2016 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for me. Hallelujah! I feel ten years younger and thirty pounds lighter (neither of which is reality).

 

Now that I’m more than halfway through The Fear and Anxiety Solution (a book I didn’t even think I’d need!) and self-correcting because of what I’ve learned from it, and now that I’m raking in emailed requests for personalized copies of my upcoming DeForest Kelley book, plus the fact that I’ll be parting with an authentic autographed photo of De mid-month to a collector for a nice sum of money, I sense momentum that I haven’t enjoyed for years.  I’ll also be dog-sitting for three weeks starting on the 9th, so my estimated taxes can get paid on the 15th without strapping me for the other things I need to ride herd on.  It feels FABULOUS!

 

Mid-year two additional annuities will kick in, and I’ll be on Medicare, so my passive monthly income will increase by right around $500 .  That is going to feel sooo great because I’ll be able to pay off my business credit card within months and my home equity line of credit by the end of 2016 and then raise my monthly mortgage payments so my sis and I can get this property paid off by the time she retires in four years. We owe just over $80K on the mortgage, I think. We’ve been paying it off at a good clip for almost eight years now… Our 30-year mortgage will be paid off in less than 15 if all of this goes according to plan.

 

Can I tell you how great it feels to be thisclose to no longer having to worry about whether enough people will hire me from month to month to be able to make ends meet? If you’re in the same boat, you can certainly relate (and I’m sad to say, too many people are in the same boat). If you aren’t, you have no idea how stressful it can be to be hanging on by your fingertips while giving it everything you’ve got to simply to maintain the status quo let alone begin to get ahead.

 

If anyone ever tells you it’s EASY to be an entrepreneur–a Creative, especially–run in the other direction. The people telling you this are snake oil salesmen.  It has been almost ten years since I hung my shingle as a copywriter/content writer, and I have written millions of words for clients and for myself, and attended months’ worth of networking meetings, and spent months looking for work. At times it felt utterly futile: for a very long time I figured I was making less than minimum wage after I factored in all of the non-billable hours I spent on outreach, quotes that weren’t accepted, and other disappointing activity.

 

Tenacity matters.  Working for yourself may seem easier than working for an employer because there is no riding herd on you and you don’t have to deal with office politics and other infuriating crap, but it’s a non-stop endeavor, for sure. You have to keep putting one foot in front of the other to stay motivated and productive. There is no leeway. You sink or you swim every day (and eventually) as a direct result of the time and effort you put into your vision of where you want to end up. It isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s excruciating.  But if your “why” is big enough, you can bear almost any “how.”

 

My “why” has always been about blowing my clients out of the water so they leap like playful dolphins because of the way my copy or content is converting for them. The money is nice, but unless it’s accompanied by 110% thrilled clients, I don’t get the rush that I want.  I’m always out to get the rush!!! I love it when clients’ grins are so huge that I can “hear” them over the phone or see them in person.  THAT’S worth more to me than cash.  I can carry visions of my clients’ happiness forever. And I do.