If you’ve read my last post, Falling Down, then you know that there is a lot of stuff rolling around in my head right now. Emotions are all over the place and life recently got a whole lot more interesting…

I really can’t get too personal with this right now, but suffice it to say (for now), that I am focusing on my relationship with my wife and am spending most of my energy working on our relationship.

With that said, I realize that many of you might be getting a little bored reading about my thoughts, ideas, emotions, and fears, without any actions to back them up. I know that talk can take a person only so far.

So today I want to talk about what I am doing right now. Have I been productive? Have I made good use of the lessons I learned from the “consulting” I received from Penelope Trunk during our interview? Am I moving forward with my life and business?

For those of you who are following me on my journey here, you are probably hoping I’m making great strides to follow through with what I’ve been talking about here. And if you’re new here, you might want to read my last post to gain a better understanding of what I’m talking about.

I also know that many of you are rooting for me and I’m very thankful for that!

The Big Game

big-game

I made some pretty bold statements in my last post about choosing to play a bigger game with my life and business and it’s those thoughts that have been consuming most of my time. How am I going to do that? What will it look like? Can I actually do it?

Well, I’ve been able to answer some of these questions and I have some exciting ideas that will have a significant impact on my life and on others lives as well.

It’s still early in the planning stage with my project idea and given all the other stuff I have to do every day, it will take some time to create. My goal is to reveal my idea in December with a launch on January 1.

So, knowing that this will not be something that will provide immediate results or income, I chose to start working on several other small projects as well.

I have come to understand that I need to start creating things, making money, and learning how to become good at marketing if I plan on ever making it as an online entrepreneur. So, as much as I would rather just keep blogging away, I started doing shit instead!

What I’m Up To

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to dominate the blogosphere with what I’m doing here, I’m simply trying to get my feet wet and find my groove. Remember, I’ve been writing here for a year and have done almost no marketing or selling.

Online

1) I created a new eBook for my email newsletter opt in. My current one isn’t great and it’s way off target to my readers. Hence why my email list has grown incredibly slow. I’ve never really cared even though many marketers tell me “the money is in the list”. I just don’t see it that way.

My new eBook is a compilation of 20 of the best cubicle escape stories that have been published on my blog. Many of them have inspired me in different ways and there are some excellent writers in the bunch. My friend John from Hypertransitory is an amazing graphic artist and is working on the cover for me. It should be up this week…

2) I have launched my first niche website and although I have no idea if it’s going to flop, I’m pretty pumped about it.  It’s in the energy drink niche and as many of you know, I am hopelessly addicted to Red Bull. It made a lot of sense to write articles about something I love for this site.

As far as the system/method I am using for my site, I have become a big fan of Spencer’s site, NichePursuits, and have been devouring his content like crazy. He’s got a very easy to understand approach to writing and I really like his style. I’m following his model and will be using AdSense exclusively for monetization. This is my first attempt with this, so we shall see…

I’m also a fan of Steve Scott, who teaches affiliate marketing on his site and am considering launching an affiliate site within the next few months.

3) I have finished about half of my eBook about surviving your day job. And as I mentioned before, I am actually going to attempt to sell it! It’s shaping up to be a pretty unique piece and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all. I mean, you are going to buy it, right? 🙂

Launch date is set for December 1.

4) I have created 5 Fiverr gigs so far and although I have only made 1 sale up to this point, I’m still excited about it! I have a copy of Danielle Lynn’s Ultimate Fiverr Marketing Guide (no aff) and actually read the entire thing. It’s full of great information although I haven’t applied what she teaches to my mini business yet…

Here are the links to my gigs. It seems like there is so much stupid shit on Fiverr and a lot of it is making money! I’m actually trying to really help people with mine, so either nobody really cares about my offers or they are just lost in Fiverr limbo. Either way, I would love to hear your thoughts on my services. And it wouldn’t suck if you bought one (or twenty) either 🙂

  • Gig 1: Accountability
  • Gig 2: Blog critique
  • Gig 3: Listening
  • Gig 4: Interview Tips
  • Gig 5: Workouts

I realize that some of these gigs are worth far more than $5 from a time standpoint alone, but it’s part of my plan. The experience I get from doing these things will lend itself to the type of services I may be offering on my blog(s) in the future (hint hint).

Also, if you have any suggestions on a service or product you feel I would be successful selling, please let me know!

Offline

5) I have begun offering my personal training services again. I stopped taking on new clients over a year ago because of lack of time. I also hated getting up at 5 or 6 am (especially in the winter) to go train someone, but I realize that I have to make some sacrifices now if I plan on ever getting out of my job.

The good news is that I still really enjoy training clients in a one on one setting and I know I can help people reach their fitness goals.

6) I have been teaching fitness boot camps for almost a year and a half now and it’s been bringing in some good extra money. I have between 8 and 20 clients per class, depending on the month and it’s a great workout for my clients and is very inexpensive.

I have only been teaching it twice per week during the evenings after work, but it’s time to ramp it up and start with a morning class. I’m advertising in Craigslist but am thinking of running a deal on Groupon. My goal is to start the new a.m. class in January (think New Years resolutions!)

So with any new clients I take on and another boot camp class, I will be maxed out on time (and sleep).

So yes, I’ve been busy for sure. With all of this going on including the 8 books I’ve recently read, my time with my family, and that damn job of mine, I think I’m doing pretty well…

Discoveries…

In the course of reading a number of books in the last few weeks, I came across one particularly helpful one. At the suggestion of a reader, I read The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Destiny, which turned out to be very insightful.

As I read through the book and did the exercises, I found the answers to some very important questions.

One of the most powerful exercises was discovering my what my ideal life would look like. The exercise started as a several broad topic questions and through a process of elimination, found the top 5 passions that would be included in my ideal life.

Mine are as follows (in no particular order):

When my life is ideal, I am:

  • In total control of my time and my life
  • Excited to be alive and feel like I can accomplish anything
  • In a close, loving relationship with my wife
  • Financially secure
  • In the service of others

Why not take a few minutes to ask yourself what would constitute your ideal life? As you can imagine, a lot can be done with your answers. We can build an entire business around these findings and that’s what I plan to do.

This got me thinking (there it is again) about what I want my business to look like. What do I ideally want to do every day? How do I want to earn money? What would inspire me to become great?

Here is my list so far:

  • I want to inspire and teach
  • I want to provide hope to others
  • I want to lead by example
  • I want to be a strong and positive role model
  • I want to help people make significant positive changes in their lives and I want to see it happen for them
  • I want people to care about what I am doing

And this is about so much more than just quitting a shitty job. It’s about living a life worth living.

Another book I really loved was The Millionaire Messengerby Brendon Burchard. This book especially hit  home with me because it’s all about building a business around what you already know. I’ve always felt that I was destined to do something great and that all my life’s experiences are valuable.

This book details how to turn these experiences into a very successful business and Brendon has done just that. He turned his near death experience as a young man into a extremely successful personal development career. Definitely worth reading!

What’s Next?

My plan is to keep focusing on the important things in my life while I gradually build my business. Balancing work/blog/life is a constant struggle, but is something I need to get better at.

Things are getting better for me, I am moving forward, and although I don’t have a crystal clear vision of my future, I know there are great things ahead…

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