I Chose to Follow my Dreams at 35 as a Mama of Four under Seven— you can too
This is a story of persistence and the moral of it is that little steps in the right direction is a viable strategy to success. However you define that.
A side hustle is a difficult thing to accomplish when your life takes more energy than you have.
Let me explain, I have a chronic illness called fibromyalgia. It is characterized by chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia. At my best estimate, I have about 70% of a “normal” person’s energy and a wonky charging capability. This is after a lot of work and improvement, previously it would have been 50–60%.
Working 20 hours per week in addition to having children takes everything I have. So, how then, did I manage to grow my side hustle/passion?
- Very slowly
- Inconsistently consistent
- Efficiently
Let’s delve into this more and flesh out how it applies to you.
Very slowly
I have put together a blog with over 300 posts, a YouTube channel with over 100 videos, some products and accompanying social media very slowly- over about eight years.
My first posts didn’t have pictures and I did not understand SEO.
Very slowly I learned:
- About creating graphics on Canva (a free online graphic design site)
- Using Pinterest
- Creating videos and editing them (my videos are not fancy at all)
- Running Facebook groups
- How to create mini courses
- How to promote blog posts
Your takeaway
There is a lot to learn — take it one thing at a time.
Inconsistently consistent
I have shown up and published the posts. One at a time, sometimes one a week, sometimes one a month, for eight years.
It has been in fits and starts because I have four children under seven, a shift-working husband, fluctuating health and another job.
Your takeaway
Keep going no matter what. Your dreams deserve the long-game.
Efficiently
How do I manage all of this? Efficiently.
When ideas come to me I jot them in Google Keep. Sometimes they are fully formed, sometimes it’s just a skeleton of an idea. This is done “in life” — often while holding a baby.
Then, when I have a moment, I sit at the computer and get the post published. I have created a system that I follow every single time.
Your takeaway
Create systems and stick to them. Be as efficient as possible.
Where does this leave me today?
With a very real chance at taking my inconsistently, consistent work and making this my part-time income so that I don’t have to add a traditional job back into the mix when this maternity leave ends. That would be unsustainable.
My passion is to create content that helps people. My audience is not wealthy, people with chronic illness often work part-time or not at all. So my income streams are small. But I will persist in trying to leverage what I have created in order to live my dreams.
If you are curious about that journey follow me here.
What is one step you can take today for your dreams?
