisioned, but never believed it was possible to achieve. There’s so much worth and joy in going after your dreams. You can also inspire so many people with your story.

How will you cultivate resilience so you can defy the odds. Comment below and I will reply as soon as possible

KEEP PUSHING

VANESSA

Busting Making Money Online Myths

by vanessa | May 4, 2022 | creativity, Entrepreneurs, motivation, personal development, Side-Hustles

Busting Making Money Online Myths

They are numerous making money online myths, the four below are the most common and popular.

Here I am again. Your personal myth buster. Haven’t done a segment like this in a while. So, I thought I would dust my favorite yellow myth busting jacket. Take it out of the closet and tantalize your interest. So this year I wanted to bust making money online myths. Here’s the thing about making money. It isn’t easy and there is so much noise out there. No white noise. No, this is the kind of noise that gives you a migraine because of misinformation or just too much information.

The internet has been around since the 90’s. That’s a long time. Making money online started as early as the late 90’s. Strange right, but if you were old enough back, then you must remember subscriptions and even paying for email newsletters. Back then, though, it was in its infancy. Too young to make a dent or splash in the papers. Not enough people were interested.

Making money online became popular after 2008. When the world was hit with a tsunami of bad news. You remember the year? People lost their jobs. Inflation was at an all-time high. Well before the pandemic. College grads were now wondering what they’d do with their life. High school seniors weren’t optimistic about their future. It just wasn’t the best year. But that is when entrepreneurship became popular and more people were trying to find out how to make money online. So, this isn’t a new wave. Every year, this industry grows. And because of that, so do the tails start wagging even more. They are a lot of myths out there. So, I thought I would take the time to bust making money online myths.

Myth 1# People don’t make money online

I have an aunt who I love dearly. When she visited my family seven years ago before, I really made headway in making money online. She told me a story about how a friend of hers’ lost money online. She then told me, ” people don’t make money online.” Now, I had done my research and knew that they are dozens of ways to make money online. I couldn’t blame her. They are many people who think that.

So here’s the first making money online myth that I want to bust. People make money online. You know that adage; they are many ways to skin a cat. What they don’t tell you is that they are right and wrong ways to do it. They are people who never make money online. That’s because they aren’t doing it the right way. Be smart when you want to make money online. That requires foresight and something many of us are terrible at. You got it. Patience. Be patient. You know squirrels spend a lot of their time finding the right nuts to bury. They will forage until they find the right nuts. Many of us aren’t patient. We give up way too early and because of that, we cannot achieve what we want.

If you want to make money, then you need to practice patience. Not the easiest thing to do, but it is the most rewarding thing you can do. Think of what you want to achieve and then focus on that. Let that be the reason behind your purpose.

Myth 2# You need lots of money to make money online

They are dozens of ways to make money online. Some require more money than others. Others you don’t need as much. There’s a twofold way to bust making money online myth two. The first fold is that you can start simple and progress from there. What skills do you have? Maybe you are great at writing or even good at being on camera.

Starting a blog or YouTube channel requires the least amount of money. In 2018, when I started my blog. I didn’t have any money. There was zero dollars in my bank account. My big brother sent me some money. I put it in a bank account. It was only one hundred dollars, and I started my blog with that. I paid for a month using Hostgator and I went from there. Sometimes you don’t need the full picture. Often you just need a smaller one. Use what you have instead of focusing on what you don’t. Even if you have no money, you can borrow or you can make money. I will share that with you later.

You can even start with a YouTube channel. Just use your phone and a lavalier mic that you can get for $20. That’s all you need. So myth two has been busted. If you still have doubts, think about how massive the internet is. It is literally it’s own country. A global opportunity that awaits you to take a chance and decide that you can do it.

Myth 3# You need to be a genius

Maybe you aren’t an intellectual. Few people are. You might not create the next big thing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make money online. I was once told to find what people want and give them that. That is the secret to making money online. So, it isn’t novel. So what? Give people what they want. That’s how people make money. Follow the trends and figure out what is missing. See what people are doing and do that. You don’t need to be brainy to make money online.

That is one of the biggest making money online myths out there. Change your perspective. Realize that you can be an average Jane or Joe and still make money. In fact, the more relatable you are, the better. Those are the people we connect with. Not the top gurus. Sure they make money. Being famous has its advantages. Those of us who were slow to jump on the ride need relatability to connect with people. They are people who once were relatable who no longer are because they forgot what made people connect with them.

The best way to make money is by looking at your skill set. We all have skills. No single person on the planet doesn’t have that one thing they excel at. And I’m sure they are people who would pay good money to learn that. Unless your skill is so niche and out there that people wouldn’t be interested in. That’s rare though. People these days can make money from literally anything. So, you are in good company. Myth three has been busted. Now onto the last one.

Also Related: Why Entrepreneurship is The New Normal?

Myth 4# Making money online is a scam

For every con artist, there is a legit salesperson. Did you ever read Confessions of a Door to Door sales agent? It was a brilliant read. It tells the story of a struggling salesperson. He struggled to sell his products for several reasons. Many thought he was a scammer. The second reason is he was selling things no one wanted. Perhaps he was selling to the wrong demographic. And he didn’t know how to market his products.

There will always be people who question everything online. “Did so and so really make money from doing that?” I remember reading how webnovel platforms were scammers because of how they’d approach authors instead of the other way around. Now, self-publishing is still better because you make more money but webnovelists do make money.

A webnovel is simply when an author serializes his content or novel and publishes it on a platform. Think Charles Dickens. Now, don’t get me wrong, they are online scams. You just have to be picky with what you spend your time on. The way I look at is like this. The marketplace was niche. So con artists back in the day would con those that were in a particular city or district. Now, the marketplace is global. They are more options out there to scam people. But not everything is a scam. Therefore, you need to take your time understanding how to make money online.

The number one reason people get scammed is that they aren’t knowledgeable. That’s why I created this blog post series. By the end you will know how to bust making money online myths. You will also know how to make money online without losing sleep and losing hair.

What is your one takeaway from this post? What making money online myths did you think were true? Comment below.

KEEP PUSHING

VANESSA

Passive Income Vs Active Income (Ultimate Beginner’s Guide)

by vanessa | Mar 23, 2022 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, Side-Hustles, Success

6 BRILLIANT wayS TO MASTER SELF-SABOTAGE

Here is a break down about passive income and active income

No matter how you make money, it falls into two categories. Passive income and active income. Thing is most people can’t tell the difference between the two and often they can easily mistake these two types of incomes. Passive income is investment that is achieved through past work that was done. This can be the course you paid for, the ebook you read, the affiliate link you clicked on. Often the work is done once and as a result the person earns income for work on a daily or monthly basis.

It depends on how much time they spent creating the product. Passive income is usually a result of digital products, but it can be earned in other ways as well, but that is the most common way to earn passive income. Active income is different though. Your job is a active income. You earn based on a salary. The harder you work, the more you make. That’s the big difference.

Why is it important to understand these two terms? Because they are so many ways to make money online. But most people have no idea because they don’t understand how passive or active income works. That’s why I created this blog post because before we get into the nitty gritty we need to understand the two categories of income. Once, you have an idea you will understand ways you can make money online. Let’s start.

Passive income (Explained)

When it comes to the top dogs of income it’s passive income. Why? We have limited time on our hands. If you ever wanted to know how people become wealthy it’s passive income. Unfortunately because many people don’t understand passive income they think it’s the illusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Often they assume people exaggerate so they don’t bother.

Passive income has so many advantages. The advantages outweigh all the disadvantages. Yes, passive income seems like a dream come true, but I would be misleading you if I didn’t tell you the uphill battle you will face. Everyone wants to make passive income. Unfortunately that makes it harder to make it. Competition is stiff. Not saying it’s like Hunger Games. But you will need to understand marketing and be well versed in self-discipline. Because it takes a lot to make this kind of income.

It’s worth it when you figure it out though, but it does require time. Unfortunately not everything is a given. If you also don’t know what you are doing you can get overwhelmed because of how many options they are when it comes to making passive income.

Also Related: How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Why is passive income important

In this blog post, I list down all the passive income opportunities because they are so many. I will reserve that for another blog. But I do want you to know why passive income is more important than active income. They are limited number of hours in a day. We all know that. But more importantly you can’t duplicate yourself. So, time will always restrict you in terms of making money.

This is where passive income comes in. However, you need to understand that it takes time to build it. I learned an important fact from my father. Everything worthwhile takes time. So, the same applies here. It takes time to build passive income streams which ever you choose to do. But in the long term it is worth. You can be lying on a beach and earn money. But it won’t roll in if you don’t build something and work on selling it. The first $50 I earned online was through affiliate marketing. One of the most popular passive income streams. It was then that I saw the value passive income has.

Active Income (Explained)

Many of us are used to active income. Sometimes it is called residual income or earned income. This is income you earn from a salary, hourly wage or commission. You work for every dime. Now you can’t get rich with this kind of income, but that doesn’t take away it’s importance. Passive income takes time and often you need money in order for you to do passive income.

This is where active income comes in. It will help you to raise enough money for you to start building your passive income streams. They are reasons why people don’t start a business. Besides it taking time, they also don’t have enough money. This is where active income becomes advantageous. You can work so that you raise enough money to build your business.

Active income requires a lot of work as well because you are paying based on the hours you are working. So if you are working 10 hours per day, you calculate that. It depends on what you are doing. Though, if you don’t get a task for the month you don’t make money. If you don’t have a shift then you don’t get paid. You work and then get paid. Not once, but repeatedly.

Below are the main types of active income

Also Related: 7 Things Holding You Back in Life

1. Salary

Most people earn this kind of income. You are trading your year for an income. You go to work at 8am and come back at 5pm. It’s a consistent revenue stream because you know you can depend on money coming into your bank account at a certain time or month. You often go to college or university to earn this kind of income. Though, they are times when you can simply have just a qualification. That’s all you need to be eligible to earn a salary.

2. Hourly wage

Those who don’t have qualifications or are still in school can earn this kind of active income. You get paid by the hour. So if you work for five hours per day and make $15 per hour then that is how much you make per day. It is easier to get this kind of active income than a salary. You can work at a fast food restaurant, deliver food, work for a company like Uber and the list goes on to make this kind of money.

3. Commissions

This type of active income stream helps you to make more money. It’s more profitable than the other two because it comes to the sales you make. They are some jobs where you can make commissions on top of your salary. You get this if you are in sales, events and even real estate. You make a percentage of the initial sale. So, it all comes to how much you sold a property or how much a client paid the company for a service.

4. Tips

If you are in the hospitality industry this is the active income you will earn. Tips are based on how much people want to give you. There’s no exact figure though it depends on where you work. For example, you are likely to make more money in tips if you work at a country club compared to a fast food restaurant. It all comes down to where you work.

5. Freelancing and consulting

If none of the above tickles your fancy and you want to be your own boss. You can do this one. Just like passive income streams this active income isn’t as easy as the others listed above. You need to market yourself well, but you can also start on freelancing sites like Fiverr or Guru or even 99Designs. It depends on what you want to do. You calculate your worth. You can earn anything from 6 to 7 figures doing this. They are people who became millionaires on Fiverr. So, the options are there, but it depends on how good you are.

When I was starting I did this and earned quite a bit of money from it as a result.

Which is better passive income or active income?

This depends on where you are in life. If you want to start a business, but are unsure how to do so you can start with freelancing or even the other active income opportunities. If you have time on your hand and even have more money, you can do try your hand at passive income. Each of these income types is worth it. It is worthy, but it all comes to you and your experience level.

I will say this though passive income is better than active income. For a lot of reasons. You make more money in the long run. You can also free up your time when you build the right systems. Even though it does take time it is worth it. So, even though it depends on where you are, you should be focusing on getting yourself ready to build passive income streams.

The great thing about passive income is that you can have numerous streams of income. With active income you have to pick one of two jobs depending on which active income stream you picked. If you have a salary than that will be challenging. The amount of money you make is limited by your hours. Passive income doesn’t have that. You can have seven to twenty-one different ways to make money.

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What is your major takeaway from this blog post? Comment below

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VANESSA

How You Define Success Can Make or Break You

by vanessa | Mar 1, 2022 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, personal development, Success

HOW YOU DEFINE SUCCESS CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU

How do you define success? It can make or break you the way you define it.

When I was younger, the way I would define success wasn’t positive. It didn’t help me to grow or evolve. It took me a while to understand that the reason why I wasn’t growing, all came down to the way I would define success. Most of us define success as this linear line. There’s point D and we want to move to point A. A lot of us don’t realize that success isn’t linear. There isn’t a point system we need to tick to climb the success ladder. If that was the case than we all would be successful.

It is true that we need to follower those who are successful. They are also strategies that can help us become successful, but it isn’t that simple. Often, success takes different forms. They are people who become successful as a teenager or in their twenties or thirties. Then they are people who become successful at a much older age. Success isn’t about the destination, but the journey. How you define success can make or break you. It can build you up or push you down. Often, our mental gymnastics determine what happens next or what chess pieces move. That is why going into the new year you need to change how you define success.

Take it from me this is important. What I have learned is that when you change how you define success it changes your worldview and you grow much faster than if you keep to a rigid description of success.

The story you tell yourself

When I was in my early twenties, I saw success as a ladder that I needed to climb. This is how I would define success. I needed to tick boxes, here was the thing I didn’t understand what success was. I would watch MTV cribs and wish that one day that would be me. I wanted to be famous. I wanted my face to be plastered on magazine covers and to be interviewed. That is how I defined success. To me if people didn’t really know you then you weren’t successful. If you weren’t an A lister than no one really knew.

It was a rigid way of looking at success. I was interested in the glamor and that was what mattered. The more people knew me then I’d have made it. Here’s the thing this isn’t the right way to define success. This is way of defining success can break you because it pushes the notion that you need to be famous to be successful. That’s not true. They are a lot of famous people who don’t have money. Then they are successful people who aren’t as well-known as A lister but have a lot of money.

What story are you telling yourself? Why are you telling yourself this story? Yes, it’s important to understand the root of the story. Here’s mine. I was a late boomer. Always behind everyone else and I wanted to prove people wrong. I believed to do this I needed to be famous. That wasn’t the truth, I had nothing to prove, but I needed to discover that for myself first.

Your why

Successful people have a strong why. A reason why they want to do something. Being successful is just the reward. If you want to just be successful then you will never reach your goal. Even if you do it won’t feel rewarding. This is the wrong way to define success. It is the reason why so many influencers look unhappy or are depressed. They described success the wrong way. Have you ever watched celebrity interviews, I used to. I watched a lot of them. My favorite was the E True Hollywood Story. Every one of those that were interviewed would say they wanted to entertain people, make them laugh or cry.

They didn’t start of just wanting to be successful. At least not the greats. It was about making people happy or giving them something to root for. Successful entrepreneurs all started with wanting to make the world better. I’m talking about those that make a difference. The ones who have given the world a solution or provided opportunities. They will last for a lifetime because their reason wasn’t monetary. We get the definition of success so wrong.

It isn’t about how much money you have in your bank account. That is a reward. It is about the solution or what you have given the world. How you define success can push you forward or back. It can build you up and change your worldview. So define success the right way. Your why is the link to how you define success. If your why is strong than you are bound to become successful because you are thinking about the bigger picture.

Bigger picture

When your why is strong than you can lean on a bigger picture. When I was younger, I had no idea what I wanted to be known for. I loved writing and I wasn’t too bad at it. But I also loved acting. Writing to me didn’t seem profitable, but I had no idea how to get into acting. I jumped from one thing to the next without any clear idea of how to get to where I wanted. Remember how you define success can also give you a plan. It can give you a bigger picture and the clearer your vision is the easier it is to plan your life.

My vision was blurry so many years I wandered trying to figure it out. That wasn’t easy. I followed every guru under the sun. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but it felt like that was what happened. I tried a lot of things, but never came to fruition. I tried freelancing then ecommerce and I settled on blogging. It gave me a clear picture. I started seeing the bigger picture. How I could turn my blog into a machine. When you settle on one thing it is easier to understand where next you need to go. Most of us follow what every guru says. There is so much information out there that it is easy to get information overload. Here’s the thing, you got to focus on a few gurus because the more gurus you follow it won’t be easy to understand what route you should take.

That’s why it’s important that the way you define success takes in the bigger picture. This will motivate you and encourage you to keep going regardless of the obstacles in your way.

Also Related: 13 Habits of Self-Made Millionaires

Ups and downs

They are two roads in life. The busy highway that everyone takes. On this road you will see lots of sights and cars. It’s crowded so it often takes forever to get to your destination, but it does look like you will enjoy the journey. Then there’s the other road. This one people don’t travel on it a lot. It seems as if there’s no much to see. The road isn’t in good condition, they are a lot of pot holes and the grass isn’t luscious. But if you keep down on this road, you will see so much more. Sights and buildings that you won’t see on the other road.

This road is filled with more adventure. I’m guessing you see where I’m going. How you define success will also give you room to make mistakes? Because that is success. There’s no exact map. No exact route you should take. They are so many obstacles and road blocks. Success isn’t easy. Heck, it is one of the hardest things you will ever do. Starting your own business or doing something most people won’t isn’t easy. If it was then what would be the point? It would be as joyful as interesting or exciting. Success is all about the journey. The experiences you will go through just to get to the end of the rainbow. It’s never ending. There’s so much you will learn about yourself and life.

However you have to accept it has ups and downs. Even when you become successful, you will always have to tweak things. Most of us think it ends right there once you become successful. No. It isn’t that simple. You will be met with so many road blocks. But that is why it’s so worthwhile. How you define success matters?

How do you define success? Has the definition helped you or do you need to work on it. Let me known in the comments section.

KEEP P USHING

VANESSA

Are You Feeling Left Behind? Forge Your Own Path

by vanessa | Feb 23, 2022 | Entrepreneurs, motivation, personal development

Are you feeling left behind. forge your own path.

Most people feel left behind. Here’s a simple solution how to deal with it.

No one knew social media would be seen as a vehicle to compare ourselves with other people. That has happened. Many of us feel left behind. We feel as though we aren’t achieving the success we always dreamed about. Social media often shows the best the world offers. Children and teenagers excelling at a rapid rate that many of us can’t dream of.

This is a problem for our self-esteem and general sense of worth. How can we compete with teenagers making their first million? Yet we’re struggling to even figure life out. We beat ourselves for not getting it sooner. Studies show that many people feel left behind in life. Most people want to achieve something grand, but don’t know how to do that. They see themselves as falling behind in life. Here is something staggering. In 2011, it was stated that 200 million Americans wanted to publish books. Yet, in 2022, only 0,03% of the population is a writer.

Here is another interesting fact. In 2018, it was stated that three out of five people want to start their own business. To be exact, 62% dreams of starting their own business. That is a staggering number. They are many people who feel left behind in life. More than you know. They are a lot of reasons people don’t go after their dreams. A lot of reasons they give up the goose. These facts show they are so many people with lofty dreams. Very few achieve them. That is why they call it the 1%. Most people give up way too easily.

Below I will point out how you can start going after your dreams even if you feel left behind in life. Before I go on. I need you to know something. We all have a choice. Either we let fear in or we face it. We can’t do both.

Comparison getting you down

Most people compare themselves to the next person. So and so is doing this. Why can’t I? So and so bought a new car. Moved into a new apartment, building complex, city or country. “Did you see what this person is doing on social media?” Social media has become a viewing room. Something to entertain us and distract us from going after our dreams. It makes us insecure. As we look at well-crafted social media feeds or even glance at people’s profile.

Here’s the thing: comparing yourself will make you feel left behind. It will make you question your decisions. Consider them and wonder why you aren’t doing X and X. Yet, you’re still alive who says you can’t. It’s almost as if we think we need to achieve our dreams at a certain age or timeline. If I don’t achieve this at this age, I’m a failure. Here’s the thing: the people who achieved those things earlier had a different childhood from you.

Their experiences made them who they are. Just like your experiences made you who you are. Why do senior citizens choose to learn an instrument? Many of them wake up with regret and wonder where the time went. I admire senior citizens who do that. Because it isn’t easy to learn anything new. Even when you’re young. Yet. Few people do. Few people choose to learn something that will build them up. That’s the thing. You decide who you want to be.

You decide where you want to go. The choice is yours. Don’t let comparison put you in a box. Don’t allow it to trap you and stop you from going after what you want.

You give too much power to fear

Many of us give fear way too much power. We see it as this force that can cause us to stop in our tracks. That is why many people feel left behind in life. They give fear too much power. When was the last time you did something you were terrified about? I’m terrified of heights, but I have done lots of things that make people wonder if I actually am.

Why do I do that? Simple. Because I don’t want to give fear too much power. If I do that, then fear will control my life and decisions. I don’t want to ever be in a position where I feel as if fear has too much power over me. I can’t let that happen. You shouldn’t as well. I once heard someone say fear are fake events appearing real. And that is true. When you’re afraid of something, often we exaggerate. Here’s an example. I was in an elevator once. The ones that have windows. I imagined it crashing to the ground. Will that ever happen? Unlikely. Unless I’m in a movie. Movies aren’t real. What happens in movies won’t happen in real life? Certain instances they happen. Like getting eaten by a shark. But you’ll only encounter this if you swim where sharks are.

Most of these things are situational. Many people allow fear to sink in. That is why they feel left behind. The best way to avoid this is to not give too much power to fear.

Social expectations

Society loves to give expectations. As if that is a parameter of success. Society will say you need to have done this at this age or achieved this in this time frame. Rules should be broken. The reason you’re feeling left behind is that you’re using society to determine what your life should be like. When I was in my early twenties, I felt like this a lot. I wanted to achieve so many things. Get my life going. But the thing is, I did not know how to do it. I was concerned with how people saw me. I didn’t work on how I saw myself.

That is the problem. We spend too much time wondering how people see us. Thinking that if I do X, then they’ll see me in a better light. Who cares what a stranger across the world thinks of you? Who cares what your aunt Mildred thinks about your singleness? The reason I say this is that there has to be a point where you care and defining yourself based world says about you. You can’t control what people think. That is just a fact. What you can do is think about who you want to be and where you want to go.

That should matter more than people’s opinions. People will always have opinions. Whether or not it’s true. You can’t let people’s opinions make you feel left behind in life. Not everyone is the same. Therefore, your journey won’t be the same.

Success isn’t linear

Success isn’t linear. It’s not a step-by-step system. Even if you think it’s a staircase. That’s often not the case. This is the number one reason you feel left behind. You see success in a straight line. It isn’t. They are ups and downs in life. You will achieve something great than the next thing you know is you hit a slump or a land mill. Why? Because that is how life is like. If life was linear, it would be boring. You wouldn’t enjoy it as much as you enjoy it now.

You wouldn’t experience the fullness that life offers. We need to understand life isn’t meant to be easy. It isn’t meant to be simple. As hard as that is, this is how we can achieve great things in life. We need to realize feeling left behind is normal, but it doesn’t determine where we go next. Whatever milestone you make, that is a step in the right direction. If you come across obstacles, that’s alright. That strengthens you. It builds you up. Pushes you out of your comfort zone. Creates opportunities that you never knew were even there.

Forge your own path

I used to think success was linear, so I’d follow the gurus’ advice. I’d think that this is how I’ll be successful. Few of us can follow someone successfully. Some of us don’t have that opportunity. We just don’t. We feel left behind because we believe we should follow someone’s path to become successful. That isn’t true. There has to be a point where we forge our own path.

This can look different depending on who you are. For example, who says you need to go back to university? Many people want to make more money. Several articles suggest going back to university to achieve this. This is just the opinion of a few people. That doesn’t mean if you choose to go down a different path, you won’t achieve anything. No. You can start a business. Create several income streams. Sell your mother’s cookies to your next-door neighbors. Home sit pets. The list goes on. They are so many things you can do.

We remain in a box when we don’t see the opportunities waiting for us. There’s so much you can do. You just have to go outside and see what you can achieve. Forge your own path. This is how you won’t feel left behind. Don’t look at other peoples’ success as the only way you can become successful. You just need to push yourself and you will find so many opportunities. Unbelievable opportunities you never thought you would ever achieve. It will takes time. But if you don’t give up. You would be shocked at all things you can achieve.

Why do you feel left behind in life? Loved to know. Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

How To Stop Glorifying Busy and Sabotaging Your Goals

by vanessa | Feb 16, 2022 | Entrepreneurs, motivation, personal development

how to stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals

Here’s how you can stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals

Many of us don’t understand the difference between being busy and productive. Because of that, we glorify busy and, in the end, that sabotages our goals. It sounds weird, but it happens to many people. Going into the new year, you need to understand the difference and how you can achieve your goals. You might have a lengthy bucket list of things you want to do in the new year. That’s great, but you also need to realize that your time is precious. If you want this year to be better than the previous year, then your habits need to change.

I struggled for the longest time with my goals. I did not know the difference between being busy and productive. What I soon realized is as a society we glorify busy. This doesn’t help us with our goals. Why? Because often we are doing everything else than what we are required to do. We focus on acting as if we are achieving something, but we aren’t. This is because we spend our time on time wasters and not on things that will push the needle forward. They are a few ways you can stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals. I will go through the list so that you understand if you stop this, then you are on your way to being more productive.

One thing you need to realize is it will take time to get to where you want to go. That’s alright. You don’t need to rush. Sometimes it’s alright to slow things down. Figure out what you want from life and go from there. You just need to keep that in mind. If you do, it will be easier on you and you won’t get crushed if things aren’t going as fast as you wish they would.

Reduce time-wasters

What are time wasters? This is one way you are glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals. Time wasters are basically activities that don’t help you with your goals. Let’s look at an example: if you are starting a business and then you focus on making money from bitcoin. That, in fact, is a time waster. I know what the internet is saying. Bitcoins and NFTS are the new way to make money. It’s all hype and no substance. Let’s say you have little money. How much time will you dedicate to learning about bitcoin.

Let’s say you dedicate four hours per day. Now, this has nothing to do with the business you want to start. Yet, you are focusing on bitcoins. I get it. We all want to be in the in-crowd. The problem with this is that it isn’t easy. No one will tell you that making money from bitcoin and NFTS is difficult. You will need lots of money to make money from this. You will also need to hire a coach because it isn’t as easy to make money from it. And it’s saturated. Everyone and their grandmother want to make money from crypto currency.

Chances that you will make money from it are slim, so you need to keep your options open. That means you must figure out what you should do next. Another thing that can be a time waster is spending way too much time on one activity that doesn’t count or add value. You shouldn’t spend two hours writing an email to your subscribers. If you are creating a site, then don’t think too much about it. The longer you take, the longer it will take you to accomplish your goals.

The above are examples of glorifying busy and this will sabotage your goals.

Increase income generating activities

Do you want to make more money than you should focus on increasing your income-generating activities? I learned about this phrase a few years ago. Many of us don’t focus enough on income-generating activities. We spend too much of our time glorifying busy and that sabotages our goals. Now, here’s the exact opposite of it. Focus on making money. Now, if you are just starting, that doesn’t mean you can’t make money.

Take advantage of the global market. It comes with its own problems. Sure, but it has benefits. Because of the global market, they are many opportunities out there that you might not have realized. These opportunities can open so many doors for you. So, what are income-generating activities? Okay. It has to be an activity that will produce income. Even if it isn’t today. It can be soon. Posting videos that will help your business grow or that are beneficial will help you generate income. Watching cat videos won’t. Writing emails to your subscribers weekly will help you produce income sharing Facebook videos won’t.

In the beginning, it will take time for you to figure out what an income generating activity is and what it isn’t. So it’s important that once you figure this out, you spend more of your time doing that. This will help you achieve your goals so much faster.

Have a detailed goal list

The reason it’s so easy to glorify busy and sabotage our goals is because we don’t have a detailed goal list. For the new year, you need to understand what goals you want to achieve and which ones you don’t. Often you can break it down by quarter. Have different set goals for the first quarter than the second and it goes on. This will help you avoid burnout. Glorifying busy is easy, and it is easier to sabotage our goals by doing this. Therefore, it’s important to have a detailed goal list.

For example, what are your top three goals? What also helps is to have three goals for your personal, spiritual, and business. Why? Because if you aren’t growing you are dying. We focus way too much on our business goals that we forget we need to grow in other areas. If you grow in other areas, everything will link. You would be shocked to discover you’re progressing faster than you imagine because you aren’t focused primarily on one category.

This is how you stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals. By having a detailed goal list for your three categories. Here’s an example of your personal category learn a new language or travel more. Then, for your business goals, it can be to have 1000 followers and the list goes on from there. Whatever it is, you need to write it down or keep it in perspective. Why? Because you then realize why you are doing what you’re doing. This is an easy way to stop glorifying being busy so that you don’t sabotage your goals.

Passive income is the way to go

Here is another way you can stop glorifying being busy so you don’t sabotage your goals. One way to accomplish your goals at a faster rate is to make passive income. Why? Because you won’t have to worry about capital coming in to help grow your business. It will also help you achieve your goals much faster. Since they are limited hours in a day, you need to make money.

They are dozens of ways to make passive income. Some vary from beginner friendly to complicated. It’s best to start with the easy ways to make money and move from there. It all depends on what you will do and how you will achieve it. Passive income is one of the best ways to make money because you aren’t working for the money. You can do something and you will still make money. Few people can say they have achieved that. This will also make your time well spent. When you are making money, your perspective shifts and you calculate your time better.

The above are a few examples of how you can stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals.

How will you stop glorifying busy and sabotaging your goals. Comment below.

KEEP PUSHING

VANESSA