If I Were to Start All Over Again
A little past a year ago, I accidentally dropped a good 4-figure sum in USD on a side gig accelerator course.
The moment I hit 'pay,' I was stunned, and thought, 'This is it. It's really go big or go home.'
(The email header for the welcoming email)
(Dang! This is the biggest single payment I've ever made at that time!)
It was the day before my birthday, a moment I'll never forget.
Coming from an Asian family, I was always taught to study hard for a stable job. But I wanted more: a side hustle, diversified income. I didn't realize how big the outside world was until I found my mentor within the course (or, should I say, her ads found me).
The program was all about learning funnel design. Mind you, I was a full-time working pharmacist at the time, so funnel design was completely foreign to me. Though the learning curve was steep, I was determined to make it work.
After two months of intense learning, I stepped into this whole new, kinda surreal, freelancing world. Scared, but I knew I had to succeed.
Almost a year later, I've worked with so many amazing and understanding overseas clients, totally different from what I was used to locally. Laptop work, USD pay. Honestly, once you get a taste of earning in USD, there's no going back.
And I'm forever grateful for making that initial choice. Of course, none of it would've happened without my awesome mentor and the incredible support community.
You guessed it, if I had to do it all over again, I'd still make the same decision, but this time, with a whole lot more determination, consistency, and a significantly bigger mindset.
'You can do anything you put your mind to,' wise words from my mentor.
It's true, that if you believe you can achieve the goals you have envisioned, you have whatever it takes.
I began with a small mindset, hence it took me, longer than what my peers to finally hit my goal.
If I were to start all over again, here are the three pieces of advice I wish I had known earlier when I first started:
Be determined enough to believe things will always work out.
While working consistently is one thing, being determined and firm that your time will come is never easy. I'd get discouraged if I had zero clients that month, despite consistently doing the right things. And my mentor used to tell me, 'Your time will come. Clients will find you if they like your design style. What's yours can't be taken away.'
But I got so caught up in the feeling of landing NO clients (which, looking back, was perfectly normal for a newbie), and that led me to neglect all my efforts and stop doing what I was doing. (Oh, if only I could have seen what God had already prepared for me in the near future!)
You just have to keep going no matter what, have realistic goals in mind, and be super determined that things will eventually work out for you. (And a great mentor could lift you up during times like this, hence my next point.)
Find a great mentor.
Not everyone meets a good mentor right away, some take their time searching. But I was blessed to find one in my first encounter with the freelancing world. Trust me, a good mentor is like a traffic director, guiding you on the right path to success, and more importantly, genuinely wanting you to succeed. They'll save you from tons of inexperience, a long and winding path, and feelings of being lost. If you already have one, hold onto them tightly! To this day, my mentor is still the amazing woman I treasure a lot.
Once the money's gone into an investment (in my case, a legitimate course), stop dwelling on it and start working to earn it back!
It wasn't my intention to pay in full (you'd laugh if you knew I forgot to select the installment option at checkout). But that accidental full payment became the drive I needed to go all in.
And let's be clear, a legitimate, good coaching program is an investment - it's all about perspective. It saves you countless hours trying to piece together information from YouTube, with no clear direction. Yes, it might cost a significant amount, but the skills you gain are yours forever. No one can take those skill sets and soft skills away. Remember, you can always make money again because you'll always find a way. (Look for testimonials to gauge the program's worth before investing.)
Also, the community you gain within the program? It's priceless. That feeling of isolation when working in front of a laptop with no colleagues around you, over time, can be quite lonely. Hence, a supportive community is exactly what you need!
The world is super big out there, you'll never know how far you'll get until you get started. As the old saying goes, 'You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great!' Old, but gold!
Wishing you every success,
Elaine
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