The Journey Continues

bylucinka77

372 followers

5 years ago

A few months have rolled by since my last post here at the W.A. I would like to share some thoughts about my journey here.

What I'd Like to Improve

I'd like - and I need - to improve the general speed of writing and publishing my articles. When I heard Kyle saying that a good article takes about an hour on average, I startled. I thought 'Why am I such a tortoise, taking hours (which usually turn into days) finalizing an article?!'

On one hand, I think it's good to be diligent and thorough, devote certain time to research, and then immerse yourself in the writing process, being present with it. Often when I revisit my article the following day, I see so many unnecessary things or get new, much better ideas, that I think it's good to 'let it brew' overnight or even longer. You can see I'm not a supporter or rushing things too much.

On the other hand, being a perfectionist could be counterproductive. I've realised that I have a need to clutter my articles with just every piece of info from my researches, and I often end up repeating myself and probably lose my readers' attention. Admitting this weakness has helped me to try to see things from the readers' point of view a lot more, but I know I still have to work on this a lot.

What I Celebrate (And What Preceded the Celebration..)

I'm happy to say that I've managed to improve my consistency in following the trainings here at W.A. Until quite recently, the whole topic of online business seemed such a huge mountain for me to climb, that I subconsciously tried to avoid proceeding further because of my fear of failure. When one imagines their goals too huge and distant, it can be very intimidating a demotivating.

Our primal instinct is to stay safe, and this is what I think was happening to me! Whenever I logged into my W.A. dashboard, the first thing I focused on was the people who were much further in their knowledge and achievements that I was, and I sadly allowed this to slow me down. Also, anytime a new training was announced (i.e. daily) I crumbled inside, thinking 'There’s just too much to learn! How can I ever grasp it all?!"

So I tended to postpone my training, and especially my end-of-lesson tasks. Instead, I would devote my time to other mildly challenging activities which would make me feel good about myself, such as designing a website for somebody else, or following a course on how to publish an eBook. Typical 'active procrastination'...!

One of my favourite activities that (in my mind) would justify postponing of my W.A. training, was frequent enrolling in personal development courses. I'd always say to myself: 'Let me personally grow a bit more and then I'll be able to face the training!'

So I went through a few courses, including a speed-reading course and a meditation course. The last course I did was a memory-improving course with Jim Kwik, the famous 'brain coach' and memory expert. One of the techniques he recommends to boost our brain-power and improve our concentration is learning the basics of juggling. I leaped at this task, because I knew it would take me some time and I could excuse myself - yet again - from my work at W.A....!

However, I must say that the process of learning to juggle has helped me to develop certain discipline and strengthen my willpower. I could not juggle at at all in the first days, but I said to myself: If I can learn the basics of juggling, then I'll also be able to continue my W.A. training! So I practiced every day for about two weeks, and one day the 'penny dropped', while the juggling balls did not! You can see this in the short video where I've documented my juggling adventure. (If you want to have a laugh. ;)

The Quote That Gave Me the Kick I Needed

Jim Kwik often uses brilliant motivational quotes. I have to share a few of them here because I feel they are relevant to all of us:

– First you create your habits and then your habits create you.

– Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right. (Henry Ford)

– The difference between a normal person and a champion is that a champion is willing to push past the pain period.

But one of his quotes in particular almost hit me in the head. It read:

– The treasure you seek is found in the task you’re avoiding!

Bang! I knew immediately what I had to do to find my treasure...! (We've all been there, haven't we?!)

After this almost enlightening moment, I've decided to incorporate my WA training into my non-negotiable morning routine. Not just something 'I should do at one point', or perhaps 'later in the day'...because it would never happen!

So, my mornings now comprise of a cold shower, a short yoga session, Donna Eden's 5-minute 'Daily Energy Routine', 15 minutes of meditation, and finally - at least 20 minutes on W.A. The trick is that committing to 20 minutes only will usually lead to a much longer session because within those first 20 minutes I'll get 'in the zone', and find it enjoyable to stay there. Working often magically transforms into 'playing'!

Consistency compounds, (another great quote) and the results of taking these small daily steps (which are not scaring me, because they are small) have already started to show!

First Affiliate Success

One tangible example of this is that I've managed to complete a rather detailed article about meditation, and soon after publishing it I received my first affiliate commission. A very nice sum of $90, for promoting a meditation course. I can't describe the feeling when I glanced at my Paypal balance and there it was, my first reward for sticking to W.A!

In fact, I'm sure I don't need to describe the feeling because you all know it too well! Or you will know it sooner or later. (Depends on how many personal development courses you decide to take in between...he - he.)

What added to the rewarding feeling was the fact that I had taken that meditation course myself, loved the results, and had been talking about it to just about everyone, so I guess the readers of the article could sense my genuine enthusiasm, and this probably helped their decision to purchase the course. Now I've finally experienced how it feels when someone says the otherwise clichéd, loved-by-scammers phrase 'make money by doing what you love'.

Learning More Every Day

With my newly developed routine I started to proceed through the training with more consistency and presence of mind, rather than seeing everything as a race or a competition. I am now three lessons away from completing the first course (Online Entrepreneur Certification) and I'm quite excited about starting the Affiliate Bootcamp within the next two weeks.

Also, I have just made my first attempts in advertising on social media. There have been a few bumps on the road, such as my W.A. ad being rejected by Facebook and Pinterest for 'violating their policy due to promoting Multilevel Marketing', but I am determined to prove them that W.A. is a genuine learning platform and an honest, transparent community, and not any six-figures-overnight scam. I have already got some much appreciated help from my friends here at WA as regards to this. (This is one of the great bonuses of being here: The constant, friendly support of other fellow members!)

I'm also waiting to get re-approved by Google AdSense who rejected me because of 'scraped content'. I was very surprised about this because I genuinely love writing my own content. Again, my W.A. friends have helped me solve the puzzle; the problem was that on a few occasions I used templates given to me by one of my affiliate companies, and I didn't edit the template text, thinking it was fine to publish the promotional text without changing it. I was obviously wrong and I have learned from my mistake.

I am so excited to continue this learning journey with you all, and I look forward to reading about your experience including your ups and downs, like my own. I love the fact that W.A. is a community of down-to-earth people who don’t have the need of pretending to live the 'perfect laptop lifestyle in the sunny Bahamas', (even if some of them do) but are here to share their real stories, good and bad, which creates a feeling that we are all on the same boat. And if anyone us feels overwhelmed or even scared (like I have) that we are here to help each other get back on board.