Moving Along: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

bySuzanneLee

93 followers

4 years ago

When I joined WA in late November of 2018, I had every intention of jumping right into the training and progressing through it in record time. I had just lost my State job, my husband's job was ending in December, and we weren't going to have health insurance or income to begin 2019. Things were quite bleak.

I went through the first few lessons of Level 1, and then life got in the way. As a freelance court reporter, getting work from larger court reporting firms had to be my primary focus. I really had no choice. Unfortunately, "trying to exist" is all a person can do with that kind of work. It takes every spare moment of your time, and it takes a significant toll on your family.

When it came time to renew my premium membership with WA in late November 2019, I had a huge decision to make. My husband had just spent almost two weeks in ICU with flesh-eating bacteria in his foot. He lost a portion of his foot, along with his big toe, and he was facing months of wound care therapy. With Christmas looming and absolutely no money to spare, I had to decide how I could justify this kind of purchase.

I prayed, and I prayed a lot. I had an overwhelming peace that things would be okay, and I went ahead and purchased another year of WA premium. Off and on over the next month or so, I began investing what limited time I could to doing short bursts of training. I so wanted to have the time to be able to really focus and move through the training uninterrupted, but I was continuing to work, plus I had to provide daily wound care for my husband's foot on the days I wasn't taking him to see the surgeon. Time and money continued to be quite limited.

Suddenly several weeks ago, I found myself with plenty of extra time to dedicate to my WA training. Like millions of other people, the coronavirus situation changed life as we knew it. My workload went from up to 16 hours per day to zero. I never imagined I would have this kind of time to commit to writing content and building my website. I've done my best to take full advantage of it. During the quarantine period, I have made significant progress on getting my website set up, and I believe it's just a matter of time before I start to see some results.

At this time my website mainly consists of describing my services as a freelance court reporter, along with some limited content. Though I have been obtaining work through large court reporting firms, my goal is to obtain my own clients, which will mean significantly more income for me. This website that I am creating is the pivotal force to my success.

I'm so excited now to continue moving through the training. Though I'm just finishing up Level 2, I've learned so much I had no idea about before starting this adventure. Even when my court reporting work starts back up soon, I understand now how this program can be life-changing for someone with the dedication to stick with it. Of course, I realize I have a long way to go yet, but I'm motivated to pursue this path, regardless of how long it takes. Like the famous tortoise, every step I take brings the finish line one step closer!