Your story may be my story. You have dreams, a vision, or just a thought that you want to turn into reality. But you allow life to hold you back. Grab a cup of coffee and read my story. It may inspire a change in your story.
This morning, the time change had me up earlier than I would have liked. Despite the time, I made my coffee and embraced the silence of my sleeping house.
Unfortunately, I scrolled Instagram and Facebook out of habit to pass the time. But today, something was different.
Across my feed, several ads were directing me to business coaching pages.
I’m no stranger to business coaching. I have been an ag business coach for several years, and business coaches have mentored me throughout my career.
But, despite my urge to scroll past these ads, I sat with them for a while.
Let me interject a bit of history here.
A History Lesson
Running in Boots has been my starter blog. It’s always been something that I have started and stopped several times over. The first thing to be taken off the stove, not just slid to the back burner, when my life has taken over.
Over the past few years, I have been in a deep depression. It’s one of those things I couldn’t see until I was on the other side.
I would live bogged down in everyone else’s lives and needs until I no longer knew what I was living for.
The “start/stop” of business made me feel even worse because I was failing myself on top of all the other things I let slip through the cracks.
Don’t get me wrong. I have been successful in many aspects of my life. But seeing what you haven’t accomplished is easier when times are hard.
Real proof of my lack of accomplishment.
THIS MORNING’S LESSON
As I was setting my phone down, I saw the words of an Instagram Reel: “Decide the life you want, then choose your career.”
Wow.
Those words are profound.
I wish I had caught the author of those words because they now symbolize a turning point in my personal history.
This is why I felt the need to write this post. I want to document this moment.
Even though it’s likely no one will read this, I want to know where I came from.
MY LIFE’S VISION
To paraphrase Lewis Carroll: If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
So, today, I am deciding where I am going.
I am making an impact while making an income where time and money are limitless.
My work hours are flexible because my lifestyle is untraditional.
The multiple income streams provide everything my family will ever need.
I have built a community of rural women who are taking my lessons in life and turning them into their own dreams.
THE ANTICIPATED OBSTACLES ALONG THE WAY
Editor’s Note: I laugh as I sit back down to write. I just returned from the pens, where I spent thirty minutes assisting a down cow to stand. I know my rural gals get this. I feel a strong calling to help these types of women create a Rural Lifestyle Business.
One of my income streams comes in the form of livestock. My partner and I have a cattle company that is housed with me. This means that most of the time, feeding, doctoring, and maintaining the animals’ overall health are my responsibilities.
So, aside from the twice-a-day feedings, there may be animal emergencies that I didn’t factor into my day.
My family and I participate in many committees, clubs, and public events. This means my time is not always my own.
During my depression, my home and health were not my priorities. Between these two significant factors in my life, I will need to allocate time for cleaning and organizing my home and reintroducing fitness into my schedule.
Consistency is something I have struggled with, thanks to my lack of confidence and ADHD. I know I’m not alone here!
Money and financial well-being have recently been a struggle for me. I have fallen for the dopamine hits that buying something has satisfied me during my depression. But, since I wasn’t working on my income streams, my spending choices were not replenished.
As you can see, time and money are the most significant obstacles to building the lifestyle business I want. However, both of these obstacles can be remedied with planning.
Think about your obstacles. When you know what you’ll be facing, you can prepare an action plan to sidestep derailment when this happens.
DAILY HOME TASKS
Currently, my husband is the primary income producer. With that, I take on many of the home tasks along with running my businesses.
When you have kids, there seems to be an almost doubled experience of work that needs to be handled for them and because of them.
These things never go away no matter how much they have a hand in helping and how old they are.
Here are a few home tasks that I am learning to incorporate around my business:
- Grocery shopping and meal planning
- Cleaning and organizing
- Laundry (so much laundry)
- Picking up and dropping off at school and extra-curicular activites
These items may vary according to your story. I don’t know about you, but I would love to hire someone to do these things for me.
MY SKILLS
It would be easy for me to sink into the mindset of scrapping everything and starting it from scratch. But here’s what I do have:
- Blogging and writing knowledge
- Social Media Management background
- Web and Graphic design history
- The knowledge of the importance of building an email list
- an existing email list
- an online store
- many digital and physical products that can be reintroduced
- a Business Bestie who has simial goals and dreams
- An already established stream of income while I work through this business 🙂
You have skills. Something that you can turn into a version of success you are looking for. Make a list of what you know and what you need to know.
IS MY STORY YOUR STORY?
What do you think?
Are you feeling that starting over vibe?
If you feel the urge to start something of your own, or start over with what you have – let’s go.
