Why do hard things

When you're scrolling through the Twitter timeline on Money Twitter™️, you'll probably confuse it for gym Twitter. Why? Because money makers are generally disciplined people and are willing to sacrifice comfort for long-term gains. 

What kind of discomfort do you have to deal with?

Look, solopreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It just isn't. It's tough! Especially early on when you have to deal with low-rent poor clients. They will nickel and dime you to death, demanding Hemingway's Second Coming while offering no money. They are the worst. 

But the worst part early on is the lack of consistency. Low-budget clients are notorious for dropping you some crumbs and forgetting that you exist. Since you are working for a content mill, they will find another writer working for pennies on the dollar. 

Another discomfort that you'll endure is your work being ridiculed. At least with a content mill, your work will be torn to pieces by an editor who hates their life. I don't make the rules. 

But this article is not about how bad writing for a content mill or an agency is. 

No, this article is about why we do hard things.

Like trying to step out on our own in the first place. Do you know how terrifying it is to walk away from a career? I do because I did it. I was 38 when I decided to bet on myself and walk away from a generally good career. And I'd do it all again, only next time I'd get paid better and much faster. 

It takes some serious brass ones to walk away from the security of your career, and even more so the older you get. We are creatures of habit, so don't let anyone convince you that it is no big deal to leave something you love. Or even something you are just okay with but that provides security. 

The hard truth is that most people will never have a job as awesome as the one I left back in 2021. It was interesting, I had almost complete autonomy, my bosses knew nothing about what I did (I operated an airport), and it was quiet. Who could ask for more?

I could. I wanted more out of life than just comfort, as should you. Comfort traps us. It convinces us that we shouldn't demand more out of life. We should stay the course because it's easy, we like what we do, other people would envy us, etc. 

This is exactly why we should do something hard. Something that might not even make sense to most people. You will not grow until you are outside of your comfort zone. Why do you think that so many Money Twitter gurus are into ice baths, heavy lifting, BJJ, and other uncomfortable things? To expand themselves outside of comfort. 

And it works. 

Money is not the end game

Here's where the gurus get it all wrong: money is not the end game. Money is the vehicle. Like it or not, money is the track that the whole world rides on. Money moves everything. Money is leverage. Without money, you have no leverage. You have no leverage to leave the soul-sucking job because it is your sole source of income. 

Establishing second, third, fourth income streams is hard. Remember this and hold it close to your heart: there is NO SUCH THING as passive income. It is ALL active. Those books I sell? Outside of the time it takes to write and edit them, I am constantly promoting them. 

Websites that produce affiliate income? Someone built that website from the ground up. Wrote the content and learned to write posts that drive traffic. 

Income is never, ever passive. Maybe it appears that way down the road, but nobody else sees the huge effort that went into building it. 

But again, we aren't building our income for the sake of buying toys and soothing our miseries; I believe most middle-class men are obsessed with booze and toys because they are so unfulfilled by their lack of creativity. 

They obsess over sports teams because it provides a connection. I am not a sports basher, btw. I briefly played college football (okay, I was on the scout squad) at a small college, and I've helped coach my kid's softball and baseball teams many times. But there is a difference between this and the outright obsession we witness. This obsession is due to a lack of quality creative outlets in the rest of their life. They end up living vicariously through other grown men who work incredibly hard day in and out, perfecting their craft. 

While most of us do not have what it takes to become a professional athlete (sorry, kids, it just isn't in the cards), we all can intentionally do hard things to grow ourselves, to expand our perceived limitations. 

Again, this is why so many solopreneurs are into strength training, endurance training, and so on. We also probably all have addictive personalities, and it is a lot safer bet to grow your body in a healthy way than addictions, but that is another discussion for another time. 

Growing your own business is a hard thing. Putting 405 pounds on your shoulders and squatting it is a hard thing. Running a marathon is a hard thing (unlike the other two items, I have not done this one). But it is the hard things in life that define us. 

Parting thoughts

If you are wondering where to even start with all of this, your assignment today is mental: start making it a point not to avoid hard things. Don't go out of your way to do something detrimental or dangerous, but just stop avoiding hard things that will improve your life. Put down Amazon Prime for a week and start journaling. Log out of social media and read a good book. Go to the gym and lift heavy stuff. Push that 1-mile walk into a 3-mile run. And start that website, blog, or freelance career now. You don't want to look in the mirror in 365 days and realize you wasted it. 

And yes, I am going to promote my wares. 

Upwork is the easiest way to get into freelancing, and since the funds are protected, you won't get ripped off. Here's the blueprint for how I started my legit six-figure solopreneur business. 

Coaching may be for you if you are already doing this thing but are stuck in the swamp of low-paying agency work. I'll help you fine-tune your approach so you can really grow. I'm sorry, but you will never grow with agency work. It's an ok place to start, but you must get away from it as fast as possible. My coaching isn't cheap until you start thinking about all the money you are losing because you aren't growing. Then you realize it's a bargain.