Episode 20 - AUA Byte #1 - KA's Pivot
This episode is about my recent pivot. Before I talk about the what I want to talk about the why. I've talked about my workaholism here in the past and I've also hinted at wanting more balance in my life. Yet, when I decided on vanlife I thought it had to look a certain way. I thought I had to do all the things, and by all the things I mean, post specific content daily on instagram and start a youtube channel. And yet I've been resistant. So I did what I've done in the past, I sought out other travel bloggers. One in particular, who's helped me more than anyone else thus far, is Holly Priestley and if you haven't listened to her podcast, you must, I'll link it in the show notes. She offers mini sessions for an affordable price. Holly doesn't tell me what to do, which is what I respond to best. I respond to having a conversation. Bouncing ideas off of someone and asking for their advice and guidance. This is what Holly has provided.
But I thought I had to "up my game". No one told me to, I just fell into the trap of "it needs to be this way to be successful and there is only ONE way to do that." So I obsessed over social media, specifically Instagram. Reels are the new everything I was told by people on Clubhouse. Stories are the end all, be all. Every post must have a story. So I spent hours shooting video and writing stories to get a whopping 2 likes. Fail.
There is a full time nomad that I've fangirled and followed for years. I bought and read all his books, supported him on Patreon, talked him up to everyone who would listen. And 2 weeks ago I joined his mastermind group, thrilled out of my mind. But on my first call with him last week, a hard reality hit me in the face. First of all, and most importantly to me was that his heart was not in it. I know he was having a bad day but this bled into the call. When it was over I felt like I'd been run over by a truck and ended up taking a 2 hour nap. But I'd expected to feel lifted up and supported. I am not here to blame and I'm not angry about it, because in the end it was the impetus for my pivot. For most of my life I've tended to look at the positive in things and though this call was painful, the end result was positive. I realized what I don't want. This poor guy is burnt out. He's running a huge business now and he has to be everything to everyone all the time. I don't want that. In a way, he's stuck because if he stops, his business will crumble. It's a catch-22. An outsider would look at him and think, oh my god, he's got it all but I've been there myself. I've had successful 6 figure businesses and I've been so burnt out that I wanted to bite people's heads off. I don't want to be there again.
So what I realized is that even though his business is teaching people to be successful in the same way he became successful--ie: you do x, y and z, in this exact order (or formula) and you can achieve results; that doesn't work for me. In my meditation this morning I got the download that "one size doesn't fit all".
I've always known this but for the past several months I got caught up in the fantasy of it all. If I want to be a successful full-time digital nomad entrepreneur I have to post daily on IG, I have to have a youtube channel, I have to blog about things I can sell so I can use affiliate links. And yes this all may be true but I don't want to. I want to do it my way. I've been successful in every career I've ever had and I've also been miserable. I'm tired of working my life away for the almighty dollar. I don't need to work full time in order to survive. I don't need a six figure income to be happy. As a matter of fact, whenever I've earned a six figure income, I've been miserable. Not that there's anything wrong with earning a lot of money and not that everyone who earns it will be miserable. There's a time and place for that but I'm almost 55 years old and now I want to enjoy life.
So yes, I'm pivoting. I'm still going to produce this podcast because I love doing it but I'm going to streamline it. I spend three hours a day editing it, as well as working my full time day job and that's not sustainable. I love writing and publishing novels so I'm going to focus on that as well. I hate editing video, I used to be a TV producer for a living so until I can afford to hire someone full time to do that for me, I'm not going to start a YouTube channel. I love making videos that don't require editing so I'll do some IG lives. I love writing, so I'll keep blogging and writing my novels. If my passions make me money, great but I will not be a slave to them in order to earn. I can life comfortably on the dividends from my investments and that's what I'll do. No, I can't live extravagantly on them but the minimal money I earn will let me pursue my passions and interests while maintaining balance in my life and that's what is currently most important to me.
Writing, reading, eating well, exercising and travel - those are my 5 top number ones. What are yours and are you doing them?
Holly Priestley's Website.
Holly's Podcast - Deliberate Living
From AUA Host KA:
Want to make my day?
Please follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/anunknownadventure/
But I thought I had to "up my game". No one told me to, I just fell into the trap of "it needs to be this way to be successful and there is only ONE way to do that." So I obsessed over social media, specifically Instagram. Reels are the new everything I was told by people on Clubhouse. Stories are the end all, be all. Every post must have a story. So I spent hours shooting video and writing stories to get a whopping 2 likes. Fail.
There is a full time nomad that I've fangirled and followed for years. I bought and read all his books, supported him on Patreon, talked him up to everyone who would listen. And 2 weeks ago I joined his mastermind group, thrilled out of my mind. But on my first call with him last week, a hard reality hit me in the face. First of all, and most importantly to me was that his heart was not in it. I know he was having a bad day but this bled into the call. When it was over I felt like I'd been run over by a truck and ended up taking a 2 hour nap. But I'd expected to feel lifted up and supported. I am not here to blame and I'm not angry about it, because in the end it was the impetus for my pivot. For most of my life I've tended to look at the positive in things and though this call was painful, the end result was positive. I realized what I don't want. This poor guy is burnt out. He's running a huge business now and he has to be everything to everyone all the time. I don't want that. In a way, he's stuck because if he stops, his business will crumble. It's a catch-22. An outsider would look at him and think, oh my god, he's got it all but I've been there myself. I've had successful 6 figure businesses and I've been so burnt out that I wanted to bite people's heads off. I don't want to be there again.
So what I realized is that even though his business is teaching people to be successful in the same way he became successful--ie: you do x, y and z, in this exact order (or formula) and you can achieve results; that doesn't work for me. In my meditation this morning I got the download that "one size doesn't fit all".
I've always known this but for the past several months I got caught up in the fantasy of it all. If I want to be a successful full-time digital nomad entrepreneur I have to post daily on IG, I have to have a youtube channel, I have to blog about things I can sell so I can use affiliate links. And yes this all may be true but I don't want to. I want to do it my way. I've been successful in every career I've ever had and I've also been miserable. I'm tired of working my life away for the almighty dollar. I don't need to work full time in order to survive. I don't need a six figure income to be happy. As a matter of fact, whenever I've earned a six figure income, I've been miserable. Not that there's anything wrong with earning a lot of money and not that everyone who earns it will be miserable. There's a time and place for that but I'm almost 55 years old and now I want to enjoy life.
So yes, I'm pivoting. I'm still going to produce this podcast because I love doing it but I'm going to streamline it. I spend three hours a day editing it, as well as working my full time day job and that's not sustainable. I love writing and publishing novels so I'm going to focus on that as well. I hate editing video, I used to be a TV producer for a living so until I can afford to hire someone full time to do that for me, I'm not going to start a YouTube channel. I love making videos that don't require editing so I'll do some IG lives. I love writing, so I'll keep blogging and writing my novels. If my passions make me money, great but I will not be a slave to them in order to earn. I can life comfortably on the dividends from my investments and that's what I'll do. No, I can't live extravagantly on them but the minimal money I earn will let me pursue my passions and interests while maintaining balance in my life and that's what is currently most important to me.
Writing, reading, eating well, exercising and travel - those are my 5 top number ones. What are yours and are you doing them?
Holly Priestley's Website.
Holly's Podcast - Deliberate Living
From AUA Host KA:
Want to make my day?
Please follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/anunknownadventure/