Why I am here - a short life story

bymarkjowen

211 followers

10 years ago

So - why am I here? "Here" being Wealthy Affiliate.

...Probably, the same reason everyone else is here ... to learn.

That's nothing special about me. My situation is probably not unique. And my path to WA is, also, probably not unique.

Me and my Blog

After working 20 years in IT, I still did not know what I thought about things. I knew what others thought (because that's what I read on the internet), but I didn't really have my own thoughts. So I started a blog.

And I wrote. It was a hobby, and it did help. First, I wrote about what I knew, and then I started writing about things that I wanted to know more about. It was a technology blog, but I delved into psychology, and sociology, and all sorts of non-technical stuff.

I really enjoyed writing and did it as a hobby. I didn't actually care whether anyone read it or not. I was just happy to be able to put pen to paper in a public way. (Having said that, I did keep an eye on the stats and got excited if there were more than 20 visitors.)

That was in 2010. As I mentioned, blogging was a hobby, and I was still a man of job security. Being employed to work 40 hours a week was, for me, the way it was meant to be. In fact, I would often put in longer hours just to be seen "doing the right thing".

And after these long hours, and after giving time to my family (two daughters and a wife), I would still feel driven to write for my blog. And still, only as a hobby. The idea of "making money" from my blog repulsed me...

My Vision

Then, earlier this year (2016), I happened to do a Udemy course on Goal setting. I do a lot of these courses, and normally end up the same after them, as I was before starting them. This time, however, I paid attention. Part of the course required me to describe a perfect day - and anything was possible. I did this, and the result was interesting. It was valuable actually putting it down on paper.

From that vision, I then needed to work out goals that would allow me to reach that vision.

Here's my perfect day:

I’m living in a house by the water - very close to nature.

I wake up without any stress or feeling tired.

I have a relaxed breakfast with my wife, and the girls. I go for a walk along the beach.

My day continues with some writing, maybe some research. A little bit of photography. II cycle regularly exploring the surroundings and cycle long distances.

I help my wife with her work.and we have 2 nice cars.

My daughters come back from school and we have fun together, having intellectual conversations. In the evening, My wife and I go out for dinner or take the family out. Or we just cook a great meal together.

Whenever we get the chance, we go out exploring the country, and other countries.

Nothing about "being employed"

In that vision, there was nothing about "working for a great company", or "getting paid $XXX". That told me a lot.

After a bit of soul-searching, I realised that I didn't actually like working...(at least for someone else).

So - what about my blog...?

And that's when I started exploring passive income. I knew that getting into real estate wasn't something that I felt comfortable about. But blogging...aah, now that was something that I knew I could do.

The trick though was that writing a blog to earn income from, was way different than writing as a hobby. To write to earn an income required writing something that people wanted to read.

I started (binge) listening to podcasts by successful entrepreneurs (Pat Flynn amongst others), and reading whatever I could find. My chrome browser, even today, has 45 tabs open with content that I just need to read.

I also started signing up for whatever I thought would help me make that step towards passive income.

Too much...

And I started drowning in information. I didn't know where to start. Everything I read was useful. Every podcast that I listened to was packed with content. My head started bubbling with enthusiasm at all the great ways to start driving traffic to my blog, and earning an income.

Wealthy Affiliate

And that's what brought to Wealthy Affiliate. It was another source of great ideas.

But, it was also a place where I jammed on the brakes and forced myself to get out of the car, and start walking at a leisurely pace. To look at the scenery, in the shop windows, and to look at the notice boards. A few people even wandered over my way to say a friendly hello.

So, I thought to myself..."Let's stay here for awhile". I found myself a place to stay and started integrating myself into the community. I signed up for some courses and made the decision to go through things step-by-step.

It's nice to be here. It's nice to be able to take things slowly. And it;s nice to be with other like-minded people.

If you see my wandering around, or in a class, feel free to give me a wave.