1 important thing to NEVER forget in your online writing cash quest

Last summer, when my online writing earnings were near their peak … I was absolutely miserable.

I had every reason to be happy.

I was at a nice, homey cottage with my family — a cottage I paid for with the extra money I was earning online.

Because it was a couple of weeks before the summer peak season, we basically had a whole lake in one of Canada’s most beautiful regions to ourselves.

The kids and I swam and boated and played all day, and we watched fun movies at night.

So why was I so irritable?

Cottage time should be when you achieve peak happiness and contentedness. So why was I so miserable? (Licensed by the author under the Unsplash+ License)

Canary in the coalmine

The problem was, despite my body being in the middle of paradise, my mind was elsewhere.

Specifically, my mind was guilting itself for frolicking in the water and not working on my side business.

It was picking at me for not writing.

It was grating on me every time I had an idle moment.

And it was at this point that I knew I needed to step back and perform a mental reset.

Because if starting an online content business meant being miserable all the time, what would be the point of that?

I wanted to start a business so that I could do things like rent a cottage with my family and relax without worrying about going back to the commuter life the following week.

Now I was worried about working WHILE ON VACATION.

I needed to take a breath.

No excuses

Now this is different from what most people do when they’re trying to “get rich online”.

As I wrote recently, getting rich is about as weak as it gets when it comes to entrepreneurial motivation.

People who are trying to get rich to be lazy are typically lazy and will never get rich.

They’re the kinds of people who work hard on their side business for two days and then take two weeks off because they “deserve it”.

No, this wasn’t about needing to dial back my aspirations or even scolding myself for “working too much”.

I like to work.

And I’m more driven than ever to become a full-time entrepreneur within a year.

One of my favorite self-improvement books is called Be Obsessed or Be Average, so you have some idea about my mindset about all this.

No, this was about being an unhealthy perfectionist.

And it was sewering my mental health.

An old foe returns

I felt the negativity creeping in again last weekend.

You see, as part of my project, I must publish every day.

Up until last weekend, I’d published every day on the most profitable one — the very one you’re on right now.

But in a particularly busy crush with work, home responsibilities, and an increasing desire to build more on my YouTube channel (I have 6 lengthy scripts written and to be filmed and edited), I was running out of time and steam.

Finally, I waved the white flag.

Pre-loaded content on my email newsletter and Twitter would have to do for one weekend.

Boy, I was beating myself up over it though.

Then I remembered the summer.

Here I was on a lovely trip with my son for his hockey tournament and again my mind was punishing itself.

This time, however, I noticed it right away and shook it off easily.

And I had an awesome, fun weekend.

Refocus, reset, restart

So what was the solution?

Better planning? I definitely anticipated how challenging this period would be — I even wrote about it here.

I thought I planned well, but you have to accept that life interferes with your plans sometimes.

And at the end of the day, I kept my publishing streak alive and my earnings stable under pretty tough circumstances.

So I gave myself a dang break and let myself enjoy a couple of days away.

Again, being a perfectionist is unhelpful.

It makes you frustrated, and frustration is a useless emotion.

Don’t stew. Learn, adjust, move forward.

I already feel better equipped to face the next schedule crunch.

And I’m looking forward (in a positive way) to a few lighter weeks so I can get my feet back under me, entrepreneurship-wise.

Just be sure never to forget the real reasons you’re trying to build a business.

One of the most important ones for me is more time with family.

So I can’t very well throw away the time I do have with my family now worrying about what I should be doing instead.

As the late, great John Lennon sang: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

Publish Every Day project update: Day 53

I’m doing an experiment to see if I can make enough money to retire from office life within a year by publishing every day on different platforms and investing my earnings into passive income vehicles.

How much I need to retire: $250 CAD per day

What I earned on Day 53: $41.42 (writing) + $0.92 (YouTube) = $42.34 total

Publish Every Day progress, Day 53, Chart 1

Publish Every Day progress, Day 53, Chart 2

What I’ve published recently:

• This post about the 1 NEW reason I’m hyper-motivated to change my life writing online

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1. One reason you’ll succeed (or fail) making big money writing online

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3. 1 encouraging first sign alcohol is releasing its grip on your brain

4. The real truth of making big money writing online (they’re lying)

5. Surprise: Your brain recovers from alcohol abuse faster than you think