Starting a business is an emotional experience. No one can argue with that.
There is, however, something that we all argue about. Whether you realize it or not, there’s an internal battle waging within you.
You’re conflicted by two messages: first, the messages you read about how easy it is to make money online; second, your actual experience of how challenging it can be to make your business work.
There are lots of marketers who say you can make boatloads of money while you sleep, without lifting a finger. That it’s absurdly easy. That you can change the world without breaking a sweat.
The reality — your reality — is quite the opposite.
And you’re not alone.
If you’re finding you’ve yet to have your million-dollar overnight success, I want you to know you’re not doing anything wrong.
Instead, you’re uncovering the reality. You’re seeing that it takes a whole lot more than creating a website to make good money online.
Yes, there are people who seem to have overnight successes. However, I can almost guarantee that you’re not seeing their whole story. You’re not hearing about the sleepless nights, almost-zero bank account moments, and years they spent honing their craft before freelancing.
To be successful takes a multitude of skills and a driven, determined mindset.
If you’re struggling to make it online and aren’t seeing results as fast as you’d like, this video is for you.
You’ll get a flood of truth, a dose of inspiration, and one-two love/reality-check punch. Tweet that!
Ready?
Watch below. Then tell me what you think. I want to hear from you on this one.
Now that you’ve watched…
What has your online experience been like?
What effort have you really put into making your business work?
Where are you making it harder than it needs to be?
I can’t wait to read your stories, experience, and advice in the comments below!
I have so much more to say about this topic and am scheming many more truth-telling moments I plan to share. Stay tuned!
This video reminds me of the quote from Napoleon Hill–“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
I’m starting to think business is an endless loop of these three things. 😉
TOTALLY!!! We can never stop learning, testing, trying, experimenting, and playing our way to success. Most of us are the types who are never satisfied (who, me?!) and we’re always looking for the next thing for our business. That means we’re always going to be learning, testing, trying, experimenting, and playing our way forward!
My experience has been a lot of trial and error, and three re-brands, before I decided to go with my intuition instead of the cookie-cutters. After that I’ve been getting a lot more attention, and it’s picking up pace. But I still have problems getting people to the conversation.
It’s been a lot of hard work, and very little money. I’ve put in an enormous amount of time and effort to make it work, and I’ve learned a lot. But apparently not enough.
That’s definitely what it takes: trial and error, rebranding, and following your intuition. Keep it up — it’s your grit that helps you get there!
This is exactly what I needed today. I am inundated with all the success stories and people living crazy, successful 6-7 figure lives as a result of their biz online in B-School and other forums I’m in….and it’s hard to keep a positive mindset sometimes since I’m new to biz and hitting many roadblocks.
I wish more people were honest about their journey and story behind their success!
It’s fun to share success stories, of course, but it’s never the full story. Very rarely do we hear the back story – and there is always a back story!
In fact, I’m working on my big long mega list of everything I’ve done in the past 7 years that got me to where I am right now in business. There’s a lot! A lot of trials, failures, flops, wins, and rejiggers. Sure, it’s easy and fun to say that jennyshih.com hit six figures in 18 months — and it’s true. But there’s a WHOLE LOT that went into that short, sweet success story. And everyone else has their back story, too. Stay tuned for the full version of the sweat, tears, sleepless nights, panic attacks, and more that led me to that looks-easy-from-the-outside-but-was-killer-to-get-there win 🙂 And thanks for being here!
I’m with Jenn ^ I feel inundated with success stories and start to wonder when it’s going to be my turn… I know I’m putting way to much energy into procrastination (instead of whining)… time to buckle down.
You got it! Don’t let those stories stop you from focusing on YOU. Instead of putting the energy into focusing on other people, harness it for yourself. You and your business are worth it!
I love that you’re writing about this.
The world needs more honest articles/videos like this 🙂
I love your work
Xo
Thanks, Tova! I try to keep it real around here 🙂 Thanks for showing up here with us — it’s why I keep showing up for all of you!
Jenny,
You know I am with you a 1000% on this blog! 🙂
Sustained persistence and passion over a long period of time (grit) has been shown to produce more success than natural skill, ability, and intelligence.
I think the main problem is that sooooo many of the messages we receive about success suggest that if it doesn’t come easy for you, it means that you aren’t good enough or cut out to be an entrepreneur. But the truth is that mistakes, setbacks, challenges, frustration, and confusion are actually positive indicators of learning and growth!!
By developing your persistence and resilience muscles, you are setting yourself for guaranteed success.
Love this blog! 🙂
So so glad to see you here, Deah!! Amen!! It takes so much SUSTAINED persistence over a LONG period to have those big wins. We do hear messages about how easy it is. I believed them when I first started, too. But oh dear, it was way more challenging than advertised!!!
I love how you talk about “developing your persistence and resilience muscles” because that’s spot on!! It’s not something we’re all born with, but we can cultivate them. Thanks for chiming in!!
I swear you were in my head with this! I actually had someone say to me yesterday: “it’s only been a month!” This is the first week I’m feeling really overwhelmed by how much I’m trying I learn and do. I’ve taken to journaling again daily, as a way to start my mornings gently and hone in on insights and underlying hopes, dreams, fears, and issues to be solved. Yet even that has felt heavy as there is just so much to accomplish!
Didn’t you know I implant secret mind-listening devices in your brain when you sign up for my list? (TOTALLY kidding!!) So glad to hear I’m doing my job well! 🙂
It takes A LOT to build these inlines businesses, so you’re right on to think “it’s only been a month.” I had a multi-year overnight success. It looks easy from the outside, but on the inside, it’s a totally different story!
You are definitely doing the right thing. Start the morning by looking at your thoughts and emotions. Give them space. I did that daily for one hour for years as I built my business. I know it helped, and I still give myself that space today. You will get there, one day at a time, one journal entry at a time. Wishing you the best of luck and hoping you’ll find all the support you need right here.
I so agree with you!
A mistake maker is a learning enthusiast! If you aren’t making them, you aren’t learning.
There’s so much freebies out there, and it’s easy to want to think that it should be overnight. I’ve worked my but (smartly — I think) for the last 1.5 years. I’ve made mistakes. The last one was a HUGE learning — I picked a coaching niche that “made sense” without considering what was really important to me. Working with a coach, I learned tonnes. I doubt that I should drop it because I invested. Yet, I already know where I should focus.
The other mistake is that I focused too much on the website, and not enough on actually turning contacts into paying clients. That started to change a few months ago.
Thanks for the reality check!
Love these lessons, Nathalie! Thanks for sharing them! We all have to go through growing pains and lesson-learning. There is no other way. I love how you’re looking at it through that lens because it will keep you going!!
And you’re totally right — focusing on getting paying clients over the little details of your website is totally the way to go! Keep it up!
Wow! Saw this at the perfect time!
I was tackling the unread messages in my inbox, and I had just finished reading a totally useless message from an author-turned-blogger whose published work I respect, but who has taken to promoting some really lame stuff due to nepotism. I found myself jumping to hit the “unsubscribe” button, feeling sad that this talented woman was “selling out”. And I felt kind of used, too. It’s as if she is just coasting on her fame, dishing out anything because she can.
The juxtaposition in my inbox of real value (from you!) versus coasting on a famous name puts me in mind of the fact that our culture tends to put forward people as successful, rather than behaviors. This easily allows us to buy into an all-or-nothing mentality and give up (or whine) when we decide that we are just not part of the demographic that is successful. We tend to glorify the myth of the overnight success, rather than loving and honoring the actions that bring success. This props up successful people even when they have bad ideas because we respond to them as successful people – like a teacher giving an A to a student who normally performs well but who happened to bomb a particular assignment.
The corollary is that we think we have to be magical or specially chosen in order to be successful. I love how you got to the heart of that myth and blasted it wide open. I’m a procrastinator and a recovering whiner, but mostly I am a doubter. I find myself doubting not my skills or my talents or my work ethic but my “fate” or something crazy like that. Thanks for this head-waggling, finger-snapping-in-Z-formation, oh-no-she-didn’t wake up call. I can do hard. I can do dedication. I don’t need to change myself into a successful person; I need to act — everyday — in a way that will make me successful.
I love your enthusiastic response! Thank you for the kind words!
You’re totally right hat we glorify overnight success over the work that it takes to really create success. We want it to be easy!
It’s great that you brought into the conversation the thought that we need to be magical or special and “chosen”‘ to be successful. It’s so not the case! We choose for ourselves to make it happen.
Thanks for chiming in, and I’m so glad I gave you the finger-snapping oh-no-she-didn’t wake up call. Made my day! xo
Thank you for being our business drill sergeant this week! Great blog, loved it 🙂
As Jenn (and others) said above: This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear today! I’ve been trying and failing & trying and failing for the past 10 years… but I don’t give up! The day I become famous, I’ll let everyone know that it didn’t happen overnight. 🙂