Coffee with a Rebel Podcast 

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Show Notes 

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Building a business will challenge you 
• Morning or evening routine matters 
• Doing and being different is ok

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Full Episode Transcript

Building a business will challenge you in many, many ways. It was just a few years ago that I felt like I was in this downward spiral. You know, every morning I would get up and do the work I believed I needed to do, try to live as if, and end it almost in financial ruin. And there are a few things I learned along the way. Here are a few things that I know about myself that really make this important to me is that I am not a quitter. If anything, it makes me push harder. And well, that was kind of the problem. I think in a lot, a lot of ways. And as I was sitting in my office, I reflected on what has changed for me. And while I still work hard, it's no longer feeling difficult and overwhelming. And I wanna share some of these things with you because maybe they resonate with you in some kind of way.

First and foremost, I believe business and life need to be on your terms. It's easy to get wrapped up, in how other people are doing things. And if we believe that if we do them like other people, life is just going to be grand. The reality is that we are living on someone else's dreams and terms, and not really in tune with our own, but the moment you get clear on that, you start aligning your goals and your actions in such a way where that makes sense to you, which is where the goal set and toolkit that I have comes in. It's designed to help you really call in or out if you will, of what you want to be doing half in life. And then you get to figure out how to make that happen on your own terms, money. Isn't a true motivator necessarily.

It might be for some people. Sure. I'm not gonna discount that for me, it's a mere bonus for the work that I like to do. I mean, yes, I like money just like everybody else, but it isn't a motivator of why I create more art or why I help people get started with their goals. Right? I love helping people. I love supporting them. I love helping them remove the excuses to challenge their beliefs in some kind of way and take action so that they can do what they want to do. The money I make in that process is a bonus. I mean, you know, I'm a business and I have business has to make money and I have to survive, but it really, when it comes down to it at the end of the day, it's a bonus for what I get to do every single day.

And reading is really the essence of your growth. You've heard it probably say, you've heard me say it before that I stopped reading self-help books. And I have several of them still on the list that I wanna read through at some point, but I'm no longer chasing something that needs to be fixed. I'm reading them on a different level, more of a curiosity of how did they do it differently versus me trying to chase the thing that needs to be fixed within me because I'm not freaking broken. You probably heard me say to if you've listened to previous episodes that I used to be an avid reader, usually related to crime of some kind and then only in the last four years started reading paranormal shifter romance, which tends to be pretty X-rated. But what else? I like it guilty, pleasure don't care.

But even in those particular books, I can find nuggets. I can apply it to real-life situations because a lot of times those readers use real-life situations in their books, even though it's fiction, there are still real-life components in that. And reading whether it's fiction or non-fiction can expand your knowledge and grow you as a person, there's always something new to learn, and there are different ways to get that information. But one of the key things that I believe is also important is that no matter what you're reading, whether it's a fiction or non-fiction book and you are gathering these nuggets if you will, you have to implement the things that you're learning. Like if you find that there was a concept that you've learned that you would like to apply to your life and have in your life, then, then you have to implement that.

So the other thing that I've discovered, and that may not be true for everybody, because again, we are all very different. We operate in different ways. Some of us are ND, and some of us are not having a morning routine that supports us and morning is whatever morning is to you. Your morning might be afternoon, that's fine, right? Like there's no that's whatever that is for you. I wasn't always aware of my morning routine other than drinking my coffee. That is how I start my day with my coffee. I started reading the artist way some years ago and began this daily journaling practice and then added reading time. And when I worked through 75 hard, which I had to stop due to injury, there was this other component, again, of reading 10 pages of a personal development book. That's probably the only way I would actually read a personal development work, but it's been really, really helpful to me to create that morning routine. And it really starts out with drinking my coffee, doing my journaling, depending on the workout that I'm doing that day. I usually do that right after my journaling and then get into my workday. It just helps me get my day started. And that may be different for you, maybe for you, it's even slower than what I'm doing, right? For me that usually it's like,, I get up around six-ish, sometimes seven, I drink my coffee. I do my journaling. I do my workout. That's about two to three hours.

No work gets done before then. And then I do work for the rest of the day until dinner time. And then no work gets done after that. But your morning routine can help you set up your day, the way you need to. There have been days where I've coffee and my workout is later in the day and I've literally drank coffee. Did my journaling get straight into work? Um, it just depends, but it starts with coffee and journaling straight up, nothing else, maybe for you, it's more of a bedtime routine where that is important, but create a routine that helps you get ready for the day, whether it is to journaling, meditating, working out, whatever it is that helps you wake up if you will. I hate doing meetings first thing in the morning, like nine o'clock for me is still first thing in the morning.

And there's been part days where I had to teach a workshop in my community and I had to be there by nine and it just stresses me out. So if it stresses you out, you need to figure out a way around that. But having a morning routine that supports you is important. My morning routine may not make sense to you. That's cool. This one can be very, very challenging for many, many people, and that's stepping away from social media so that you can get things done. When I first started my journey of, business ownership, I absolutely got sucked into Facebook. Like that was the big thing, right? Everyone shared how amazing it was to build your business. But within six months I was freaking burnt out from it. And that was in 2015 like I was done, but communities and platforms like a circle that I'm using now didn't really exist.

So it was like, I'm forced to be in this Facebook world now I use it very differently. And the thing that I think got me back then is that there, there were people telling you to be vulnerable, to give value, to answer questions, but in a lot of those groups, it literally just became a spam Fest. And I'm noticing this in my circle community as well. People are only commenting on market day or Freebie Friday, which really pisses me the hell off. I'm trying to create a community, please come in on the other days and start sharing who you are like nobody's gonna buy from you. If they don't know who you are. I don't understand why people don't get that. But anyway, back to the things that I learned over the years. And so I stepped away from groups and block out from social media.

And before I knew I found myself getting things done that I wanted to get done. I was writing books, making coloring books, and making art. And every time I find myself getting sucked into social media, I remember I was like, Hey if you don't do this, you can do that. And I also remember the times before social media, I used to get so much more done before social media ever existed. Even during myspace times, I was getting way more done than I had since the invention of Facebook. And so I always try to go back to that and remember, like, you can't get things done. You're just gonna have to shut things off. Um, so maybe that's helpful to you. So one of the things that I've learned in business too, is that staying true to your own values and feelings is really, really important.

I have three primary values that I aim to embody every single day, freedom, peace, and joy. If my activities don't provide me with those feelings alone or in a combination of them, there's a good chance I don't do them. So I often ask myself, how can I feel free today? How can I feel at peace today? And how can I feel joy? And usually, anything that I do and, and encompasses all of those feelings. Because when I write a blog post, I feel at peace because I know I'm helping somebody. When I make art, I feel joy. And when I look at my schedule, there's freaking freedom because I can shift it, change it however I want. So I feel free pretty much every day. And then one of the last few things that I've learned in those last seven years really is that being open to opportunity and possibility can and will bring achievement.

Because when you get clear on the life and business you want, and you actively take action while also being open to all of the things that are possible, your life can and will look different. There are some things you are not able to imagine right now. And I say this because seven years ago when I started full-time business ownership, I never imagined sponsoring a bare-knuckle fighter, a music festival, or a band going on tour. And I have since done those things because I was open to the opportunity and possibilities. Yes, there's a motive for me, right? Like it's about visibility. Like, Hey, look what I did, but I'm also helping somebody else achieve their dreams and goals, which has always been my number one, passion. The visibility I get through the advertising that happens is I bonus because ultimately I get to do something that I feel very passionate about, which is supporting people with their dreams and goals, period. End of story.

And all of those things combined together can really help you make and light your life and business, the funniest journey you've ever been for. It's not always gonna be good. There are some days that are going to be really, really, really, really hard and you're questioning everything. But then there are moments that are just so thrilling. Like I'm thinking about Artusga right now, as there are on tour and I get to support them in this process because you know, why not, why not help them towards their dreams and even the music festival? Like I sponsor medal in the mountains in West Virginia, and they've had to do some changes this year, but I am so excited to be supporting this festival and make it such a great experience for people that enjoy and love the music that is being booked on that day and sponsoring a bare-knuckle fighter.

Andrew has an amazing, amazing story. And he's overcome a lot, like he's overcome a lot and he continuously works on his dreams and goals. And I just admire the out hell of that. I just admired that much that why would I not support him?

Like I love people who tend to be the underdog and I'm sure at some point he felt, and maybe still feels that way. He and I haven't talked in a while, but he's out there training and doing and having these fights. And I'm just so excited for him to follow that passion of his, that it was almost a no-brainer for me to like, yes, let me throw some money at it because that's how I can make a difference and make an impact in other people's role too. It's not just about the coaching and consulting I get to do, but it's about how other ways I can make a difference. And when my business makes money, I will set money aside to sponsor different things so that I can support them.