4 steps to get what you want without the stress and hustle

Hi! I'm changing this publication to bi-weekly for now. Publishing a newsletter every week became stressful and hurt creativity. Thank you for being here, and let's dive into this weeks topic:

Everyone out there seemingly wants two things:

More money, or more time.

Especially in the creator community this translates into posts, tweets and threads that tell you «How to make a fortune in 30 minutes» or «How I gained a billion followers with these 3 simple tricks».

Spoiler alert: One trick is to buy them. Don’t believe me? Watch «Fake Famous».

On the other side of that medal sit the realists.

It takes time. You have to be in for the long game. Just show up every day and you will get there.

So people do show up. They pour their wisdom and learnings out for the masses day in and day out. Some just show how cool their life is every day. Most gain a few followers with this approach, but the growth is somewhat slow.

The game is tedious and I do understand everyone that gives up.

Why am I telling you this? Not sure yet, let’s see where it goes.

It’s easy to swing from one camp to the other. Buy the strategy course, fail epically, then play the long game. Still nothing happens, but burnout and resignation are looming on the horizon.

So maybe just another course that will fix it?

I wish I had THE ONE answer to this. Not knowing how I could make a living off the things that interest me (let’s call that my niche) drives me nuts at times. I wreck my brain, I talk with friends about this, I contemplate hiring a coach.

One that knows what they are doing, not one of those self-help or marketing guru cult leaders.

And then I remember my niche.

My desire is to get people, myself included, away from this stress. Get them to relax more, to focus more on the well-being in their life and to trust that it will come.

According to the Law of Attraction things show up quicker if you allow them to come to you. So if you want more followers and paying clients, just state that desire.

I want more paying clients.

If your next accompanying thought is «But I don’t know where I would find them, or what to sell them even» you are already out of whack with your desire.

Which means, you and I are keeping the clients at bay.

Imagine this: Outside of your door stand 5 people. They would love to work with you. They appreciate your expertise, and they are sure you can help them get the results they want. All of them have a 1000 USD in their hands, eager to hand them to you.

What do you do?

You stand in your empty hallway on the other side, thinking «I don’t know where these clients are, so there is no point in even opening the door to look for them».

This week I have played this game big time. I have been engrossed in thoughts about everything that is not there yet. My faith in it all being on the way to me had faltered, although I deep down know it to be true.

As a result of these misguided thoughts I have been unhappy, tired, procrastinating. I was angry at people, I did not like myself, I hated what I saw in the mirror. My work suffered, I snapped at my colleagues.

This is not the way I want to live. And I’m sure you don’t want to either.

So here is the plan to change that:

1 Think positive about what you want

Think about the results of your work. How do you feel when you have delivered a project? See it in your mind.

In case you feel completely stuck, not even sure what you want to offer, try this approach (I’m currently at this level): I want to know what my niche is. I am so curious to find out what I can offer my clients. It is easy for me to pinpoint their struggles and problems, and find solutions for them. Their problems were my problems not so long ago, and I fixed it, and now I am ready to show them how to do it.

And so forth. If you really have no clue, keep it as general as possible. And then we just watch what happens.

2 Catch the idea when it comes

Keep the positive momentum going. You don’t have to think about your niche or ideal client constantly. Once you have established that, just keep going with the momentum of feeling good.

Go for a walk. Play with your kid. Cook a nice meal. Stay positive and happy.

Monitor your thoughts, especially anything that might be an idea. I am sure they will come, and when they show up just take note.

3 Your feelings are your compass

As long as you feel good, you are on the right track. Apparently it is that easy.

I’m still a student of this, not a master, and looking for evidence of that truth. But I’m willing to give it a shot. I mean, feeling good does feel good, so how can that be wrong?

In the back of my mind a voice whispers that it can’t be so easy. If it were, everyone would do it. And they don’t. Most hustle and strive, and torture themselves with long hours. No one feels good out there, everyone is tired and overworked and what not.

I don’t want to believe that voice anymore. I no longer want to buy into the idea that only very long hours and relentless doing can get you results.

Justin Welsh recently told his community that he worked on his second course for 97 hours over 40 days.

That’s roughly 2.5 hours per day. It’s doable, and with ease. And if you only have 30 minutes each day, it will just take you longer. But you will get there.

4 Find the sweet spot

Feeling stressed is not a good feeling. So is being so relaxed that you are basically bored, not knowing what to do with all that time.

Find the sweet spot where your projects excite you, you work on them regularly but without the stress of a looming deadline.

I have started on a workbook to guide myself (and others) through a series of questions that will connect me with my businesses in a positive way. It’s about creating a vision, get some ideas and work towards them from the space of feeling good.

Enough of creating from the need of making money. Enough of writing posts because I believe I need more followers. Enough of searching for a niche because everyone else already found one.

I’ve had enough of all that. If what I’m doing does not make me feel great, I will not do it anymore. When I’m not excited about what I put out in the world, then no one else will be either.

So here is to us, finding the sweet spot, the grandest vision and joyfully follow our dreams.

xo, Yvonne

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