by Happy Today!
“When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.” – Ryan Reynolds
This quote speaks volumes on what is wrong with the state of reality television and social media. It lets viewers see the rose colored glass representation of what life in their world is like. It fails to show the journey along the way. This may be one of the factors which helps make YouTube a convenient means of escapism – you tune in for one tutorial and end up looking at the clock wondering where time went. But at least YouTube comes with the ability to look back at older videos from the creator and watch their growth and stumbles.
Life is like that – its full of growth and stumbles. Each day is full of growth and stumbles. Whenever you meet someone new and it looks like they have it all together, remember it took time, effort, stumbles, standing up, and trying again for them to have the life you see before your eyes. They had a circular, torturous, staying up all night, rising early in the morning adventure. Their reality required these sacrifices and it wasn’t an overnight success like we often expect.
This post is a little of what I have learned by being 100% responsible for growing a business and income. Here are three of my realities:
1. Being a Jill of all trades is harder than it looks.
When you freelance or work for yourself, you are responsible for all aspects that your payroll office or accounts payable office would have done for you. It forces you to get your head out of the sand like road runner seeing Wiley Coyote (yes I just told my age with that reference).
2. Technology is not always your friend.
There are more so called technological tools that are promoted as having the ability to help you run your business or your gigs simply. I’m sure it could be true but initially it is overwhelming deciding which one to try and then learning how to utilize it to its maximum. Then once you get it done, features change and so do the pricing. When you work for someone else, you have access to IT staff who research and decide on technology options for your agency. When you work for yourself you are the technology & the training department.
3. Learning to sell is a requirement
Learning to sell yourself was considered disdainful and something akin to prostitution back in the day. Nowadays its called branding. And those who do it well, have bank accounts and thousands of followers who depend on them for advice. If you are an entrepreneur, blogger, author, real estate agent or any other worker in the service industry then you learn that selling generates revenue. As an introvert, this will not be your favorite task but it is a necessary one.
Reality is not what you expect unless you put the work in to ensure that what you perceive, you actually achieve. Here’s to late nights, early mornings, getting barely any sleep, and achieving your dreams.
Til next time,
“Pay attention and practice gratitude. Every day obstacles and people are moved out of your path in order to make room for blessings and opportunities.” – Tiffany Tom-Johnson
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