Last Updated on July 9, 2020 by Early retired mom
If there’s one thing I have learned in life is that what you focus on expends. That means that our thoughts and where we put our time into has a big influence in what we achieve in life. Now I am a hippy or anything, but life did show me a few examples where this statement was always true.
For the past few days, I have been playing with the thought “Should I leave the corporate world?”
First, my answer to that questions is NO. And that really means, now is not the time to leave the corporate world.
The corporate world has provided me with great opportunities along the years to expend my knowledge, expertise, income and all of those are great things that I appreciate dearly.
To be able to retire earlier I need to save money to invest and to clear off my debt but also, I need to figure out how to increase my monthly revenue.
As long as I do not retire, I have no plans to leave my day job. I work from home today and having the flexibility to change my hours if needed so in that sense, I am very lucky.
So, how can I increase me income? I have a few options:
- find customers and provide consulting in my expertise
- work on this blog and hopefully within a year or two I will start generating money out of it
- explore other options to create online businesses (eCommerce website, Amazon drop-shipment and so on…)
- Get freelance projects in something that I can do from Upwork or some other freelancers’ websites
The thing is that with what my husband and I currently make it will take us much longer to retire.
Now it is all a question of effort and in each one of the cases, I will have to work hard to make it successful and something that actually generates money?
Isn’t a blog enough?
It probably is. There are many examples where blog owners made a very good amount of money on a monthly basis. The question that I ask myself, is should I split my time for my day job, running a blog and adding an extra option?
I guess the answer to that is? will my job keep me for the next coming years and how fast will I need to be able and generate extra income.
For now, I would like to put the focus into one business. They say “What you focus on, expends” so directing my energy to one direction will allow me to become more productive and also better learn how to operate a blog.
So here it is. Decision is made! No more wondering into different options, googling how I can make money fast.
How do I know it works?
There were a few times in my life that I have been thinking about this sentence and always found it to be true.
If you are interested in the science of it, you should read this article in Medium – The Science Behind Why You ‘Attract’ What You Focus On
It was specifically true when my husband and I were trying to have a baby for a few years and all that I saw was pregnant women. And I mean everywhere.
Now, I work from home so you can imagine that I would not be exposed to people as if I was working in an office building. But what a surprise. Pregnant women came into my view each time. When I was taking the elevator to go down with the dog. When I went to buy something at the grocery store. and we are talking all time of day.
I remember myself crying and saying, “I cannot see any pregnant women”.
Where the focus comes into play now is in my job situation. As I have shared with you before, we have 3 small kids. We have had them within a period of 1.9 months.
At the time, I was already a VP and when the twins were born, another department was added to my responsibility, so the work pressure was higher and trying to be perfect in all fronts created a lot of stress for me. I continue with that for a year. When my kids were sick my mom took care of them (I am so lucky to have her) and in general, things were working ok.
Inside I felt the pressure and knowing that I am not at my best. I am tired from sleepless nights waking up to 3 small babies and cannot find a lot of rest in the afternoons as we have a very tight routine trying to take care of all of them when leaving enough time for play.
My internal thought was occupying my mind.
A few days ago, my CEO told me that there is a reorganization (which I personally drafted). Unfortunately, there is not space for me as a VP in the new organization (which I anticipated). He later continues and said that he thinks it would be wise to step down and be more with the family. This is really cutting a long story short. Until we came to the point of that call with my boss a lot has happened. But it is not important. The point here is that we project our focus externally even if we do not think so.
If what you focus on expends, I should probably shift my focus
Being the practical person that I am, I know, deep within my hearth, that if I change my focus things will change. The funny thing I choose to focus on financial freedom rather than climbing the corporate ladder.
The thought of climbing again and proving myself to another boss is not something I fancy doing. So, I take a chance. Let’s escape the routine.
Who knows what’s waiting for me at the end of this path? Hopefully financial freedom.
I first adopted this mindset that what you focus on expenses many years ago, about 11-12 years ago. I generally always practiced it and I can say I have had great success. A positive mindset and openness to change has helped me through the years.
When I was in my 20’s, I’ve had this habit, before I go to sleep, to say thanks for what happened to me that day. And my life was going very smoothly, and I achieve a lot of my personal and career goals. Things were easy. And I knew that this habit of saying thanks contributed to my success. I acknowledged it back then.
Later on, I realized that what I did, unknowingly, is actually being thought in many motivational speeches and personal growth education.
I started by joining an MLM (Multi-level marketing) for a year. During that time, I learned everything I could about self-awareness. I have read books over books by Robin Sharma, Jim Rohn, Dale Carnegie and many more. I truly became this person who believes everything is possible for him if I just put my effort into it. Because what you focus on expends.
Then I took a plain and went on a 3 days intensive course called “The millionaire mindset” by T. Harv Eker. I then joined the full program going to different countries and attending different workshops. The workshops were on many topics, like presenting, how to deal with money, and change our mindset and believes about money. I even did fire walking – which was amazing.
Good things happened to me since. Then life took a slight sidetrack and I got distracted. I slowly drifted into the corporate word again.
The spirit is still there
But what didn’t fade is the mindset. Up to this day, I am a big believer in making our lives what we want it to be. I know what I focus on expends.
Now that we have a family, moving into another house which will be a bit bigger than what we have today. In general, our life journey is stepping into a new era.
I want to take the control back and focus on us, I on my kids and on me. Because it will enrich our lives, our experiences and our ability to envoy the simple things.
Yours,
Early retired mom