The pilgrimage to mastering a skill or set of skills can be one of the most thrilling, intimidating and gratifying experiences of a lifetime. I am referring to my choice to learn about, and establish an internet marketing business.
Why I chose internet marketing?
My life was on track, I was pursuing a degree and working hard at my job until I got derailed when a previous chronic illness came roaring back to infringe on my life once again! Have you ever experienced anything like that? Everything drastically changed. I had to quit work and school. The pittance disability provided didn’t go very far. During this time I suffered from depression over my losses. It was probably more frustrating and discouraging than the first time I battled this condition. It felt like I had been climbing this mountain again, trying to attain my goals and dreams only to slide painfully back down to the bottom once more. A year passed before I was well enough to consider anew how to recreate myself so that I could have a fulfilling existence.
While scrolling through Facebook I came across an ad that led me to a boot-camp for internet marketing solutions and entrepreneurship development. While watching the videos, I felt something tug at me. I watched the guy speaking, looked into his eyes, listened to his spiel and thought, I can do this! You see, as Brendon Burchard says in his book, Motivation Manifesto:
“We want something to give to, to believe in, to fight for. We are looking forward to contributing our creativity and sweat and fire to something that matters, to something that improves the life of others. We are now tired of waiting, so let us lead.”
This is true of all of us, deep down, we want to do and be something great. We relish that feeling of accomplishment and sense of pride. We are created this way, with the drive to create!
I love everything about entrepreneurship! It is in my blood.
The ad I found on Facebook was for a training platform that teaches a list of personal skills required to create a successful internet marketing business. I didn’t know anything about internet marketing, any type of marketing really, but I had previously started a traditional medical billing business and didn’t know anything about that either! I taught myself everything I needed to know. It was damn hard! I made lots of mistakes and messes, but I did it! It was a tremendous experience. I sold that business for a number of reasons I write about in other blogs, but I thrilled at being an entrepreneur. I love growing and learning new things so I was excited at the prospect of running a business again!
Whilst I was working, on a good day, I often felt the tug on my heart to start another business. On a bad day I felt like a fish out of water. Have you ever watched a fish when it’s been landed? It’s quite pitiful! The poor thing gasps for air, flopping around, trying to make it’s way back to the water. Yup, that’s what it felt like working a job rather than working in my own business. Both my husband and I have been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug for a long time. We worked our tails off in several multilevel and network marketing businesses. When we get involved with something we go all in. We had big dreams and were excited about helping others succeed, however, it always just fell apart.
People are funny. You have to really want to change yourself and your lifestyle. Most people don’t have what it takes to be an entrepreneur anymore. They are afraid. Afraid of leaving the security of their job, (which is an oxymoron these days!) even though the beauty of these types of businesses is that you don’t have to leave your day job. They are afraid of what their friends and family will say if they pursue their dreams. They choose to live lives of mediocrity, afraid to fail, afraid to take risks of any kind. They are also lazy, trapped in the their comfort bubble floating along without any real purpose. Satisfied to spend their free time watching television or occupying themselves with the latest technology has to offer. Hence we couldn’t find anyone who would commit to work as hard as we were willing to work. No work, no growth, no growth no money!
Now, it’s time that I am successful based on the work I put forth, and it’s not dependent on anyone else! From now on I can help people who truly want to be helped, we can run the race together as team mates, rather than me trying to drag their dead weight up the hill to success!
Acquiring the right skills is important!
The idea of a training platform that would actually teach me how to do internet marketing was exciting. As with any traditional business, there is so much information and skilfulness required to master internet marketing, from the technical side of SEO to project management tips. I am a firm believer though that anyone can learn anything if they put their mind to it, so I did! Anxiety was an issue at first as I struggle with concentration lapses. It is very hard for me to focus and think things through some days. Writing especially can be a challenge. Yet I have chosen to push through, becoming a student of blogging. I am also learning a lot about success principles and personal growth and development. I continually have to fight negative self talk. We all beat ourselves up, but I am finally learning how to shut it down! It has been one of my biggest accomplishments, and affects all areas of my life!
Learning things about yourself that you are not proud of isn’t fun at all, but unless you are willing to grow and develop into the person you need to be, you won’t ever be ready to be truly successful, or help anyone else be successful. While I wanted to make money, one of the most important things I had to learn was to put others first. To experience success you must learn that solving your customer’s problem is the number one responsibility of an entrepreneur. I so appreciate my mentors for teaching this truth so that my success will be built on a lasting foundation of helping other people succeed first! For a very long time my heart has been to help people reach success in all areas of their life; financially, relationally, physically, and emotionally.
It’s an ongoing journey
I have completed a couple of different community challenges within the training platform so far that have expanded my skill set remarkably. I am proud of myself for all I am accomplishing! It is such a great feeling. Even though starting a business can be terrifying, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. By joining a proven training system with coaching, mentorship and community built in, it’s reduced the fear factor significantly! I can not only help other people be successful by hooking them up with one of the most successful internet marketing companies out there, I can learn to be successful personally and financially!
