Life Lessons I Learned in 2020

by vanessa | Apr 28, 2021 | Entrepreneurs, motivation, personal development

life lessons I learned in 2020

These are 10 ways you can improve your life in less than 30 minutes.

Where were you when the world changed? Do you remember how it felt? They have been many events in history that have shaped the course of our lives. Those events could have been on a larger or shorter scale. When everything shifts and your perception changes. Those moments move us in a direction we never thought would ever happen. There are a few life lessons I learned in 2020.

However, few moments in history can change the course on a global scale. In 2020, a different tune was sung. As a virus spread throughout the globe and the world went into lockdown, the world was still. We watched as the world we loved came to a halt. Shops closed. Travel stopped. Companies closed down. And home-schooling became a critical point in our lives. We all learned invaluable lessons in 2020. Many of us have carried those teachings with us. Our world changed. How could we forget how it changed our lives? We couldn’t. For months, we watched our four walls, praying for answers, and now we’re in 2021.

It’s a new year and so much has changed. In this blog, I will discuss what life lessons I learned last year. As we go into the second quarter of the year, carry these life lessons with you. It will help you move forward a lot quicker in 2021. Not only that, but you understand that often the lessons we learn pivot us to greater heights.

No guarantees

Many of us take advantage of the time we have. The experiences that have formed us. We never take these things into consideration. Every experience has shaped you into who you are today. Why not take advantage of that? Tomorrow isn’t a guarantee as much as we think it will be. We need to stop living as if we have all the time in the world. All your dreams can come to a crashing halt. 2020 happened, and it changed things for me. I realized that life is precious. Any second or moment can slip away. Why not go after what you want today? Why not start a business today?

This life lesson I learned made me realize tomorrow isn’t a guarantee, but today is. Take full advantage of what you have and make the best out of it. Follow your dreams and your heart wherever it takes you.

Invest in yourself

Invest in yourself. This is one of the life lessons I learned in 2020. If you didn’t do this, then you need to learn how to. In the beginning, investing in yourself won’t be easy. In time it will get easier. One thing you should realize is that you matter. What you do matters. If you want to improve yourself, then you should invest.

What are your dreams? The things you wanted to achieve in 2020. Pick up a few books. Buy a course. Learn a new skill. Travel when it becomes safer to do so. Invest in yourself. Why? Because you matter, and if you want to have a good life, invest in yourself. This will push the needle forward.

Also Related: How to Invest in Yourself

Have hobbies

Many of us see hobbies as stupid activities. Life can get hard. If that’s the case, then you need your dopamine levels increased. By doing that, your stress will be reduced. This is a great life lesson I had in 2020. Have four hobbies. One that enriches your life, or that makes you money. One that can exercise your creativity and imagination. Hobbies that can keep you moving and hobbies that help you engage in learning.

There are many benefits to hobbies. It is great for your mental wellbeing and can help bring a sense of satisfaction to your life. People who have hobbies are happier than those who don’t. People who have hobbies are also more successful than those that don’t. Why? Because having hobbies can give you a sense of purpose and relief. It can help you understand life and yourself better. Once you do that, you’ll be in a better place than most people.

Pursue your goals

We all have dreams, but many of us don’t go after what we want. One of the best life lessons I learned in 2020 is it matters to go after your dreams. Dreams fuel you and give you a purpose. Life is precious. There are 365 days in a year. 12 months in a year. 48 weeks. Go after what you want and you do that. There’s enough time to discover what you want to do.

You can’t guarantee anything. If that’s the case, then why not put both feet forward? Pursue your goals and dreams. Go wherever they take you. One thing that I’ve realized is that if you don’t go after what you want, you’ll regret it. Life lessons make us wiser. They’re supposed to guide us, so we make better decisions.

Face your fears and do it anyway

We all have fears. Many of us learned this life lesson in 2020. We had to face our fears as the world came to a standstill and everything we thought we knew stopped. Everything that we thought we understood became a mystery. Numerous questions were asked. When would the world become normal? What would happen a month or three months from now? Would we live to see Christmas?

Then everything became normal. Quarantine was no longer strange. Still, we held onto the fear. You might know this quote well, “feel fear and do it anyway.” Fear is something that can’t be controlled. You will be afraid of a lot of things. That doesn’t matter. Why? Because it’s normal. There’ll be things you will be afraid of and if you let it affect you it won’t stop. There’ll always be things you will be afraid. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Let that be your mantra for life and allow it to sink in. Alter the way you look at life. This life lesson is important because it will push you. Allow it to.

Also Related: How to be Fearless by Doing it Anyway

Cherish your relationships

We all have fears. Many of us learned this life lesson in 2020. We had to face our fears as the world came to a standstill and everything we thought we knew stopped. Everything that we thought we understood became a mystery. Many questions were asked. When would the world become normal? What would happen a month or three months from now? Would we live to see Christmas?

Then everything became normal. Quarantine was no longer strange. Still, we held onto the fear. You might know this well, “feel fear and do it, anyway.” Fear is something that can’t be controlled. You will be afraid of a lot of things. That doesn’t matter. Why? Because it’s normal. There’ll be things you will be afraid of and if you let it affect you, it won’t stop. There’ll always be things you will be afraid of. Feel the fear and do it, anyway. Let that be your mantra for life and allow it to sink in. Alter the way you look at life. This life lesson is important because it will push you. Allow it to.

Have numerous side-hustles

Side-hustles will help elevate you. There are many side-hustle ideas. Why struggle to pay your bills? Most entrepreneurs or successful people have many side-hustles. This isn’t part of their principal business. If you are looking at becoming an entrepreneur, you can start a side-hustle. With time, then grow it into a fully fledged company. This is one of the life lessons I learned in 2020.

Not everything has to be clear in the beginning. Sometimes it takes time for things to concretize. What you must do is start small then grow your brand or company, What counts is your idea. There are so many things you can do with that.

Also Related: Quick Side-Hustle Ideas to Start at Home

Take care of yourself

I remember someone once said to me that self-worth and health once gone are hard to get back. This is so true. Did you know it takes much more effort to combat the negative words you tell yourself? It takes five positive affirmations to change one negative belief. That’s how much power negativity has.

This is one of the best life lessons I learned in 2020. Take care of yourself. Your self-worth and your health. Once your health is affected, getting back on track will be challenging. Many of us never consider this. We take advantage of this, but once it’s gone, it will difficult getting back what you lost. So many people lost a lot of things in 2020. Everything we have we need to appreciate because when it’s gone it will be hard to accept.

Count your blessings

You are blessed. We live in an incredible time. Yes, there are problems. But every time had its own problems. Think of any time and you will realize it came with opportunities, but also disadvantages. Count your blessings. Every day is a blessing. The people in your life are blessings. The fact you can go after your dreams is a blessing. Cherish the moment and appreciate that you can go after what you want.

Even if life is hard, look at your blessings. Why? Gratitude will make you realize that they’re so many things in your life you should appreciate. It will also help you see opportunities. If you focus on the negative, that’s all you will see. If you focus on the negatives, you will complain about what you don’t have. This is a life lesson I learned in 2020. One that many of us need to learn. The reason people complain is that they focus on the problems. If you appreciate your life, this will push you to find solutions to your problems. There’s always an answer.

Enjoy the journey

Enjoy the journey. Life is a process. A road that we travel on with many routes and you will wander on the wrong route. That might take you on a journey you never wanted. That makes life exciting. We all take routes that we never thought we would take, but something happens. A powerful discovery. We meet people we never thought we ever would meet. We see the world from a new perspective. From the time I was ten, my favorite saying is that everything happens for a reason.

That’s true. Everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason you went down that road. Maybe you don’t know the answers now, but you will. What you need to understand is that enjoying the journey will impart wisdom. You will discover things about yourself that you never thought possible. It all starts with one road. One route. Enjoy discovering what makes you happy and your purpose. This is a life lesson we all need to learn. Enjoy the process.

What is your main takeaway from this and what life lessons affected you the most. Please comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

7 Tools to Improve Your Entrepreneurship Hustle

by vanessa | Mar 17, 2021 | Entrepreneurs, motivation

7 tools to improve your entrepreneurship hustle

These 7 tools will help you improve your entrepreneurship hustle.

How can you improve your entrepreneurship hustle? What does that even mean? What tools can help you get an edge? If you are like me, you are always looking for solutions to your problems. Everything has changed. The world will never be the same, and neither will entrepreneurship. Why? Because nothing ever remains the same. They will always be times when you need to pivot because it demands it.

An entrepreneurship hustle refers to when you work on your business while you look at the financial risks and obstacles. They are many obstacles in entrepreneurship. Therefore, you need to always adapt and change how you do business. Those that don’t get with the times fail. Think about it like this. When the internet boom happened, brick and mortar companies that refused to build an online presence died. Why? Because they refused to adapt. They didn’t want to change the way they did business and because of that they never recovered.

These seven tools will help you improve your entrepreneurship hustle. It doesn’t matter if you are starting or you have spent years or decades working your business, there’s always room for improvement.

Try new things

One thing you can do to improve your entrepreneurship is trying new things. This will push you to make certain changes, but it will also make you dynamic. Mastery is great, but in time you will get stale. Think of it like this. A musician that doesn’t improve their skill in time will become irrelevant. Business is the same.

Is there an alternative way to sell that isn’t salesy? Can you add a new social media platform? What about selling a new type of product? The goal is to improve your entrepreneurship hustle and this tool will help you do just that. It will give you an edge over your competitors and push you further ahead. It won’t be easy. Entrepreneurship isn’t about doing what is easy. If it was like that, then everyone and their aunt would be an entrepreneur.

To improve your entrepreneurship hustle, venture out of the norm and do what may seem impossible or hard. Learning and trying something new is one way you can do it. Figure out what new thing you can try out to improve your entrepreneurship hustle.

Break status quo

This is the second tool that can help you improve your entrepreneurship hustle. This refers to diverging from the norm and pushing past every restriction. This is so you can achieve higher heights. Another definition is going beyond the expected by doing something exceptional and achieving the extraordinary.

Depending on where you want to go with your business, you need to break the status quo. By doing that, you will improve your entrepreneurship hustle. Successful entrepreneurs have had to break the status quo. For example, Jeff Bezos changed how we viewed reading and shopping online. Tim Robbins changed the shape of personal development. Marie Forleo changed the way we saw ourselves and motivated us to do better.

What is the status quo in your industry? How can you break it? As impossible as it seems, they are simplified ways to do things, but change is hard. So many people stay in their lane. However, you became an entrepreneur to change the way people do business. That became your unique selling point.

Read/learn

There’s a lot you can learn from other people. This is one of the easiest ways to easier to improve your entrepreneurship hustle. When you read what other people have achieved, this will motivate you. Not only that, but it will give you insight into how to solve your problems. So why not go for it? Why not pick up a book or two and learn from it? There are many things you can learn from a book.

Though not everyone is a reader, you can still learn a lot from videos or courses. Look at your favorite entrepreneurs, what are their favorite books? Do they sell courses? What can you learn from that? The most important thing is to learn something. You can use that information to improve your entrepreneurship hustle. There’s always room for improvement. Keep reminding yourself that so you never give up learning.

Be intentional about learning new skills

One of the best things I learned this year is to make it intentional, to ask myself this. Entrepreneurship is always changing. And the ways to get clients or more sales. This is another tool you can use to improve your entrepreneurship hustle. The important thing is to work on your skills.

Look at the landscape. How has it changed from two years ago? For one, they are more apps. Social media has become more prevalent. YouTube is an easier way to get clients. Instagram has built-in features to help you sell more. There are always things you can learn. You can never stop. Many of us want to learn, but we aren’t intentional. Because of that, nothing changes. You need to be intentional about working on your new skills.

Pick two skills you want to be intentional about this year and work on them. By doing that will improve your entrepreneurship hustle.

Also Related: 7 Life Skills To Skyrocket Your Success

Hang out with those that challenge you

I remember a few years ago, one of the most important things I learned was about circle of influence. You are the average of the five people you spent the most time with. If the people you spend time with aren’t going forward in their lives, you need to consider finding people who change you. This is another tool to improve your entrepreneurship hustle.

When you spend time with people who challenge you there will always be room for improvement. You will continue to push yourself and won’t be complacent. I think that’s often the problem. When we reach a point in our lives we tend to stop pushing or become complacent. But entrepreneurs who do that struggle to pivot when the time arises. Where ever you are in your life you need to push yourself because that will make you a better version of yourself.

Your circle should challenge you. You should want to do better. Be a better version. If you don’t want to do any of this then find people who will challenge. You can either get a mentor or join a community. There’s also Clubhouse. I am sure you will be able to find people that can challenge you.

Reflect on your progress

The one thing we don’t do enough of is reflection. This is an important tool to improve your entrepreneurship hustle. Why? Because when you reflect, you can see what you are doing well and what needs to be improved on. This will help to push into the right direction. You will also understand what you need to work on.

Reflection is critical in upping your game as an entrepreneur. Those who don’t reflect tend to struggle in adapting. If you have no idea what you are doing well in how can you improve. The same can be said if you don’t know what you suck at. You need to also work on your weakness because this will help you improve your entrepreneurship hustle. It will also give you momentum because you are focusing on what you are good as well.

Keep doing it

Keep pushing yourself. Keep working on improving your entrepreneurship hustle. The more you do something, the better you become at it. The same thing can be applied here. Work on your skills and goals. Have a deadline to make it easier. What steps do you need to take next? Remember to be intentional about your decisions. If you don’t do that, it’s difficult to stay on track.

What we want is repetition? There’s mastery in repetition. If you want to be successful, you need to work on the skill until you master it. This is the last thing you can do to improve your entrepreneurship hustle. It also is the most important thing because you need to keep pushing yourself to achieve extraordinary results.

What will you work on to improve your entrepreneurship hustle? Let me known in the comments section.

KEEP P USHING

VANESSA

The Incredible Truth About Emotional Intelligence and Entrepreneurship

by vanessa | Mar 10, 2021 | Entrepreneurs, Success

Incredible truth about emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship

There’s a strong correlation between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship. Keep to find out what it is.

For the longest, it was believed you had to be extremely intelligent to be an entrepreneur. The truth is that you don’t require a high quotient on the intelligence scale to become an entrepreneur. What you need is emotional intelligence which is completely different. This is more of a personality trait than it is something you possess. In the last couple of years, it has risen as more and more people are trying to become emotionally intelligent.

To become successful and an established entrepreneur you need to be emotionally intelligent or at least be willing to learn how to become one. That is a question many people ask? The problem is most people don’t understand what high emotional intelligence looks like. They are also people who fall in the camp of not understanding it’s importance. Highly emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs tend to be more successful than those who are not. Their companies run well like highly oiled machines. These are entrepreneurs who understand themselves well enough to understand the people they are dealing with.

High emotional intelligence is important if you want to start a company, but it’s also important if you are working for someone. Most people have no idea how to work on emotional intelligence or that it’s possible that it can be done. The question that I will answer today is how do I become more emotionally intelligent? In today’s blog post, I will share what exactly is emotional intelligence. I will also share what the correlation is between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship. If you have always wanted to become more emotionally intelligent, but you have no clue how to do that, this blog post will share the light.

What exactly is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions and other people’s emotions. You can channel your emotions into something constructive and are easy to adapt. When you have low emotional intelligence you struggle to identify your emotions and channel them properly. This can lead to communication issues, relationship problems, and stress.

If you can’t recognize your emotions, you can’t identify others. Therefore, this can lead to misunderstanding and can impact your life. When you have high emotional intelligence, the opposite happens. Your relationships soar, you become a better communicator, you are more self-aware and you can handle stress better.

The link with entrepreneurship is that you can handle your situations better. Entrepreneurship is filled with numerous obstacles and hurdles. You have to communicate well to get things done and you need to be able to assess situations on the ground. Having low emotional intelligence won’t help with entrepreneurship. It is more of a deterrent than anything else and will push you back.

Below are a few of the benefits of having emotional intelligence.

Also Related: Is a Success Mindset Key to Success?

Self-awareness

As an entrepreneur, you need to understand what you are feeling. Keeping check of your emotions is a big thing in entrepreneurship. That is why you need to make sure you can tie emotional intelligence to entrepreneurship. If you aren’t aware of what you are dealing with it will be challenging to process it.

Entrepreneurship is already stressful. I’m positive you don’t want to make your life harder to deal with if you can’t understand your emotions better. As a person who struggled with my learning disability for the longest time, my emotional intelligence was low. I wasn’t aware when I was overwhelmed, stressed, or enraged. I had to learn. If I didn’t then I would struggle to deal with all the tasks I had to do along with my emotional stability.

Self-awareness is one of the benefits of having high emotional intelligence and it can help you process situations much quicker than you normally would have been able to. Self-aware people understand their emotions better than most people and they are able to figure out what steps to take. If you have no idea why you feel a particular way it’s difficult to solve problems. People with high emotional intelligence are great problem solvers. This is one quality that is needed for entrepreneurship. A lot of problems will arise when you are working on your business and that is why you need to be adept at problem solving.

Also Related: How Self-Reflection Can Change Your Life?

Understand people better

The reason why many people struggle to handle their relationships is due to having low emotional intelligence. It’s crucial to have a handle on your relationships and have social awareness as an entrepreneur. Having a high emotional intelligence is vital to closing important business deals and being able to put yourself out there in social situations.

If you can’t communicate with people in social situations then it will difficult to network with potential clients or partners who can help your business. Even if you want to be a sole entrepreneur, you still need to network with potential clients even if it’s on social media. One of the highlights of having high emotional intelligence is you are empathetic. People enjoy communicating with those who understand them. Your clients will appreciate it as well because you are willing to put yourself in their shoes. No one wants to feel judged or misunderstood. Being empathetic is a part of having high emotional intelligence.

If you can’t understand people, you will always struggle to connect in your relationships. One problem you will face as an entrepreneur is that you won’t understand your client base and won’t be able to take criticism. This is extremely important and those with low emotional intelligence are unable to accept constructive criticism.

Control over your emotions

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy. It’s said that 99% of people who start a business quit within a year or the business fails. The road to being a successful entrepreneur is filled with numerous hurdles and it becomes harder if you have low emotional intelligence. It is hard keeping a lid on your emotions, but you must do.

You can’t control every outcome, but it’s important that as an entrepreneur you handle situations carefully. For this reason, that’s why you need to have high emotional intelligence. Let’s say there’s a client who doesn’t want to pay you for the work you have done. People with low emotional intelligence can resort to putting their conversations on social media. This does the opposite of helping you. It will discredit your business. When you have high emotional intelligence you can use the situation as a teaching moment and grow from it. As annoying as it is, being calm about the situation is so much more important than arguing with your client.

How to increases your emotional intelligence

This post wouldn’t be complete with a how-to part so that you can increase your emotional intelligence. As entrepreneurs, it is important to have high emotional intelligence. There are a few ways you can achieve this and the tips listed below will help you to achieve this. No longer will you struggle to tie emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship ever again. One thing you need to note is that we all need to constantly work on our emotional intelligence.

Read books – Reading about other people’s success can help you understand how to cultivate similar results. This is one way you can build your emotional intelligence so you can become a better entrepreneur.
Journaling – Journaling can help you understand certain events in the day. It can also help you to look through a different rearview mirror. Many people speak highly about journaling because it can help you to understand what happened during the day. For example, if you got into a fight with someone by writing it down you can understand how it accelerated.
Speak to a counselor – You will never know how far you need to go until you speak to someone unbiased. You need to understand what you are missing or the problems that you are facing. A counselor can help you make links between certain past events and your present that you might not have realized.

There are numerous ways you can increase your emotional intelligence. One thing to note is that as long as you work on it, then with time it will grow. But if you don’t then it will remain the same and as an entrepreneurship you will face so many obstacles. It might be difficult to navigate those obstacles if you don’t increase your emotional intelligence.

What is your main takeaway from the blog post and how will you work on your emotional intelligence. Loved to know. Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

The 10 Best Business Models for 2021

by vanessa | Dec 16, 2020 | Entrepreneurs, Side-Hustles, Success

the 10 best business models for 2021

These are 10 ways you can improve your life in less than 30 minutes.

If you asked me when I graduated college, I would start my company. I would have laughed at you. The strange thing is that the world has forever changed and so has entrepreneurship. Back in the early 2010s, it was something people did in their spare time. And very little was known about blogging or how to be successful at it.

Flash forward to 2016 and there was a tremendous surge in people who started their companies. Many bloggers became instant sensations and started their blogging empire. There were also other entrepreneurs who became influencers. Hard to believe that was four, nearly five years ago. This year has hit many of us hard. And another boom is about to going to emerge. Many people who lost their jobs will start a company or two.

And maybe you want to be part of that. And you have no idea how to start or what business models will intrigue you. I wanted to talk about the ten best business models because many business models might be outdated or hard to start in this climate. For instance, starting a brick-and-mortar business won’t be as easy to start as it was. So, that option is out of the window.

Who doesn’t know about franchises? But unless you have a rich uncle or aunt who will give you money, then it will be tricky getting a bank to give you the money. And with what has happened this year, there’s no guarantee that next year this business model will be as profitable. A lot has changed for the way the world looks and functions, so when you are choosing a business model, you need one that will work for you.

What this means is you need to pick a business model that won’t cause you a financial hassle. You want a business model that you can start with less than $500. Yes, that is possible. But it all starts with understanding business models and being cautious. So, without further ado, let’s get into the meat of this article.

What the heck is a business model?

If you learned business in high school, you might have captured the basics of a business model. What you learned is still relevant today. A business model is the structure of your business.

What are you selling?
How are you selling it?

That sounds too simple. But this is exactly what a business model is. The reason you need one is you need to know the direction you are going into. Most businesses started from one business model and then as they grew, they added more. So, if you are mulitpassionate or you are worried you won’t be satisfied with one, that’s alright, you can pick one then pick more when your business grows.

This is for simplicity. We want to make your life as easy as it can be. These business models range from easy to hard, but it all comes to what your experience is. We will get into that with every business model, so you aren’t stuck with options.

Also Related: How to Start A Business in Just 3 Months

1. Services

Yup, you guessed it. Services are one of the 10 best business models for 2021. It will always be relevant regardless of technological advancements. We are always looking for people to help us with a problem. You trade your time for your client’s money. This is simple to set-up because you don’t need to be technological. However, it requires a lot of time to do this one. Because you are trading your time for money, you won’t make as much money as you want to. Writers, coaches, yoga teachers, make-up artists, graphic designers, virtual assistants, wedding co-coordinators etc fit well into this category.

2. Products

This is one of the best business models to set up for 2021. There are hundreds of articles on how to set up a profitable product-based business. When you sell jewelry, Ebooks, courses, printable, wine or cupcakes, you have a product-based business. As you can see from the list above, you can sell either physical or digital products. The reason this business model is easy is that it is clearly defined. You need to sell a physical or digital product to become profitable. I suggest selling digital products if you are starting out because you won’t require a lot of money to start your business. However, if you want to sell physical products just remember you need to have saved enough money for equipment, fulfillment and other incurred expenses.

3. B2B (business to business)

This is one of the best business models for 2021 because companies will always buy from other business. This is what B2B is. One company sells to another company instead of an individual. Take for example Apple buying phone chips from Samsung or any other company that buys from another company. This is how they stay afloat. Another simpler example are event companies. They might not buy a product, but could rent it. They rent space, chairs, equipment and buy food from catering companies. They are a lot of examples of B2B.

4. B2C (business to consumer)

This is one of the best business models for 2021. B2B and B2C business models will continue to exist because they will always be businesses that need to buy from other companies and they will always be businesses that sell to consumers. This is what B2C is. Businesses create a product to meet an individual’s goal, and then they sell it. Think grocery stores, bookstores, or any other store or company that you walk into. Maybe it’s your Netflix subscription or the furniture store or even the hardware store. Just like B2B, there are several examples of B2C.

5. SaaS (software as a service)

In the last decade or so, this has become increasingly popular and will continue to increase in popularity with technological advancement. Therefore, this is one of the best business models for 2021. They are a lot of software as a service business model out there, you just have to look at the apps you have paid for. The calendar apps you already use. On a broader spectrum, it’s the website builder you use or the email marketing service that you pay for sending emails to your audience. SaaS comprises all the work and home-related tools that you use in order to increase productivity or get work done.

6. P2P (peer to peer)

If you have never heard of this business model, you aren’t the only one. In recent years it has become overwhelmingly popular and it is one of the best business models in 2021. Two individuals create value by coming together to create a service or experience that can both profit from. Uber, Airbnb, HouseTrip, Craigslist, Freelancer and Etsy. They are several other companies that fit under the bracket of peer-to-peer. Whenever a transaction happens between the people connect, that’s when they make a commission. These people can be guests, drivers, hosts, job sites, marketplaces, etc.

7. Content

Content based business models are one of the earliest business model. It’s been there since people understood the importance of entertainment and news. Of course, the delivery has changed, but it has stopped content-based business models from being popular. That’s why it’s one of the best business models for 2021 because more people are going online. They are dozens of examples of content-based business models. YouTube channels are one example, but so are podcasts, blogs, news channels and magazines. As long as you are delivering content to your audience on a weekly basis, then it fits under this category.

8. Ecommerce

This list wouldn’t be complete without including Ecommerce as one of the best business models for 2021. They’re many people who have become millionaires from ecommerce and it continues to expand as more websites help people sell their products. There are several ways you can do ecommerce. You can create t-shirts and sell it on Amazon Merch. You could do accessories, outdoor gear, jewelry, cell phone cases, home equipment and other stuff. You can sell it on one of the largest ecommerce websites, and that is Amazon.

Ecommerce that they are other business models that fall under it. One of them is POD also known as print on demand. This allows anyone to customise a product, but it is only shipped when a transaction is made. Think of selling t-shirts, sweaters or pants that are POD. Drop shipping is another method of ecommerce. This where an online store sells a product to a consumer, but the product moves from the wholesaler to the consumer without being handled by the seller.

9. Subscription business

You pay weekly for a particular service. That can be Blacksocks, Birchbox, GeekGearbox and Justfab. There are more examples of subscription businesses. This is another old business model. It’s been there since the 17th century. The model was pioneered by book publishers who sort to deliver periodicals of books. People would pay a monthly fee to get to read the periodicals. Next year subscription businesses will continue to grow exponentially, and that is why it’s one of the best business models for 2021. If you want to start a subscription business but have no idea on how to start from. There are a lot of ideas you can try out. Here are a few art supplies store, cleaning supplies, community delivery service, courier service, gift baskets, fashion and grooming service, candy and snacks box, deodorant and perfume subscription, grocery store and online magazine.

10. Influencer

The world has changed that now being an influencer is a business model. Thanks to the rise of content-based platforms such as TIK Tök, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube becoming an influencer has grown in popularity. There was a time when only famous people could be influencers, but now anyone who will step out of their comfort zone and deliver one can become an influencer. Brands pay influencers a fee for promoting a product. Often these influencers then create their products. The significant thing about this business model is that you can combine any of the other business models as your popularity increases.

Which business model do you want to try out for 2021 and why? Please comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

How to Turn Your Life Around in 12 Months?

by vanessa | Oct 14, 2020 | Entrepreneurs, personal development

how to turn your life around in 12 months

These are a few ways you can turn your life around in 12 months or less.

Many of us can agree that this year has been hard. So hard that we are questioning what the next step is. We are wondering how we can turn our life around. Regardless of what has happened in your life, we all get to a point where we want more from life. We want to do or achieve more. This year might have put more pressure on you because you realize that there are no guarantees in life.

You could have lost your job. You might have had to add another job to your already hectic schedule or it could be you lost someone. And that made you wonder if you if there’s more to life. There’s nothing wrong with ambition. This is what many people get wrong. As long as you check it. That’s important. Your ambition mustn’t be so dangerous that you’re willing to hurt the next person. I suppose this why many of us don’t go after what we want because we see it as deadly. Dangerous, even.

This isn’t true. We are weeks away from the end of the year. And they might be things you’re terrified to do because you believe it will change you. One thing starting a business has shown is me is that success and money can’t change a person. All it does it bring who you are into focus. You can’t hide who you really are once you become successful. That’s why successful people come in all shapes. So, ambition and money aren’t bad as long as you understand why you want to be successful. Here’s another thing you need to know: if you want to be successful for validation, then you are in for a rude awakening.

No one has the power to make you feel good about yourself unless you give it to them, but by doing that you will always want validation. You will always want acceptance. And when you don’t get, it will feel as you are worthless. You will feel as if you are sinking in a sea of inescapable pain. That’s why you need a clear why for what you are doing.

If you are still with me, here are a few ways you can change your life around.

Start a side-hustle

Baby steps, remember. As a kid I was wearing a float and my older brother threw me into the pool. Yes, he took the whole throwing someone into the deep-end literal. But many of us do. This should have encouraged me to swim, but it didn’t. We all are different.

Some people do well with pressure. Others don’t. You can’t apply one theory or tactic to everyone. That’s crazy. Therefore, meditation doesn’t work for everyone and I get you might be used to hearing that. Do meditation. Do this. But life doesn’t work that way. If you want to turn your life around, start a side-hustle. Generate a bit of money to start your business or whatever you want to do.

This is one of the best ways to turn your life around. Why? Because you are starting from scratch. You are learning new skills. You are building on the skills you already have. You are working with what you have. And they are a lot of side-hustles you can do from home. So, don’t worry, I have got you covered.

Also Related: Quick Side-Hustle Ideas To Start At Home

Start a business

If you are looking for something more exciting, than starting a business is a step into the right direction. Starting a business can turn your life around in 12 months. They are a lot of reasons it can turn your life around. But to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to develop skills. When I first started my business, I never knew how my life would change. I had to learn about designing graphics. I had to learn about WordPress and how to work on my site.

I learned a bit of marketing and the thing with starting a business is you never stop learning. Side-hustles take only a fraction of your life, but a business is like having a baby. It needs you to monitor, take care of, and worked on it constantly. They are a lot of businesses you can start. You could start a clothing business. Maybe you want to start a grooming business. Or it could be you want to do a start-up. They are hundreds of business models out there. But they all start with the knowledge of wanting to solve a problem.

Figure out what problem you want to solve and work from that. This is one of the best ways to turn your life around in 12 months because it will give you insight to what bad habits you need to kick to the curb.

Also Related: Is Entrepreneurship Right For You?

Start a blog and monetize

Yes, blogging still works in 2020, and yes, you can make money from it. Maybe, you want to start a blog and I recommend you think about starting one. It is still one of the easiest ways to turn your life around. The reasons can vary, but like starting a business, you’ll wear many hats.

That’s the thing about blogging. Even if you pay for someone to do things, you still have to learn how to hire talent. The first thing I learned in starting my blog was hiring talent isn’t easy. Often, you will lose money so I had to learn in order for me to understand who to hire. It was challenging, but also exciting. Starting a blog is only one part of the puzzle. The next part is monetizing it. Don’t wait years to monetize your blog. One thing that turned my life around was when I made my first couple of hundreds of dollars from my blog.

I had earned money from my blog. It shaped the way I saw everything. I realized I could do so much more. That’s one thing that’ll change your life around with blogging. It changes your mindset. You get into it not knowing if you’ll make a difference or change your life then it happens. You have a light moment and that’s so powerful.

They are many ways you can make money from blogging. But it starts with growing an email list, then you can monetize your blog. You can sell a product or service. You could also offer coaching services, sell a course or a membership. The sky is literally the limit for blogging. This one of the easiest ways you can change your life around.

Also Related: How to start a blog

Start to a podcast

Not everyone enjoys writing. So, if you are one of those people, then this too can turn your life around in 12 months. Podcasts have become increasingly popular in recent years, and they are like blogging. In that you talk about stuff that interests you and on a weekly basis you post your podcast episode on your website/blog.

If you feel more comfortable talking, than you can start a podcast. It is like blogging in another way, the barrier of entry is as low. It won’t take you a while to figure it out. You might spend more money depending on your budget. Some newbie podcasters start one without the equipment. Just a phone and a cheap microphone.

They are ways around it. But starting a podcast isn’t as difficult as you might think it is. It is all about dedication. But if you stick with it, a podcast will turn your life around in 12 months. Especially if you do it the right way. Yes, there’s the right and wrong way for starting a podcast.

Some people hurry the process and miss out of the experience. The experience of starting anything new will turn your life around. Keep moving forward in order for you to turn your life around. Remember, baby steps are important so don’t rush the process. Another thing to take into consideration is to not take too long. Procrastination Analysis is one thing many of us struggle with. Don’t be one of those people who achieve nothing because they spend too much time analyzing.

Also Related: How to Start a Podcast

Start a YouTube channel

This another way you can turn your life around in 12 months. But is harder to do than podcasting and blogging. It costs nothing though, which is the significant thing about starting a YouTube channel. In the beginning, as you grow, you will need to buy professional equipment. Still, you need to vamp up your skills. One thing you need to learn is editing videos. Which might take more time depending on how quick of a learner you are.

The funny or interesting thing with this list is that one will come before the other. Let’s say you start a YouTube channel; you might need to add a blog or a podcast. If you start a blog, then you will need to start a YouTube channel. You will need to do this if you want to grow faster. Why? Because those who use different mediums grow faster than those who don’t. Unless you started your business years ago before it became saturated.

Now, it’s saturated and to stand out you need different mediums. That’s the frustrating thing, but it will make it easier on you. YouTube is a search engine. Over two billion logged-in users. Imagine that. There’s 15% of traffic comes from the US. YouTube is the second preferred platform for watching video on screens for 18-34-year-olds. There’s a lot you can achieve with YouTube. Every year hundreds of people become famous from starting a YouTube channel.

Their lives have changed. Yours will turn around. They are a lot of niches you can choose from. A niche is a specialized topic, i.e. husky grooming is a sub-niche and dog grooming is the niche.

Write a book

This is one of my favorite ways to turn your life around. Why? Because it has the lowest bar of entry and you learn a lot about yourself. I get it you might think you aren’t a writer. You can hire ghostwriters to write your story. Everyone should write a book. Because you can change your life around in so many ways. You can shift your perspective.

The first time I wrote my story was in 2017 and it changed my life. I learned that what I thought I wanted; I didn’t. I also understood myself better. I knew that the only way to go forward was to be honest with myself. I stopped caring what people thought of me. The next year I started my business. But it started with writing one chapter at a time. The book was slightly over 20,000 words.

I didn’t have a lot of support. I didn’t see myself as a great non-fiction writer. Yeah, there’s a big difference in the way the words form. Fiction writers write with poetic justice. Words spin cobwebs and flow with such ease that it brings characters to light. With non-fiction writers, you become the character. Write with less poetic justice and more with a cautiousness in your words. Allow your personality to shine through every word you use. Different. You can still write both, but fiction writing has always been where I excelled. Though writing my first self-help book turned my life around. And I know it will do the same for you to.

You don’t even need to write a self-help book. There are hundreds of genres you can work on. But writing will turn your life around.

Create a course

The one thing that has turned many people’s life around has been creating a course. You can create a course from your blog articles, podcast episodes, or YouTube videos. You can create a course on any topic and it will sell as long as you understand what your customer wants and what they don’t want.

Let’s say you have written hundreds of dog grooming articles and even wrote a book. You could create a course on how to take care of your Siberian Husky, but you need to break it down. Maybe your audience is more interested in how to groom Siberian puppies. Find out what your audience wants and give it to them. It’s important that you do that because only then can you grow and turn your life around.

Creating a course can be tricky at first, but with time it gets easier. The noble thing is, you can always sell it. Make it once and sell it many times. That is one of the best things about creating a course. Gurus call this passive income. Every course creator will tell you that courses turned their lives around.

Create a membership/coaching

Another way to turn your life around in 12 months or less is by creating a membership or coaching business. What is outstanding about this is all you might need is a landing page to collect email addresses? A landing page is one page that requires a recent visitor to do one thing. For example, pay for a product or subscribe to a newsletter.

On your landing page you will offer a free premium product such as a checklist or an eBook. Once people subscribe, send them emails every month teaching them a new skill. You can then later talk to them about your membership site or coaching business. Your coaching or membership site can be about anything. It can be just articles, books, audio or video. You don’t need to include everything. What you do need to is focus on helping your clients. You can coach them on their ADHD or lack of focus, etc. In the beginning, solve one problem so it isn’t too difficult for you. The significant thing about this is that you can add to any of the other business models above. Starting a business is more general and the others are specialized business models.

Whatever you choose, these can change your life around for the better.

What is your main takeaway from this and how will turn your life around. Please comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

5 False Beliefs About Working On Your Dreams

by vanessa | Sep 30, 2020 | Entrepreneurs, motivation

5 FALSE BELIEFS ABOUT WORKING ON YOUR DREAMS

They are five false beliefs many of us believe when we’re working on our dreams.

Do you want to start a business? Do you want to write a book? Do you want to follow a creative path? For every yes, there’s a false belief. Society has shaped us to accept these false beliefs to an extent that many of us don’t follow our dreams. We are told that doesn’t work or you are foolish for thinking you will be successful following that path. So what do many of us do, we throw in the towels.

Choosing to give up because it seems like the easiest thing to do. Success is terrifying. What is more terrifying is failing at our dreams? That’s why many of us give in. The thought of failure is too daunting to continue going down that path, so it’s easier. Simpler even to give up. These false beliefs have shaped who we have become. They have stolen more than our dreams, but our ambitions as we choose to not fight for what is rightfully ours.

In this blog post, I will share 5 false beliefs, hoping it will change your perspective and show you the potential that you possess. When you believe in these false beliefs, it is harder to face the reality. That reality is based on what you want to do with your life and where you want to go.

Your don’t have what it takes

How many of us have been told this? When I was a little kid, I loved to sing. Here was the problem. I was terrible at it. I was tone deaf and didn’t have the courage to sing. This should have stopped me, but it didn’t. I auditioned for a singing competition at school and made a fool of myself.

I choked on the song and I remember people doing their best not to laugh. For two years I would sing in private as I practised singing. I started writing lyrics at nineteen years old. Anyone who looked at me said I didn’t have what it took. I wanted to be a singer, and I wanted to see that through. When I was eighteen, I auditioned for a regional singing competition and I failed to make it to the second round. I didn’t give up though. At twenty, I tried it again, and I failed. Then my lucky break came when I was twenty-one and I auditioned. I sang my song this time and went through to the next round.

The day of the competition came, and I sang my heart out. And I came in second place. If the sixteen-year-old me had believed in what they said about me, I wouldn’t have pushed myself. I wouldn’t have come in second place, and I wouldn’t have realized singing wasn’t the right path for me. We base our false beliefs on what people think we are and not who we are.

Also Related: Is a Success Mindset Key to Success?

It will take forever to achieve your dreams

This depends on you. So, this can be a yes or a no. There are some people who became successful in ten years. There are also people who achieved their dreams in three to five years. This false belief needs to die a painful death. Many people believe that it will take them years to achieve success.

Often, we miss the opportunities right in front of us because we’re caught up with what it’s supposed to look like. My dream was to be a singer. I imagined winning a Grammy or singing on a stage in front of millions of people. I didn’t do that. However, I sang in a room full of two hundred plus people. I achieved my dream on a smaller scale, but I found myself.

You too will find yourself if you go after your dreams. Maybe it won’t be as you imagined, but you might find you have another dream. And if you stick with that dream it will take you places you never imagined because you dared enough to believe in yourself. Believe in your potential, and that is more powerful than you can imagine. Your story hasn’t ended yet, so keep moving forward from now on and you will achieve your dream in no time.

It won’t take forever to achieve your dream as long as you stick with it. With all the technology out there and courses you can purchase, it is a lot easier to achieve your dream in record time than it was years ago.

Success changes you

This false belief is the reason many people never chase their dreams. Believing it will change them for the worse. This is like money is the root of all evil mantra we were told as kids. These are intangible objects, so they can’t change you. Success and money have no power over you. They are results of hard work. It’s like saying that penthouse you have always wanted will turn you into a vain, spiteful and evil human being.

It isn’t as if the penthouse can change who you are. This is an excuse because the reality of success is scarier than we can imagine. It’s easier to say I don’t want to change because of X, Y or Z. I realize that money, success and fame don’t change you, they just highlight who you were. So the evil, manipulative person becomes worse once they become successful. Your greedy co-worker or associate will become worse when they become wealthy.

However, if you were generous before, your success will show. It will bring out who you are. Eliminate this false belief because this is preventing you from going after your dreams and becoming successful.

You can’t make money from your dreams

In the 90s, this was harder to achieve than now. So, this argument held water back then. But this false belief has no merit now. It is easier to make money from your dreams than years ago. So you don’t have to be a struggling artist with a fridge full of Ramen noodles. You don’t have to sleep on a mattress dreaming about a future that may never come to pass.

No, you don’t have to watch movies about people achieving their dreams and cry yourself to sleep. The internet has brought in a wave of possibilities that have changed the outcomes for the better. YouTube has turned average Joes into the next wave of Influencers, and TIK Tök has done the same.

Poor kids are now millionaires, jet setting and living in two-story houses reserved for the rich. You can make money from your dreams. Let that soak in. Don’t believe in the lies society has told you. You can make money from your manuscripts, from your paintings, from choreography, from your poems, the artwork who hid from the world and your designs. Stop thinking and believing your ideas aren’t a worth a dime. Stop thinking your start-up will never see the light of day. Start believing in the promise of a blemished and imperfect, yet promising tomorrow.

You can’t change your negative thinking patterns

I was a Negative person. Positive thinking patterns weren’t my thing. It took years for me to realize I could change, and I did. My patterns shifted, and I started seeing the possibility of a bright future. We need to stop believing in this false belief. Anyone can change if they want.

As a kid, I used to hear that a leopard can’t change their spots. This is bogus. Okay, a leopard can’t change their spots, but you have the potential to become more. Freud stated that at five kids personalities form. This is partly true. But we can still change. Maybe not the core of who we are, but we can develop to become more. As a kid, I was ambitious. A dreamer. And I still am that person.

But I have systems in place that help me understand my dreams better. I am more than willing to figure myself out, and I have positive thinking patterns. Anyone can change who they are. They are stories of janitors, cleaners and homeless people who became billionaires. Imagine what that person would have had to do to endure to change their belief system. Imagine being homeless and fighting for your dream. How much bravado do you have to possess to achieve that?

If a homeless person can be a billionaire what’s stopping you. No one is stopping you from achieving greatness except you. Start seeing the opportunities laid out before you. This will help you go for your dreams faster. Let the false beliefs slip out of your hands and hold on to something more powerful. The potential to be great. That is something we all should hold on to.

What false beliefs do you believe that are stopping you from achieving your dreams? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa