Since last weeks’ post which was a coaching session, I realised a number of things:

• I need to start writing down and validating every single idea… in the past, I have had ideas and went back and forth on them without making a decision, and then new ideas come into my head that replace old ideas… then I got back to the first idea and remember “oh remember that old idea…” without validating anything. I’ve realised that this is a procrastination habit. Rather than just diving in a going with an idea, I just jump between different ideas without making any decisions
• In addition, I realised that there’s no harm in continuing what is working… my amazon product that is working is something that is bringing in (small) revenue for me…one of my issues with creating a brand is that I don’t have a huge amount of money. So, I’ve realised that there’s nothing wrong with continuing to develop products in niches – building up capital, and then maybe in the future one of those products could build / grow into a brand.

So…What Steps Have I Made?

The coaching session was really good for me. I managed to get myself some clear next steps which I have quoted below:

24. What is one step you could take right now that would indicate you were moving forward?

1 – Write down all past ideas

2 – Brainstorm new ideas

3 – Create a short list of the best ideas based off of: competitor research, search volume and trend data.

4 – Make a decision and go for it.

So where I am is currently stages 1 and 2. I have wrote down my past ideas, and all current ideas that I have. I am in the process of validating each to come up with my short list.

So far, I have brainstormed 3 ideas. Only 1 idea seems to have legs but doesn’t fit with my long term vision of brand building – however, this could be developed into a product idea and marketed using paid social which could help to get some revenue/money behind my business.

As a next step, I am going to brainstorm more new ideas and look at different industries. I watched video this week on YouTube, which analysed the brand ‘snow’ teeth whitening. It was an interesting video as it explained how the founder of this company approached this product and how he made it a successful brand. He took a boring industry where branding was very clinical, and created hype round a gift type product. My next step is to continue with my analysis in different sectors to see where there could be a gap in the market or a niche that could be grown into a brand.

I decided to create a blog for my personal growth journey. I commit to writing a post every week, for 52 weeks and 1 year from now I will be closer towards my goals.

Why is this important?

Over the past 4 months, I’ve found myself in a dangerously negative mindset which had completely taken over all of my ambitions and motivation for most things. Before Christmas 2019, I had a sudden realisation that the thing I’ve always wanted to do (work for myself, have my own successful business and come away from my career of digital marketing) was so far out of reach. Instead, I found myself back in the vicious cycle of working myself to the ground again. Sometimes I have been waking up not feeling like I don’t want to face the day.

For a few weekends in a row, I’ve lay in bed for an entire 2 days with no motivation to do anything at all – then beat myself up when Monday came back around that I have to do yet another week of work in something I have zero passion for. I was (and still am) consumed by a number of things I dislike: Corporate side of business. Presenting to clients. Trying to hit someone else’s targets. Mind numbing tasks. Feeling like I contribute very little to the world.

On top of that, I started a fitness journey in 2018 and I transformed my body over 2019 – but when this near depression phase hit me, my progress went down hill – my bad eating habits came back.

So, Now What?

I realise I need to change things. I’ve always been a big believer in personal growth. Maybe it comes from doing an apprenticeship with a performance coach when I left school.

Tonight at 6pm, I was walking home from the office and I thought to myself… I wonder if I could coach myself to get to where I need to be? I wonder if I spent at least one hour a week, holding myself accountable to small goals which I can review on a blog, it could get me closer to the vision I have always had in my head of having my own successful business, one day.

So – this is it. This is my personal growth blog, and this are my commitment for the next 52 weeks.

• I will write 1 blog post per week. Each blog can be related to any the following areas:
  • My journey and the steps I am taking towards becoming my own boss
  • A book review
  • Acts of kindness
  • Gratitude
  • Coaching past road blocks
  • Health and fitness
  • Mindfulness
  • Articulation on certain subjects like politics, history, the economy (I will explain in a later blog post why this point is important for me)
  • And anything else that fits into ‘personal growth’.

I hope that by doing this blog I can improve my progress towards my goals, but overall, my happiness.

I’m stuck. I’m stuck because I know what my end goal is – I want to be my own boss, but I have no idea what I need to do now to make that happen. Because I don’t have something that I am passionate about, I can’t tell you right now what it is my business is going to be… so how can I get up every morning and be productive and work towards my goal, when I have an infinitive number of paths to take. I could start my own SEO business, I could start a party supplies business, I could start a travel blog. The issue is that the options are endless for me.

That’s why I had to go back to the drawing board and coach myself into the right direction of where I need to go. So here it is… my coaching one to one with myself, open for the world to see…

1. What would it look like if you were entirely successful?

If I was successful, I would be working with a team. I’m a team player and I work well with people. I am a great leader and that’s what I love to do – but only in the areas that I’m interested in.

If I was entirely successful, I know that it wouldn’t be in a services based business… I don’t think it’s smart to trade *all* of your time for money. It would be a product based business, because I’ve got a passion for product development and also because I love all of the creative processes that go into creating a product. Brands and people I aspire to are:

• Kikki K
• Erin Condren
• Gretta Van Riel
• Showpo / Jane Lu
• Stefan James
• Rachel Hollis
• …

I aspire to these brands and people because at some point along my journey, I have been inspired by their stories, and that’s something I want to be able to do with my business.

It would consist of products, a Youtube channel, a strong brand.

2. Follow up: What would you see if you popped into a time machine and there it was?

Working in my own office, with a strong team, in a creative environment.

I would have a passionate community, people who engage with my products because they bring happiness or real change.

3. Why do you want that?

I thrive being around people, leading people, sharing ideas.
I love brands that have a story.

6. In six months, if things were going exactly the way you want, what would you see?

In 6 months, I’d be happy if I knew exactly what it was I was working towards. What my brand, my business would be. And each day I would dedicate time to it so that I can come away from SEO. It would be nice to say in 6 months I’d be in my office with my team, but rome wasn’t built in a day! So, if we’re being realistic, in 6 months, I’d have my brand worked out and I’d be doing day to day tasks to work towards that goal of breaking away from SEO

7. What would be your next goal after you achieve your current one?

Breaking away from SEO (full time). My goal would be to start earning a comfortable amount of profit to drop down my hours in my full time job. I would need to sell a few products to be able to achieve this.

8. Follow up: Why?

My passion is not with other businesses and helping them to grow…and not solely on SEO, but I do need to be able to pay my bills, save for a house and wedding during the startup phase.

9. What would you do if you had unlimited resources?

Even all of the money in the world wouldn’t move me forward because I don’t know what my business idea is so this is very difficult to answer. I would use data to decide what the most successful route to business would be.

10. What is so important to you that you would stand in front of a bus to defend it?

Financial security and stability. A business which is built with sustainability and the environment in mind – no plastic. Also, I want to be able to give people an experience and also be passionate about my brand like I am.

11. What would be the impact on you (and others) if things don’t change?

I will live with regrets because I know I have it in me to make something so successful. I will definitely be unhappy because I’ve had this as a goal since I attended University and I haven’t ever stopped thinking about it.

12. What can you accomplish that doesn’t depend on others?

Coming up with the idea and business plan.

13. What is your current biggest problem or challenge?

Biggest challenge is picking an idea and sticking with it. Not having the confidence to think bigger.

14. Follow up: If this weren’t a problem, what would be your biggest problem?

Money? I have only a small amount of money to invest… not really sure how much but I need to work that out.

15. What is working well?

I am currently selling a product on Amazon, which is working well. I know Amazon very well but I don’t want to focus on only that 1 platform. But, my experience there shows I can pick a successful niche. I just need to pick something that has room for growth and that isn’t over saturated when developing the brand further.

16. What has contributed to your success so far?

Selling on amazon. Using data to make decisions.

17. Follow up: How might it get in your way?

Because it can become extremely competitive, it can sometimes be a race to the bottom (with prices – competing with manufacturers), and not the primary place for brand building which is the essential thing for me.

18. What might keep you from getting where you want to go?

Money & lack of ideas.

19. What obstacles have you faced, what did you do, and what did you learn?

Cash flow is important, try to plan properly to make sure I don’t fall short
Plan ahead for stock and inventory. Finding the right supplier is key.

20. What obstacles do you expect to face? How do you plan to approach them?

21. What resources do you have access to?

SEMRush (search volume data), competitor / market analysis data, project management tools, Amazon seller central for selling, EBay, Etsy, Shopify,

22. What are your biggest mistakes and what did you learn from them?

Spending too much time listening to podcasts hoping an idea will spark up. Spending money before validating an idea. Sticking with an idea has been difficult. I have wasted a lot of time so far and have little time left to waste. I have learnt that I need to do research before making a decision. Weigh up the pros and cons of the ideas I have had so far. See if any of them have any legs, brainstorm new ideas.

23. If a friend were in your shoes, what advice would you give them?

Use all of the tools you have to make educated decisions.
And most of all, believe in yourself. Just make the jump. Pick 1 idea that has growth potential and give it everything you can.

24. What is one step you could take right now that would indicate you were moving forward?

1 – Write down all past ideas
2 – Brainstorm new ideas
3 – Create a short list of the best ideas based off of: competitor research, search volume and trend data.
4 – Make a decision and go for it.

25. Are there any important questions that have not been asked?

How can you measure success in the initial stages?

And my answer would be – by the time I invest

Where would you like to be 1 year from now?

1 year from now, I’d like for my business to be earning enough money for me to be able to have the option to leave my full time job in SEO.

I’d like to be at a stage where I have a core focus of 3 main products in my brand bringing in multiple revenue streams.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.