Know Your Why: The Fuel to Keep Going

Life is tough, and saving money is hard. Can I alleviate some of that pain point for others? What is all of this for? Let’s get into a psychology post today.

It is tough being a student, working full-time while working on growing a side hustle. I am putting energy and effort into all three and sometimes my brain is just mush by the end of the night. I am full of inefficiencies at the moment in my side hustle work, one day it will be much more efficient and not like I am dragging a boulder up a hill. Getting eyeballs on the side hustle world is very difficult. How do you maintain your values and still get eyes on products when the majority of the world is moving away from high-value work? Consistency is very important but finding an audience has proven to be difficult. Marketing has never been my strong suit but that is an amazing byproduct of starting a business. You have to do everything, so you have to make it work. You have to learn. Gain more skills and become more well-rounded than you ever have before. In the beginning, you are it. And because of this, it can be very tiring. Having a strong WHY gets me through all the difficulties and inefficiencies. I know why all the struggle is worth it. I feel like everyone should have a why because life gets hard and if you can tap into that fuel source, it can push you into driving forward.

What’s mine?

I have time on my hands. My job isn’t extremely brain-taxing at the moment, so I have energy after I get home from work. I have no kids, I’m not in debt. This is the best time to go a little high-risk. The more I gain in responsibilities the harder it gets. People I know don’t have that luxury, so I must maximize that opportunity and create something. Why not me? Why can’t I create value that can make someone’s life better?

Because of this time on my hands, I know I can help my family later on.

My momma gave me as many opportunities as she possibly could. She made me take the ACT 3 times to get free college and helped me study. Took time out of her day to make sure I had the chance to further my education. Helped me pass all my classes because she had to make the trip to Walmart when I told her I had to do a poster board presentation the night before. I was a terrible student. But she pushed me so I could pass all my classes and graduate high school, even though I was ready to run away on certain nights. She has been a teacher for 35 years and she is 57 now. Her retirement isn’t good enough so she can’t leave yet even though she wants to. She just doesn’t know what else is out there, so she stays in a tiring situation. She won’t get to give up teaching until she is 62 and I would rather not have her working at the school much longer. She has expressed interest in being a travel agent into retirement. And perhaps retire earlier if it makes some money.

With me living in Orlando, knowing a lot about Disney, and having time on my hands. Why can’t I do it? If I show her progress and the ability to make money. I bet she would be able to retire and work part-time for me. Wouldn’t that be awesome to retire my mom from being a schoolteacher? That is huge fuel for me! It is also Mother’s Day week and just thinking about everything she has done is incredible.

My aunt is in a similar situation, she works a job she doesn’t like to fund retirement more. She also would be great at being a travel agent. 

Also, I can help my lovely girlfriend who would like to only work part-time while she raises a kid. No kid yet so I have to work to give her that opportunity to take a step back in the income scale. I would love to do that. I have the curiosity to make it happen, the time to make it grow. To help me leave my job and then help others leave their job. Wow. At first, I just wanted to be on the travel blog scene. But if I can grow it into a travel agency and bring on more people? That would be a score. I have two and a half years to build it up and hit my goal of retiring my mother from school teaching. If I continually get better, build up that marketing muscle, I believe I can do it. This part of my why is incredibly strong and it pushes me when I need the extra fuel. Especially during this inefficient time. 

Master of my Schedule

I am typing this at work on a break while I am sick as a dog. I am not contagious, but I would’ve loved to stay at home today. Doing unfulfilling work for a majority of my life seems to be the wrong way to go about life. I only get one shot at this life so why not enjoy myself and not waste 9 hours a day just to pay the bills? Limited paid vacation. Hours of commuting. A boss giving me tons of unfulfilling work where I don’t feel like I’m helping anybody. Just looking for Friday seems wrong. If I just put in loads of work in the front end, I could be the master of my schedule one day and that is truly appealing to me. One of my favorite days of adulthood was skipping work on a paid vacation day, driving an hour to get a pie that my family LOVED. It was so fulfilling to me. Just a small gesture using my time and treasure.

Speaking of Fulfillment

I touched on this briefly, but I want to work on stuff that matters. That I am improving society. At the moment, I feel like I am not, and it is a crappy feeling. Just clock in, type, clock out. My brain and heart aren’t in my work. Just working for a paycheck. I have always felt fulfilled while working on many business ideas. Back then I used to not care about helping others. But being of service to others and alleviating pain points brings me the most fulfillment. The family of four that I had never met before. Also, it would give me extreme confidence knowing that I was the one that helped them. Helping others matters to me so if I can make a business that can make a difference in other people’s lives, that would mean everything to me. 

Having a strong why is incredibly important to me. It gives me fuel when I need it to get by the harsh days. Life can be difficult for sure but if you know what you want and why you want it. You can push yourself into heights you have never seen before. My consistency has surprised me for sure. Know your why.