How to Create a Business That Supports Your Lifestyle
After I attended my first seminar about online marketing back in 2008, I was inspired. I learned that creating a business that supported my lifestyle was possible. I wanted that. I wanted to do whatever I wanted while money flowed to me (while I was sleeping).
The core message of the webinar was that no matter what you decide to do, as long as you hit the keywords and make what people want to buy, you can make money.
I bought that guy’s program, but it didn’t feel right. Then, I purchased another program from someone who promised me a different way to achieve the same goal. I didn’t get anywhere near being able to create a business that supported my lifestyle.
I tried to follow someone else’s step-by-step strategy, but such strategies rarely work. You can learn a skill by following the steps, but you have to come up with your own strategy to achieve what you want. Instead, you’d mix, match, and add something from your experience. This is how you design your unique plan.
If you’re trying to have a business purely because you want to make money, and then later, you would do what you REALLY want to be doing — stop.
This advice I got from Marie Forleo when I took her B-School (everything you need to know about starting a business online is in this course).
I was confused and didn’t want to believe that to be true because I had followed a different advice for five years prior.
I wanted to produce movies but didn’t have enough experience and didn’t understand how to make money producing movies.
One of the things I knew I could do was to work for the production companies, which I’ve done. The jobs were inconsistent. At the same time, I qualified as a Pilates instructor and picked up a few classes teaching Pilates to pay my bills.
I didn’t know what else I could do. I was still trying to create a business so I could produce movies later. After trying multiple ideas and failing, I returned to what always made me money: bookkeeping. I have a degree in Economics and a second degree in Accounting. Bookkeeping always came to the rescue.
I promised myself so many times that I would never go back to it without realising that it could help me do exactly what I want to do: have a business supporting my lifestyle.
If you don’t want to spend a decade on something that won’t create a business supporting your lifestyle,
below are some ideas to ponder.
Figure out what is your job, career, vocation and hobby
You only must have a job. The rest are optional.
A wake-up call came from an online video where Elizabeth Gilbert explained the difference between a job, a career, a vocation and a hobby.
A vocation is something that you do, no matter what your circumstances are. For me, it’s writing and painting. I wrote about this in my book, A Tiny Book of Joy. Everything shifted for me when I finally started painting again.
A hobby is something you enjoy doing, and don’t expect or plan to profit from it. Job is something every responsible adult must have. You need a job to pay the bills and care for yourself and those who depend on you.
And a career is when what you do for money is, in fact, your vacation. Elizabeth Gilbert has a career as a writer. At first, as you probably know, she was waitressing as her job while writing because it was her vocation. She said she would always write, no matter what.
What we often don’t do is allow ourselves to do what we enjoy. You might say that you don’t have a vocation. You don’t have to have one. But you can have a hobby and must have a job. You may decide that you don’t want a career either, and that’s totally fine too.
Learn about what you truly desire.
Often we do know what we are called to do, what we desire to do. It may not be solidified as my desire to paint again, but it could be something that you want to do creatively (writing poems, pottery, etc.), or it could be dancing, gymnastics or figure skating.
If you don’t know exactly — then make a list of what you want to try. Then go through the list and see how you feel with every item on this list. If you do know what you want to be doing — then, this/next week on Friday or Monday (or whatever day you choose), at 11 am, you’re going to do just that. Set a date within a week.
For a long time, I thought I would paint only if I had sorted my money problems. When I was writing about my ideal life, I would write: I would work three days a week and the rest I would write and paint. But what prevented me from painting then?
For a long time, I wanted to write a book. I have a recording from my session with Michelle Simmonds, an amazing coach, and I told her back in 2014 that I wanted to write a book.
I published my book in 2023. Was I writing all these years this book? No. It took about half a year from enrolling in a Tiny Book Course with Alexandra Franzen & Lindsey Smith to the moment I had my book in my hands.
I was too busy trying to make money with something different than bookkeeping because I didn’t enjoy bookkeeping. At the time. Do I enjoy it now? Most of the time, I do. Will I try to make a career out of bookkeeping? Definitely not.
I can now write and paint when I don’t do bookkeeping for my clients.
Acknowledge what you already have achieved.
I only recently realised that I have created a business that supports my lifestyle. I have clients and provide bookkeeping services that I bill for. In the meantime, I focus on my non-fiction writing and scriptwriting. And I paint just because I enjoy it so much. Do I want to sell my painting one day? Yes, it would be great. But I’m not putting pressure on my writing or painting to bring money to support me financially.
My business also gives me an opportunity to be location-independent. I can spend four months in Europe with my family and still be able to work and continue earning income.
I’m learning how to invest my money to grow wealth. I started believing that investing in ETFs can give you a passive income. Or as passive as it can possibly be, really.
I hope you find a vocation, hobby, and career you’d like to pursue. If you don’t want something from these, that’s okay too, but if you’ve read so far, you most likely do.
You must have a job to pay the bills that can also help you create financial independence. Get a job that you don’t hate. That can be pleasant and easy. Remember that ease comes with practice.
I don’t say this is the only way, but doing the above steps helped me finally do what I want to be doing AND have a consistent income.
“Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.”
~ Wayne Dyer
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