Today I'm going to take a break from my regular article-writing style of offering helpful tips on how to market your online business, attract visitors, and generate targeted traffic. Everyone needs a break from their work once in a while, so I'm going to take a step back, take a breather, give you a sneak peek of my life as an online business-person so far, tell you how I have been juggling this with my regular 9-5 offline career, and how you can do this too if you want to! I have been thinking about running a web-business for quite a number of years without doing anything about it. Unlike many people who start an online business, who want to quit their jobs and work for themselves, this was not and is not my motivation. While my career is providing me with financial independence, it is perhaps an internal desire to be even more financially independent and in control of my money, for not only the short term, but for my future as well. When I read financial books to get myself on track, I hear time and again how important it is to have multiple sources of income. When you work at a regular job like I do, it is called "earned income", but there are many other sources of income. I have taken it upon myself to learn about how I can best set myself up for a financially healthy future. In addition to my 9-5 career, I have chosen to try and build my "residual income" by owning a web-based business. Before setting up my business, I did a lot of reading on the subject before taking action. Once I found a program I liked that mirrored a lot of the concepts I had already read about, I was finally motivated to take action. Like most people starting out, I wasn't completely aware of the time or monetary investment that running an online business would require. Because I have always been a hard and conscientious worker, it has not been difficult for me to put the hours in that are required to set-up and maintain my business - at least 4 hours per day when you also have an offline career. If you think having a home business is going to free up time for you, think again! Maybe in the long run once you've figured out what needs to be done, you get into a routine, and perhaps buy some time-saving software and a laptop, things might get easier, but expect to work long and hard in the beginning. My offline career is also my source of business funding. Without it, I personally wouldn't take the risk. I've always thought that an online business would be sort of a "side-career". In fact, my web-business is becoming just as much a career as my regular 9-5 job, and requires just as much consistency and maintenance as working 9-5, if not more. I believe this is the attitude you must take to succeed online, that if you start a web-business, you're going to have to put as much, if not more time and energy into it as you would in your regular career. I'm sure you have guessed that this sort of lifestyle can quickly lead to burnout. That's why you must remember that maintaining a balance in your life and work and everything you do is of the utmost importance. We all have families, friends, responsibilities, and interests outside of work that cannot and should not be ignored. As the saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". There is no doubt that you have to work long and hard, but if you neglect your life outside of work, you will eventually burn out, and you may even quit. I can see myself becoming a workaholic. What I do to prevent this and juggle all of my responsibilities is I set my priorities according to what is healthiest for me. For instance, I workout at the gym, and I spend a lot of time skiing and hiking in the mountains. I refuse to neglect this aspect of my life because I know doing each thing consistently is keeping me healthy, just like working at my business consistently keeps it healthy. We won't get far in business and work without our health as a top priority. I also make time for my family/friends on the weekends by making "time-out" and my relationships a priority. After all, without them, we are nothing! Ask yourself if you have the time and money to run a home business and if you do, set priorities for yourself and your health. Find a schedule, a routine, and a budget that works for you and stick to it. I find it helps to write a to-do list every day and accomplish what's on your daily list if you can. A home business is obviously not for everyone, but with a little planning, it can be done. I admit I am tired and often feel there is not enough time in the days anymore. But I feel great that I am taking steps to achieve that greater financial freedom and control that I seek by building a web-business. It is a tremendous sense of accomplishment! |
