Something Has to Change (If You Want Change)

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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 money—or 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 see—and I know several of these people personally—is 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 24/7—multiple 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.

## The Internet Lies to You

Here's the thing: with all the advice on the internet, you're bombarded with different messages. Coaches tell you that you should have work-life balance and that you can make tons of money working 2 hours a week.

It might be possible eventually, but not without all the blood, sweat, and tears that come before that.

## The Hard Truth

It comes down to this: if you want to get out of a situation like this, you have to **make more money and spend less money.**

And it requires hard conversations with people in your life. You might have kids. You might have a spouse. You might have a lifestyle you're used to—luxuries you spend money on. You really have to be willing to evaluate everything and have those difficult conversations if you want to get out of this situation.

Because if you want something to change, something fudemental has to change.

## Why Your Monday Ideas Won't Work

It can't just be this new idea you had on Monday that you're going to create content, and magically that's going to change everything. Creating content takes time. It takes time to get good at creating content. It takes time to get good at cold email. You're not going to start it on Monday and fix your problem on Tuesday.

Whatever choice you pick, it's going to take **weeks or months of sustained effort** directly on that one thing before anything changes.

## Before You Pick Your Next Tactic

Before you start thinking about what tactic you're going to use this week to get yourself out of this horrible situation that's crushing you week after week, causing all this stress—you have to take a step back.

Ask yourself: **What am I really going to change here to get myself out of this situation?**

I can promise you this: if the sacrifice doesn't feel like a real sacrifice, then it's probably not going to be big enough. It's probably not going to have the impact you want.

If you're in a really bad situation and something drastic needs to happen, it's not going to be easy. It's probably going to be one of the hardest decisions or discussions you've had with your partner, your family, or with yourself.

## The Bottom Line

You have to confront the core problem, as hard as it might be.

There's no quick fix.

Something has to change if you want change.

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