Something Has to Change (If You Want Change)
Time and time again, I see the same heartbreaking pattern in the online entrepreneurial space. People want to build their own business. They want freedom. They want to make good moneyāor a lot of money. But they're drowning without enough money to live. Maybe they can't get enough clients. Maybe they get clients and then lose them. Maybe they're building up debt because they're not making enough money. They don't want to go get a job. Their significant other is stressed because the debt keeps climbing every month, and there's no end in sight. I don't have a perfect solution for everyone. But I can tell you this: **Something has to change if you want change.** And what I find most of the time is that people don't really face the depth of what that could mean. ## The Endless Cycle of New Ideas Week to week, they come up with different ideas on how to get out of it. They're going to try this tactic or that tactic. They're going to start creating content to get new clients. But they don't. They're going to start cold email. They send 2 or 3 and then stop. What I seeāand I know several of these people personallyāis they get completely stressed out to the point where it's hard to function. And it affects their performance, which creates a vicious cycle. I'm not going to pretend it's easy to get out of this. It can be incredibly difficult. ## My Own Rock Bottom I was in a very similar situation once. I was $30,000 in credit card debt and couldn't make enough money to get out of it. The only way I was able to escape was by working like a dog. I worked essentially 24/7āmultiple gigs at the same time, morning till night. I was lucky enough to be in a situation where I didn't have kids yet, so it was possible. I had a girlfriend (soon to be my wife), but we didn't spend as much time together. I had to sacrifice. I didn't have work-life balance. I had work-life. A lot of it. But I made good money, and I was able to pay it off. I found a couple of good clients that had ongoing work, and I just worked my ass off.