Gratitude and Weathy Affiliate

My Journey to Wealthy Affiliate

My journey to Wealthy Affiliate started a number of years ago, when Wealthy Affiliate was just starting out. At that time, I think the deal was I had 30 days to try it out for free, then I would have to pay monthly.

My strategy was to get as much knowledge as I could for free, then shut down my membership so I could continue on with that knowledge and build my business.

It didn't work out.

Here are the reasons it didn't:

1. I didn't pay anything. That means I didn't have a vested interest in succeeding. Now that I'm paying for Premium membership, I'm way more motivated to keep going and work on it whenever I can.
2. I tried to get something of value for free. A close cousin to the point above, this means in my subconscious, I was trying to get something for nothing. (This was mostly fear based - I didn't want to lose any more money). This just doesn't work. In order for something to work well (or at all) for you, there has to be a value placed on it. Right now, I place a high value on my membership because currently, it takes up a significant portion of my budget. Because I put a high value on my membership, I try to squeeze as much training, support and action steps as I can from it.
3. I only gave myself a month. That amount of time, especially working full-time as well, wasn't nearly enough to explore the training, support and and tools fully. Now, I'm on my 3rd month and I feel I've just explored the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what's here at Wealthy Affiliate.
4. I wasn't willing to risk anything. Let's face it. Business is about taking a risk that in the long run, it won't work out. Yes, even here at Wealthy Affiliate, there are people who don't succeed (shocking, I know) :-o There are many reasons for this such as unrealistic expectations, lack of motivation, fear etc. But I've learned that true entrepreneurial spirit is about taking risks, keeping at it when things look bleak, looking at the unknowns and risk as the things that make it an adventure.

My Return to Wealthy Affiliate

After a number of years of looking at that other stuff (you know what I mean), I returned here. This time I have a whole new attitude.

1. I'm grateful for being here. My gratitude is not only for this great community, but to Kyle and Carson for building it and overseeing such a wonderful way of learning and growing in a very supportive environment.
2. I'm investing time and money. This time, I'm serious about investing my time and money into this. And guess what? I'm getting so much more out of it! Hmm.
3. I'm not pressuring myself about time. Now, this may seen contradictory to what I've been saying so far, but bear with me. What I mean here is that I'm not expecting myself to make a certain amount within a month or 3 months or I quit. What I am expecting myself to do is to spend at least an hour a day on this. The results will happen with consistent effort and enough time.
4. I'm being kind to myself. This is really important. If I have a goal of spending an hour each day at Wealthy Affiliate and get sick or I need to do some emergency repairs or maintenance or something else really important gets in the way of that, I don't beat myself up. I try to look at each day as a new beginning. A new chance to make my commitments here afresh. Like a gentle parent, I mentally pick myself up, brush away the dirt, and send myself on my way with a blessing.

Please let me know about your journey.

I'd be really interested to hear about it (what's like mine and what isn't).

Blessings and Namaste,

Michael