This book isn’t about upending your life and making drastic changes and taking huge risks. It’s about taking small steps successfully and reaching your goals, which will give you the opportunity to go as far as you want to, on your terms. Eventually your success will give you choices. You can quit that day job you hate, or buy that second house or your first house, or pay off your loans and start saving for retirement. We will show you how to make time for these steps, to create accountability for your goals, and to eventually rise above the expectations you have for yourself.
You know you don’t want what was handed to you. You know you want to make your own calls about your own life and your family’s life. You know you don’t want to be at the beck and call of someone else. You know you want to take control of where you work, where you live, and how you live. And you know you need to start somewhere. That somewhere is here.
Rule #1: Get Upset
Step 1: Conquer your fear of the unknown
You don’t have to take a big leap, just a small step. (1) Figure out what is holding you back, (2) carve out some time to research a plan to overcome those challenges, and (3) invest your time into making small changes. Those small changes will grow into bigger changes, and you will be able to expand the security you need for the people who depend on you.
Step 2: Recognize your challenges.
Pinpoint what is holding you back and then figure out what your life would look like without it. It might not be something big, like health insurance; it could be something small, like how you get to work. Is your commute making you miserable? Once you know what is standing in your way, you can start to make changes. What would it take to make that trip shorter? A different job? Working remotely? Moving? A new car? Stop dreading it, stop complaining about it, and stop letting it ruin your mornings and your evenings. Look into your options so you can begin envisioning what change will look like.
Step 3: Establish your next steps—even if they’re small.
Don’t worry about what people will say. Don’t worry about whether this “doesn’t fit your personality.” If you truly want to change, if you truly want more from your life, you must focus on what you want to do. Complaining about your situation will never change it. If all you do is complain, you will be at that makeup counter or managing that Winn-Dixie until you die. You don’t have to live with your current circumstances. No one does.
Step 4: Start on your journey—one step at a time.
you don’t have to go all in on day one. Look at your plan and take the next small step. If you have decided to sell your own product online, start with your own social media platform. If that works out, move up to an Amazon store. If that goes well, set up your own site with distribution. If you are working as a coach or mentor and want to bring in more personal clients in order to reach your goals, start building your contact list and reaching out to every single person on it, one by one. If you want to continue working and growing within your current company, do whatever it is you need to do to get yourself to the next level.
Rule #2: Pluck Your Weeds
Step 1: Analyze your attitude
What is making you unhappy? What is hurting your relationships with others? What is causing your bad moods? What are you dreading when the alarm goes off? Start your list with these items and then start exploring them, be it in a journal, a conversation with your partner, or a phone call to a trusted friend. If you are struggling in a serious way with emotional issues, you might even consider talking to a professional therapist or psychiatrist. You have the strength to do this. Take the first step.
Step 2: Analyze your time.
Look closely at everything that is standing in your way and add it to the list.
Step 3: Analyze your relationships.
Go back to your list and write down all the people in your life who are standing in your way, even if they’re doing it out of love. For example, one of the most difficult weeds may be your spouse! Hard to admit, we know, but even if it’s your spouse, there are ways to “pluck” the negativity or “weed” perspective the person is projecting rather than the person themselves. Even if it’s your spouse, write their name down, and then practice the gratitude exercise we mentioned above. Go ahead and write down what qualities you’re grateful for in them and ask yourself what YOU can do better to turn a weed situation into a helpful one. Are you making empty promises? Are you expecting negativity from these people on your list? Change your perspective and you can change your situation.
Step 4: Don’t sell yourself short
Your most important relationship is with yourself. You MUST respect yourself and who you let into your life and your business. We didn’t know we were going to end up where we did. We just kept plucking the weeds along the way and became who we are now. We want you to start your business as if you have already made it big. When you don’t appreciate yourself and give yourself high self-worth, you’ll never get there. You can’t approach your life and business like, “Hey, once I have plenty of money, then I can be discerning.” If that’s how you set out, you will never reach that success you are after. You teach people how to treat you. So, by allowing them to mistreat you, you’re condoning it. Instead, posture yourself as someone who can turn people away and you will become that person, that business, that partner.
Step 5: Analyze your process.
Take a look at HOW you do your job, whatever it may be. Are you doing the same thing over and over again when you don’t have to? Are you answering the same questions from the same people? How can you streamline what you are already doing? When you free up that time, you will be able to invest back into yourself, your job, your side venture, your family, or your hobbies. Think about all the weeds beforehand and try to anticipate them before even starting anything.
Step 6: Identify your perfect solution.
With today’s technology, websites, services, products, etc., it is virtually impossible to NOT find a viable solution at a reasonable cost. There are so many options at our fingertips that we have the luxury of choosing based on quality, price, customer service, and whether it is made here or overseas. Oftentimes meal delivery is even less expensive than doing all the planning and shopping yourself! Don’t let the worry of price or “lack of options” get in your way, because it’s simply a lie you tell yourself.
Step 7: Tailor your execution to match your perfect solution.
Don’t cut corners. You never know what you could be missing or what could be possible if you just tried to make perfection happen for you. Don’t pick the cheapest option because you think that is all you can afford. If you opt for the lowest-priced, most basic cleaning service, you will still be doing the dishes, folding laundry, and changing the sheets. But if you go up just one more tier, you’ll be able to earn or invest back into yourself that much more with the time you will be saving. And the better option may not even be that much more expensive.
Rule #3: Take Your Why and Turn It into Your Vision
Step 1: Reverse engineer your why.
Let’s assume your why is to build water wells in Kenya. Well, that’s just basically a wish upon a star until you break it down step by step. You may have absolutely no idea how to even find out how much a water well in an African country costs. So, there are several next steps. Who do you contact? What are the additional costs? How will you get there? What will you need to do? Will this project require starting an extra business or do you need to add overtime to your current one? Finally, ask yourself, “Who do I have to be in order to accomplish that?” Break down your why to the details, then do reverse engineering to figure out who you have to be and what you have to do and whom you have to become to get there.
Step 2: Start small and grow.
You can start with, “I want to be able to raise my kids at home and not have to put them in daycare.” Let that why grow and change as you grow and change. Once you have seen that first why come true, don’t stop. Your vision could be becoming the type of person who is able to take August off with their family to travel. Or the type of person who is able to take in foster children. Or the type of person who can afford a vacation house. Start somewhere realistic and grow from there.
Step 3: Find your platform.
In this day and age and global marketplace, you have no excuse to not go sell something right
There’s Facebook Marketplace, there’s Etsy, there’s Amazon, and there are lots of low-risk options, such as network marketing. Just start and see where it goes. Use Facebook to promote your Etsy store. Offer to partner with local stores to sell your products. Try anything and everything to sell your products and keep moving forward.
Step 4: Take the leap!
You have your why and your vision and now you have ideas for your platform. Now it’s time to put those ideas into action. You don’t have to give up your life and day job and salary to take this first step. You don’t have to have a full-blown, ultra-detailed plan before your first day in your new venture. But you have to start. Do something. See what works and what doesn’t. Build on what is working and keep trying new things. Because you are starting out small and keeping your current income stream intact, the idea of stumbling here is okay, and it isn’t the end of the world.
Step 5: Let your vision evolve.
Let’s say you want to start a side hustle in order to earn an extra $300 a month to cover your car payment. That’s great. What if you put a little more work in to cover your gas? How about the insurance payment on the car? Before long, you’ll feel the impact of having worked to alleviate that financial burden, and you’ll feel pretty good about yourself. If you have a love for animals, and you decide to volunteer your time at the local animal shelter, that’s amazing, because every little bit helps. Give yourself permission to see a bigger vision. If you were to share what you do to help the shelter with those around you, think of how many more animals you’d be able to help by raising awareness. Maybe more volunteers would come forward, or donors to help support the shelter financially.
As you reach your goals, you realize that your vision can be a lot bigger than what you initially imagined. Don’t be afraid to let your vision grow!