Simplify Your Life &
Align with Your True North
Cop-out or Commitment to 10X
What feels like a commitment to you, may look like a cop-out to others.
That’s what happened recently when I called off a new project even before it began.
10x is easier than 2x.
Blog #138: Cop-out or Commitment to 10X
Photo by Rohan Reddy on Unsplash
What feels like a commitment to you, may look like a cop-out to others.
That’s what happened recently when I called off a new project even before it began.
The project was a new YouTube interview series where I would chat with web designers, freelancers, and content creators. The aim: to help freelancers build and grow their solopreneur business online.
It was exciting. Four people booked to be guests. But as it got closer to getting things organized, I felt this increasing unease. After a day of feeling a knot in my stomach, I called it off.
From the outside, this looks like a cop-out. I seem unreliable and flip-floppy in my decisions. But on the inside, this took courage. Courage not only to write that message to my guests but courage to stay committed to my Unique Ability.
I was committing to my Unique Ability.
What is “Unique Ability”?
At the start of this year, I learned deeply about this idea in the book, 10X is Easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. They write that your Unique Ability is “where you have superior skills, where you’re intrinsically motivated and are energized and engaged, and it’s where you see a never-ending possibility for improvement.” It’s about becoming familiar and really clear about what you like and dislike and that your judgments about your experience are completely valid. It’s becoming open to your preferences and not letting other people’s opinions about what you do affect you.
”Unique Ability is qualitative and individual, it’s extremely unique value that only you can create…It’s a combination of a degree of skill as well as an extreme degree of uniqueness.” - Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
It’s akin to what I have heard Oprah Winfrey in her talks and speeches mention repeatedly when she said, “I want to fulfill the highest, truest expression of myself as a human being.”
But as the authors write in the book, committing to one’s Unique Ability is the “hardest and most intense thing you will ever do.” It’s about taking inventory of where you are investing your time and what activities are taking up your mental bandwidth.
That takes courage. Saying no to invitations is hard. Choosing to work a 4-day week is not easy. Filling up your calendar with the most important items will lead to very little time remaining for anything else. And canceling projects you asked your guests to join, not just once, but twice, does feel awkward.
“I want to fulfill the highest, truest expression of myself as a human being.”
Facing One’s Ego
Sometimes you’ve got to face your past decisions. The first time I canceled the YouTube interview series was because I had already a very full schedule and I was trying to squeeze-in one more thing into my calendar. I could see that I was moving toward burnout very fast this way. So I dropped the project.
The second time I canceled the project was out of a renewed sense of self-awareness.
"As you develop your Unique Ability...You'll stop forcing yourself to do anything you don't want to do. You'll accept and live by what psychologists call pull motivation, rather than push motivation. When you're pulled by what you want and what excites you, that's freedom and intrinsic motivation. You'll no longer operate based on need, but want." - Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
After taking time to reflect on my goals, I realized that starting the interview series was based on a need, not a true desire or want. I was giving in to this idea that creating a YouTube interview series is something I "should" do because I heard or read somewhere that this is a great way to build an audience and grow my business. Although I was excited about meeting the guests and asking them questions, the whole logistics of conducting the series, editing, and putting it all together was something that had begun to drain me. Sure, I can outsource all of that but the project as a whole was making me feel out of my element. I started to get this feeling that I should dye my hair, buy new makeup, and change who I essentially am so I can be “good enough” to host the show!
Changing myself to be “good enough”! Phew! These are all signs that I was embarking on this project because of some idea that was not inherently mine. It was not an authentic desire driving me forward. It came from a feeling that I “should do” this. And that is not healthy or wholesome.
Questions You Can Ask Yourself When Making Decisions
If you are faced with a decision and don’t quite know which path to take, ask yourself these questions. Then assess if a project or a decision is something you want to embark on and if it’s helping you towards your 10x goals.
Is this in alignment with my Unique Ability?
Is this something that is fun, enjoyable, or inspiring?
Will this project help me explore the edge of my 20%?
Letting Go is Part of Embracing The 20%
One of the ideas in the book is about letting go of the 80% to focus on the 20%. This 20% is the edge where you take what you are really good at and get even better. It’s connected to going 10x which is an ongoing process of increasing the quality and decreasing the quantity of what you do. The 20% of everything you do is where the magic lies, allowing you to focus on the 10x goals, and that requires you to focus on fewer things than many.
Letting go more and more of the 80% that takes up your time is essential if you want to go 10x. This doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating it altogether, of course; it can mean delegating to a new hire or automating the tasks. But it is also about letting go of that which is not serving your 10x goals.
Committing to Your Unique Ability
As I read the chapter on Unique Ability in the book, I realized that if I am not enjoying the things I am doing in my business, then I shouldn’t be doing them. Either eliminate or delegate. As soon as I made the decision to call off the interview series, a knot in my stomach seemingly released. I felt at ease. I felt free.
Diving deeper into what inspires me, I realize that what I truly want to do is write and share ideas, insights, and strategies that can help online entrepreneurs and freelancers succeed. It’s not making YouTube interview videos unless I can tap into it from a true desire that brings joy and excitement and I am open to that happening at a later time.
Letting go of something you’ve started is okay. Even if it seems to others as wishy-washy behavior. You are allowed to re-commit to your most important priorities, to your 10x goals, to your Unique Ability. What others think of how you commit your time is none of your business!
I am committing to my Unique Ability.
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PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to connect with me there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.
I don’t Own A Toaster
I don't own a toaster.
I don't own it because I like my kitchen counter free of appliances. In fact, I like my kitchen counter with nothing on it - wide, empty, and clear like watching the ocean from the shore!
Blog #137: I don’t own a toaster.
I don't own a toaster.
I don't own it because I like my kitchen counter free of appliances. In fact, I like my kitchen counter with nothing on it - wide, empty, and clear like watching the ocean from the shore!
I make my toast in the oven.
When people come to my home and I make them breakfast, I use my oven to make them toast. They comment, "Wow, you don't own even $10 toaster?"
And I smile with peace. I have the $10 to buy a toaster but I choose not to.
These are the kinds of choices my hubby and I make on the regular. They don't fit the norm but they fit our sense of a "rich life" to borrow Ramit Sethi's phrase.
From time to time, I find myself making decisions based on other people's expectations or the unspoken rules of society and I have to remind myself to find my authentic preference. It's not easy. But I practice with small things like the toaster!
What choices could you make in your life that are truly motivated by your personal preference, point of view, and values out of inner alignment? What ideas, practices, and values can you let go of that don't bring forth your truest, most authentic self?
I'll leave you with this quote which has inspired me today:
“Wealth has little to do with how much you earn and a lot to do with how you live. One of the simplest ways to grow wealthier is pushing to detach yourself from peer pressure and care less about what people think of how you live.”
…
PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to connect with me there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.
Where do I find my very first client? This is my answer
Don’t move the goal post. … in order for you to be content.
Being content is an art. We weren’t all born with it.
But we can all cultivate this art of contentment.
Blog #136: Where do I find my very first client? This is my answer
Once you’ve decided to start your side hustle or freelance business whether it is web design or anything else, you are likely to have one important question.
”Where do I find my first client?”
Ways to find clients are countless. My advice: Pick one method that feels right. Then follow-through.
My first client came via my network. But I had no network. I had to start from scratch. This is what I did to get started. (In a recent article, I shared the one thing I wish I had done early in my web design career. Read that here.)
Back in 2018, I decided that web design was going to be my path to being financially independent. I was looking for my very first client. I had read that one needs to begin with their network.
The problem: I had none. I had just moved to a new town. I knew my neighbors. I knew the grocery store clerk. That’s it.
So I joined a local writer’s club.
Writing a book one day had been on my bucket list for a long time. This group met every week to discuss writing, publishing, and marketing. So I attended the weekly meets. Each time I introduced myself as a “Squarespace Web Designer”. Anytime someone asked me what I did, that was my go-to answer.
Eventually, I became known as the Squarespace Web Designer.
Then one day, the Ex-President of the club and I were chatting about the recent guest speaker when she said, “You know, we need to update our old WordPress site. It’s stuck in the 1990’s. Can you help? Ah, but we don’t have any funds for a web designer.”
I gulped and with googly eyes said, “Yes, I can build it for you but on one condition: You’ll need to write me an awesome testimonial and give me permission to use this site as my portfolio piece.”
“It’s a deal,” she said and that’s how I got my first client.
Okay, I know, I know. You are saying: hey, that’s not a paid client. Hold your horses, my friend, you’ll see!
Yes, you are right. This was not a paying client but she was a client nonetheless. And I had only made websites for my family and friends so far. This was more valuable as an experience for me than money at the time. Plus, I wanted to add a real project to my portfolio. Besides I was a member of the club which was run by volunteers. This was going to be my pro-bono contribution to the group.
Over the next few weeks whenever she had time in her schedule, we met at a local cafe and we got a beautiful Squarespace site for the non-profit writer’s club completed.
But that’s not where the story ends. (That’s why I asked you to hold your horses!).
At the next meeting, the Ex-President looked at me and announced that the new website was completed. Many members of the club approached me and congratulated me on a job well done. This is what was so powerful. All 500 or so members of the writer’s club (some via email) now knew there was a web designer in the group.
That’s when the Program Coordinator approached me and asked me to do a presentation for the Marketing slot on web design. I made a 45-minute presentation on how authors can use websites to get visible and build an email list that’s their own. I showed websites of leading authors, highlighting what worked well and what didn’t.
At the end of the presentation, several people came up to me and asked for more info on my design services. Out of them, one was super interested. A few weeks later, she hired me to build her website.
This took several months.
But I finally had my very first paying client.
Moral of the story:
Get your first client from your network.
If you don’t have one, join a group with shared interests.
Introduce yourself as the thing you want to get hired for (ex. Copywriter, Graphic Designer, etc).
Show up and contribute to the group weekly.
Say yes to pro bono work at first, especially, work for the group itself.
Because that's how your work can quickly be shown to hundreds of people in that group.
Take the opportunity to present or teach your area of expertise as relevant to this particular interest group. Become known as the go-to person on that topic in this specific group.
Again, there are countless ways to get your first client for your side hustle. Eventually, I also added other client acquisition avenues. But this is how I got my first web design client.
Find a way that you resonate with. Then, follow through.
PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to connect with me there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.
Don’t move the goal post. The art of being content.
Don’t move the goal post. … in order for you to be content.
Being content is an art. We weren’t all born with it.
But we can all cultivate this art of contentment.
Photo by Mariana Medvedeva on Unsplash
Blog #135: Don’t move the goal post. The art of being content.
Don’t move the goalpost. … for you to be content.
Being content is an art. We weren’t all born with it.
But we can all cultivate this art of contentment.
Recently, I was watching a YouTube video in which Gary Vee is being asked questions by the event participants. One by one they ask their questions until a boy steps up to the mic and asks, “What do I do if I don’t know what I want to do in life?” Gary asked him how old he is and he replied “I am 14 years old”.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Who has not been asked this as a child! Every time this question is asked, a child is zapped out of the present moment and transported into a future that doesn’t exist.
It makes them realize there is something else than being a child at this moment, something to work towards, something other than “now”.
Do you remember that moment for you?
I remember. I was maybe 10 or 11 and visiting my grandmother’s place. A neighbor was passing by and started to have small talk with me. And then she asked me the question, “So, Sophia, what do you want to do when you grow up?” I had not thought about this question before but I felt the pressure to give a “smart” answer. I blurted out, “Hmm, I want to be an environmental engineer.”
This story took place in the 1980s in Mumbai where, like elsewhere in the world, there’s a huge pressure for kids to do good in school and “make their parents proud”. So I said the smartest sounding thing I could think of, not even knowing what an environmental engineer does. She said, “Good, good. I knew you would want to become an engineer or a doctor.”
I never wanted to be an engineer or a doctor. And I had no intentions of becoming either even though I didn’t know what I wanted to major in college. Even when I had a major selected, I was not sure if that was the thing I wanted to do. All the way right into my early 40s I have from time to time asked myself, “Is this what I am meant to do with my life?” And each time I was not satisfied with my current output or contribution to the world.
There were days when people just did the job that their fathers did. A shopkeeper’s son would become a shopkeeper. A school teacher’s daughter would become a school teacher or a professor. And so on.
But in today’s times, changing your career path once or even multiple times is not that unusual. In fact, according to a statistic by the US Department of Labor, the average American changes careers 5-7 times during their working life. (Source: https://novoresume.com/career-blog/career-change-statistics).
I can attest to that statistic in my own path. My first job when I was a high schooler was restocking bookshelves at the local public library and then several small jobs to help during college. After I graduated from college, I worked at the ticket counter at the Natural History Museum in NYC. My first full-time job was as a tour guide at the United Nations headquarters in NY where I worked for 4 and a half years. Then again did some smaller jobs during graduate school. After I graduated, not having found a job in either of my degrees, I started a small business designing photo books. Then, I taught visualization and meditation. After that, I did freelance email marketing consulting for solopreneurs. Then I became a self-taught web designer and started my web design business. And now I am again discovering what my next phase will be all about.
Talk about career changes!
So to think that a 14-year-old should now know what he will be doing for the rest of his life is, to me, pretty insane.
Okay, of course, some were born knowing that they wanted to be a cellist already while in their mother’s womb. Or they know they want to be an athlete. Or they know singing is the only thing they want to do. If you are one of those, fine, this article may not reflect you but it will inform you about the rest of us mortals and our career struggles!
Being a child as a child
Gary Vee in his answer reminded the 14-year-old that with the progress in technology, he might live to about 150 years. And that almost everyone in this room would have wanted in their childhood to have played more, hung out some more, did more of the “childhood” things.
We look back and can see that our time as a child was precious. He then asks the kid to follow his curiosity. See what sparks his interest. What makes him jump up with joy? And he reminds him to try different things before making up his mind. To make a point, he asked his audience, “Who in the audience doesn’t like oysters?” Some hands go up. He then asks, “Of those who raised their hands, how many have not tried oysters?” Some of the hands stayed up. Gary reminded the kid to try things out before making a decision or ruling it out.
As I watched this exchange between Gary and the kid, I felt like this message was for me and a lot of us out there who are wondering about our life path.
Ambition, aspiration, goals - these are wonderful things that keep us moving forward.
And then there are times when those same ambitions, aspirations, and goals keep us stuck, suck the life force out of us, and leave us questioning and doubting ourselves; asking what we are meant to do with our lives.
So that’s the dilemma. We have aspirations and ambitions. Then we have curiosity and finding meaning or leaving a legacy. And then we have contentment. How do we navigate all of that?
I have a couple of suggestions on how to make sense of this. And I want to share two key aspects that tie all of it together.
#1. We need to let our curiosity and delight guide us.
What if you allowed yourself to try new ideas that you were curious about? Things that don’t make sense for your career progression or professional growth but simply interest you. Perhaps, something that sparks joy for the inner child within you. What if you were to take some time and go do that? To see what happens.
#2. We need to learn to be more content with our lives.
Being content doesn’t necessarily mean not having aspirations or goals or being complacent. It means being satisfied and humble about our progress so far. It means looking back and seeing how far we have come.
For instance, if my aim is to lose 15 pounds, and I check to see that I have lost 2 pounds since I started the path of becoming healthy, then I am celebrating and being happy about the progress made so far, instead of bemoaning how far I am from my ideal of losing 15 lbs.
This way of thinking is a new thinking habit. We have to wean ourselves out of the constant future-goal seeking. Yes, the future goal can be motivating and can inspire us to make changes and to take action. But it should not demolish our well-being because we realize we are so far away from achieving the ideal. Every small step is a win. Drop by drop the whole ocean is filled up.
So combining these two ingredients of curiosity and contentment, we can chart our path. Being present to the good that is already here. Being curious about where our next evolution is emerging. Allowing and receiving, observing and growing, creating and sharing.
So, how does one cultivate the art of contentment?
What I have found is that I would set a goal in my life or business. Then, work diligently to achieve it. Once I got there, I was happy for a moment. And then I set up the next goal. This cycle is exhausting, never ending and only brings a fleeting sense of joy or pleasure. Winning feels good. But it’s tiring to always be chasing that goal. And then once the goal is arrived at, I would move the goal further. Phew, I am out of breath just thinking about this.
Don’t move the goalpost and think that’s where your next source of contentment lies. That would be a lie.
This is certainly the case with earning more income. Princeton University researchers have put data behind this statement, “Money can keep buying happiness for already happy people, but among the most unhappy, the money helps stave off unhappiness only to a point.” (Source: https://behavioralpolicy.princeton.edu/news/DK_wellbeing0323) In other words, moving the income goal post higher will only solve some of the unhappiness, and then after reaching a point, its happiness-benefit declines.
I am not saying you shouldn’t aspire to earn more. No, please go ahead, and earn millions. We need more of you to become high net worth individuals and create wealth; generational wealth for our families.
Move your goalpost to get to the next level. But not to feed your contentment.
And if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. That’s okay. Follow your curiosity. Be patient. And try different things. Maybe the trying of different things is where your source of contentment resides.
How do we get out of this cycle that gets us out of breath, out of soul, and out of alignment with who we are?
Decouple contentment from aspiration.
We need to decouple our contentment from our goals and aspirations. We need to recognize what the purpose of goals is and we need to identify what the source of our contentment is. Again, that doesn’t mean letting go of the goals and aspirations. Not at all. Let me explain what I mean.
The goals and aspirations that you have about your life, business or relationships are for one purpose - helping you to determine your actions and your habits. It helps you define what you want to do to experience the fruition of your goals. So if my goal is to lose 15 lbs., this goal determines the key actions and habits that I need to develop: eating healthy and moderately, doing some walking, strength training, or cardio every day. The goals help me craft my plan of action.
However, the goals or the reaching of the goals is not where I get my contentment. Your goals are not there to feed your sense of contentment.
Your source of contentment can come from a combination of things: Gratitude is a great starting point. But if gratitude is cursory, superficial, or forced, then it will not lead you to your contentment. Add these other elements to your contentment recipe, while deepening gratitude:
Self-appreciation: appreciating yourself for every action step you take towards your goals.
So taking the same example of weight loss, I appreciate myself when I do eat moderately or do go and get my 20 minutes of strength training done.
Humility: acknowledging that the goal is important and aspirational but you’ve already taken baby steps and are doing the best you can. This includes being patient with yourself as you make progress. Being aware that you are doing your best and have already made efforts and progress despite challenges and setbacks.
Enjoying the process: actually enjoying the path towards the goals.
In my case, enjoying the movement and the experience of the machines when I do strength training. Actually enjoying what I am doing right now, right here.
Contextualizing Setbacks: We often look at setbacks on our path as a way of determining that we are not good enough in the thing we want to achieve. But by looking at setbacks as a status report, we can relieve the pressure and the gnawing mental pain and suffering that losing or having a setback can cause us.
So if the goal is not being achieved or you’ve experienced a setback of any sort, assess it, and study it to find the meaning or the lesson within it. The setback is not to be used to define you as a “loser”. But it’s here to guide you to the changes you need to make. This is how you can turn a setback into a winning ingredient and a deepening of your self-recognition as someone who keeps going and perseveres.Assessing from the past, how far you’ve come: Deriving your joy and contentment by looking back and seeing the progress made so far. I can celebrate my efforts and the progress that I have made since I began this journey. It helps me to stop comparing my present results with a future ideal. But look at the past and see how much change I have made. And this looking back is not connected with the results. I may have gained 2 pounds since I started, but I notice the changes I have made, the challenges I have overcome, and the lessons/insights I have gained. This is not about tracking results. It’s about looking at inner transformation and change within.
So we use goals to chart our course forward.
We unlink our contentment from the results.
Not postponing our joy to the future point when we think we will arrive at our goal.
We get clear about our true source of contentment.
Recognizing the joys of the process right now, enjoying the thrill of doing the work now, and experiencing the benefits of your progress now not later.
It’s a practice.
Make the click in your mind of where your true source of contentment comes from.
And then you can still pursue your goals but you experience contentment already now long before the goal materializes as your experience.
PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to connect with me there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.
One Thing I Wish I Had Done Sooner for Building My Freelance Web Design Business
Wouldn’t be nice if there was a manual on how to start your freelance business or side-hustle that was customized to you specifically? Like so many newbies, when I began my web design business in 2018, that’s exactly what I was in need of.
Blog #134: One Thing I Wish I Had Done Sooner for Building My Freelance Web Design Business
Fix this early on in your freelance business journey.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a manual on how to start your freelance business or side-hustle that was customized to you specifically? Like so many newbies, when I began my web design business in the Fall of 2018, that’s exactly what I was in need of.
I wished for a custom blueprint that fit my personality, my specific goals and aspiration and the exact challenges that I was facing in my business.
There was none.
I did read a few blogs of other freelancer journeys but had not fully found the answer for myself.
So trial and error was to be the path.
I made many mistakes or what I now lovingly call “learning lessons”. This is just one of them:
Learning Lesson: Build a Portfolio of Showcasing Your Skills Early
Had I resolved this sooner, I would have made faster progress in building my $100K freelance design business, a milestone that I reached at the end of 2022, four years after my very first paid web design project.
The biggest challenge in getting a new freelance business or one-person business off the ground is getting hired by clients, getting revenue into your business. As a newbie, having built some websites for friends and for my personal projects, I would be looking for a new project but had no real portfolio of work that really showed off my design skills.
There’s one thing that I had to understand about getting hired for a job vs getting hired for freelance projects:
Clients hire based not on your resume or how many degrees or where you worked previously, but a clear demonstration of your skills.
There are two ways in which you can show that you’ve got the skills:
You can do this through content you have online
You can have blog articles, video tutorials or podcasts showcasing your skills, depending on your niche. For web designers, having a youtube channel with design tutorials or a series of blogs presenting your past works as case studies can be a great showcase of your skills.
Or you can show this through a portfolio of work.
Having a portfolio page that has visuals or examples of your past work where potential clients can see your work is very helpful. For some niches, the actual work may not be “showcase-able” but perhaps you can do a case study of before and after of problem/solution/results.
I did both. I started a YouTube channel with tutorials and talking head videos. And I created a little showcase of my design projects.
But what got me faster results was building a portfolio.
This meant doing pro-bono design work. I built a new site for a writer’s group so that I could showcase their website as my first example.
I got my first couple of clients by showcasing just that one site. But it was only months later that I built 5 more pro-bono websites to add to my portfolio.
Doing this, did 5 things for me:
First, I got 5 really awesome testimonials
Second, I had 5 awesome examples to add to my portfolio of work.
Third, I now had experience working with 5 very different people with very different businesses which boosted my confidence in working with clients.
Four, I now was able to create a template for my project workflow that was derived directly from these five projects.
And five, I had a better understanding of some of the common needs of clients despite different businesses and goals. It gave me the fodder I needed to eventually create my first package.
If you don’t have a body of work for which you want to get hired, go out and create a portfolio to showcase. This can apply to most side-hustles and one-person businesses offering services you want to get hired for.
As a web designer, I’d recommend building between 3 to 5 websites for your portfolio.
What about the Catch-22: “I don’t have a portfolio because I have no clients”
That is a valid argument that people have faced before. How did they solve it? In the past, newbies would become an apprentice of a master and learn under them first. In today’s world, you can still do that but you have more options.
One way to do build your portfolio if you are just starting out is to do pro-bono work for real people right from your friends and family circle. The other way is to create demo websites for made up businesses.
If you are already a designer getting hired for projects but are not yet attracting the kind of projects you really excite and inspire you or the type of clients you want to work with, you can also use the above method. In your portfolio, showcase only the type of projects you want to do in the future and leave out the rest.
In either case, add a caption below your portfolio letting your future clients know that these are example sites that showcase your skills and that they are not real client projects. No matter what you do, being integral and honest will bring you better results and let you sleep well at night.
So, get started on this as soon as you can. Building a good portfolio of a handful of sites will increase your opportunities to get hired when you finally speak to a potential client or apply of a possible project.
Once you have your portfolio done of 5 sites, add a link in the comments and let us all know!
Action Task: Build a portfolio of work showcasing the skills you want to get hired for.
You got this!
PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to connect with me there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.
133: Where Have I been + an update
Squarespace has versatility in its uses. Recently, I designed a summit landing page for a client on his existing Squarespace website. In this video, I walk you through the site and share some tips on how to design a summit landing page.
Where have I been? As you may have noticed, I have not been creating any new content or been writing any emails to you for a bit.
I have been MFCCA (missing from the content creation action)!
This happened after hitting my highest rev month
Earlier this year, I hit my highest revenue month at $22K which was a celebratory milestone only until it led to a burn-out. After delivering on all the big and small web design projects, I decided I needed to slow things down before my body breaks down making it a necessity and not a choice.
So, I took a couple weeks off, did an at-home 10-day online meditation retreat and filled my calendar only with a select few projects that I enjoy working on and the clients with whom I enjoy working with.
I also decided I will go on a 10 day in-person retreat near St. Louis this Fall and spend more of my weekends relaxing, hiking (haven't gotten to this one yet! #loftygoals), reading fiction (haven't done in years: now reading "Hell of A Book" by Jason Mott from my home state of North Carolina, not an affiliate link) and net-flixing (I really enjoy Saturday matinees).
That sweet spot between growing my business and figuring out what's "enough" is something I am still tweaking and figuring out, while also mixing-in spaciousness and ease into my calendar—one of my high values!
Content creation had to take a back seat.
If you joined my email newsletter during this lull, and haven't gotten to know me yet, let me introduce myself:
Hi, I am Sophia, an Indian American (first generation - lived in Mumbai till I was 14!) web designer and coach to web designers, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains, NC. I design websites on Squarespace and help other designers/freelancers build a thriving freelance business. It’s lovely to meet you. :)
And if you've been with me for a while and till here, a heartfelt thanks - thank you for coming along this journey as I figure out how to serve you better and how I can contribute meaningfully to help you reach your goals.
Now I've taken a few slower months — less clients, more reflecting and resting. I am not jumping back on the content creation wheel in full force, just yet, but you will begin to see some more action here in my newsletter and on my YouTube channel, starting with this update:
The 14 year journey
I started my freelance journey in Germany back in 2009 with a small business creating photo books for individuals and families (Quinceaneras, Nature photo collection, Father’s/Mother's Day, South Africa trip photos, photo memoirs and so on).
Now it’s 2023 where I build websites for a living. I have time freedom and make a living with my creative (plus some left-brain) talents. It’s taken 14 years to get here — at times very hard emotionally and financially. I have tons to learn still of course and have a fire for much more to create and contribute and experience. At the same time, I am feeling content with my journey so far.
Something keeps me up at night
Not literally! I can easily fall asleep anywhere, haha. But figuratively, that's true. Seeing freelancers going through the struggles that I went through settles not very well with me.
I have had this burning desire to help other designers/freelancers, be seen, get clients and grow their freelance business. That’s why in the last few years, I created the Millionaire Web Designer Coaching Program and the Empowered Communications for Web Designers Course (both programs are retired now). With these efforts, I've wanted to help freelancers solve the question of getting traction and building something for themselves on their own terms, as I myself struggled in getting a footing as a self-employed web designer in the early days.
Plus, as I learn more about building our family's net worth, I also want to share what we know about building a nest egg which is actually an expertise of Cristof, my husband who is a registered Investment Adviser and a genius in personal and business finance while being a compassionate communicator, especially when it comes to money-talks. We don't have all the answers, but we do have some solutions and can bring together others who can solve the other questions.
This is what's new
Cristof and I are working behind-the-scenes to launch a brand new video podcast which will be focused about helping freelancers both grow their business AND keep and grow what they earn for a rich nest egg for retirement.
We will share tips and strategies on become a person who brings value, finding clients, giving a red carpet experience to clients, how to manage our business finance, how to pay ourselves, how to start investing, getting out of debt and many more such topics around financial freedom.
Update: Cristof will create content on PineRidgeWealth.com and instead of doing a joint podcast, we will appear on each other’s YouTube channels whenever our topics align. So yeah, no joint podcast for now! This feels best to both of us and we are still very closely working on some collaborative articles and presentations for freelancers.
As for me, I will continue to design websites for clients and keep creating how-to videos while building this video podcast in the coming months/years. More full-fledged detail on this is coming up in the next few weeks.
Keep an eye out for...
I want to interview freelancers/designers/ anyone who has a tool or an idea to help freelancers on their journey to build a thriving business (btw, you don’t have to be a mega expert or have hit any specific revenue numbers — if you have 2 or 3 useful ideas from your own journey, let’s share it with the world, someone or the other is surely to benefit).
I will have more details on the name and the project soon but if you want to add value and share meaningfully, write me a note and let me know you are interested. We will be starting to record interviews in the last part of October so know that this won't be anything immediate like next week!
And now I want to hear from you
What “problem" or "situation” are you trying to currently solve in your freelance business? Drop me a line or comment below and let me know what resource/solution you would love me to share with you?
Kind regards,
Sophia
PS: We consider freelancers to be anyone who is working for themselves, wanting to add value to clients/audience with their skills (from web design, graphic design, marketing, virtual assistant, photographer, copywriting, consultant/coach in any niche, content creator, to an artist in any medium and so on).
A Spacious Calendar
Today, I have the whole day free.
There’s a certain beauty in spaciousness, in having an empty calendar.
Nothing to do, Nowhere to go.
Nothing to prove. Nothing to accomplish.
It’s freeing. It feels like a huge burden has lifted from my shoulders.
It’s just for this one day. Maybe it can grow into more days. Maybe it can become my whole life.
In “The Book of Ichigo-Ichige”, the authors reference the traditional swordsmiths of Japan whose philosophy is to “eliminate the unnecessary” to get to the essential”.
In anything that we do, there are layers & layers of that which is non-essential or excessive. It takes courage to let go of those layers because they often serve us as a protective shield, guarding us from the thing we unconsciously fear.
What do we fear? It could be anything that we haven’t processed and completely accepted about ourselves, our lives. It could be something deeply embedded in our subconscious that we are not really aware of.
So, we put layers on top. It could be layers that show up like this:
+ filling up our days with tight schedules
+ traveling from one place to another telling ourselves we are “adventurers” but truly we are not wanting to face what’s waiting for us back home
+ indulging in anything excessively, whether it is food, entertainment, going out, shopping, alcohol, drugs, etc.
+ it could show up in not organizing our papers or home
+ or in not recording our finances (income/expenses) or not looking at our bills
+ it can show up in consuming too many books on a topic but never implementing actions or tips you learn about in them
+ it can show up in signing up to too many courses or certificates instead of just starting your solopreneur business or LLC.
+ it could show up in taking up another degree program and remaining a student instead of slipping into the work-world
For me, they have shown up in some of the above ways. Some other ways are:
+ Starting new projects but not taking them all the way, whole-heartedly
+ Having too many open/unfinished projects/tasks
+ Not decluttering papers or things or digital files
+ Not making time for meditation, writing, reading and walking.
Lately, it’s been mostly showing up in me postponing things I truly want to do but can’t find a way to prioritize them. It simply drops into the back-burner as a some-day thing to do.
These are ways we fill up our time, our schedules and our attention. This is how we hide behind layers that keep us from the essential.
And it takes courage to peel away at the onion and allow what’s at the core to emerge. It’s what keeps us from starting , from continuing, from finishing and prioritizing the most important, essential parts of our lives.
Reflection Question
How are you creating layers that keep yourself separated from the essential, from your true heart’s desires and priorities?
What unnecessary things, activities, ways of being can you eliminate to get to the essential in your life?
Please journal your answers and if inspired, do share in the comments!
Keep moving forward even when falling off track
Training and getting to know the mind is a continuous process.
Three weeks ago, I started the Create Uplifting Thoughts video project. Today, I made a video to share with you a vulnerable and honest progress report of my journey so far with the hope that at least one person watching this will know they are not alone.
Watch it here:
I am grateful for you,
Sophia
Space between Sense Perceptions and Response
Short Talk + Guided Loving Kindness Meditation
Why I closed down my Abundance Through Imagination Project on YouTube
Yes, I am closing down Abundance Through Imagination YouTube channel and website.
In short: I've just been on a 10-day meditation retreat and many insights have come my way. This has led me to make some changes (again!). I will keep it short here but I share more on why I've come to this decision in my last video for this channel.
What does this mean for you? If you enjoyed the videos on the Abundance Through Imagination channel but had hoped to watch some other videos I've made, please do so now; as I will pull down all the videos there by the end of this month.
What happens next? I have revived the old Reflection Pond channel (some of you know that was my old channel where I made videos on intentional living, mindfulness and meditation). But it has a new name: Create Uplifting Thoughts. You can find it here. Please subscribe to it, if you like. Update: It’s now called Be.Do.Have.Life and you can find it here: youtube.com/@bedohavelife
I will be creating new articles and video content focused on cultivating inner-peace through loving-kindness meditation, introspection exercises, events and programs that help us creating a calm, peaceful and uplifted mind. I will also make videos around acceptance, letting go, and generosity. You will see more on that in the coming weeks through my new content (I will send you the weekly emails like this one).
What do you need to do?
1. Nothing. If you are enjoying being on this journey with me, even as I change and transform and pivot over the course of months and years, do nothing (or subscribe to the new channel). Some of you have been with me for years and I thank you for coming along with me. I will move you to the new Create Uplifting Thoughts email list and you will continue to get weekly Thursday morning emails. You don't have to do a thing.
2. Starting next Thursday, please look out for the new emails coming from this email: hello@createupliftingthoughts.com.
Also, the old emails sophia@abundancethroughimagination.com or sophia@abundancethroughvisualization.com will no longer be in service.
3. I will talk about abundance but from a "letting go" and "acceptance of what is" point of view rather than "acquiring" and "having" point of view (see the video for clarification on what I mean). Or you are welcome to stay on and see what I create next - it may be helpful to you still.
Finally, I thank you for your patience and understanding as I figure this journey out. My intention through these changes is: to help you create greater inner-peace and calm in your life and to understand the workings of the mind through meditation and introspection to create a life free from stress, anxiety and worry and eventually, ultimate freedom from suffering.
As always, feel free to email me here. I read and respond to every email you send me.
Peace, Sophia
New Name — Why I’m Naming It Abundance through Imagination?
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve seen a message like this before - “I’m changing the name of my website and youtube channel!”.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve seen a message like this before — “I’m changing the name of my website and YouTube channel!”. Now it’s happening again!
Lately, I have been going through many realizations and as I learn more, I am applying that understanding to my website and business, even at the risk of seeming to change my mind too often. But if I am not applying insights gained from new understanding, then the learning is not being put to use. It just stagnates as information or knowledge but not applied wisdom, right?
And so here it is…I am changing the name of my website and YouTube channel.
It’s now going to be called: Abundance Through Imagination
New website name: www.abundancethroughimagination.com
New YouTube channel name: https://youtube.com/@abundancethroughimagination
Back Story
Over the last six months, the site has gone through many name changes. Back in 2010, we first began with “Reflection Pond”. The focus then was all about mindfulness, creative visualization and sharing of Buddha’s teachings as we (my husband and I) understood it.
Then in the fall of 2022, I decided to pivot and focus more on visualization. So the official name became “Queen of Visualization”. Soon I realized that this name put unintentional focus on me as the self-proclaimed Queen of Visualization when what I really wanted to convey was that we are each our own “royal” of our own world. That’s when I moved on to “Abundance through Visualization” because it expressed two important things:
1. the goal of the website = creating abundance and
2. the tool for achieving it = visualization methods.
Now we are in spring of 2023 and I have yet another realization which compels me to change the name to “Abundance through Imagination”.
Why the Change from Visualization to Imagination?
In the last few months, I have been deeply studying the work of Neville Goddard, especially through the mastermind I joined that’s run by Niclas of UpgradetoLife.com and some things have become clear to me.
When it comes to creating real changes in our lives, we have to become the person we want to become now and then our actions and our outer world changes out of that transformation. It’s about assuming the person we want to become first. And for that we have to experience what it feels like to be that person. We need to experience in our mind’s eye what it is like if our desires were already a reality. We enter and embody the feeling of that new person here and now.
To do all of that we rely on the power of our imagination.
And yes, through our imagination we can visualize. But visualization is a term that reflects only one aspect of the process. Although I have used the word “visualization” to be an umbrella-term for all our senses, one doesn’t infer that same meaning just by seeing the word. Visualization itself means using the sense of vision or our eyes to “see” things. But imagination goes beyond visualization. It’s using all our senses. We can use our imagination to hear, smell and even feel the touch of something. We can use our imagination to see things but also rely on our sixth sense to simply get a feeling. Imagination is so much more all-encompassing than visualization.
That’s why I felt compelled to change the name. And it feels right.
I am glad I have the ability to apply what I am learning and not shy away from making changes even if from the outside it may seem I am not settling on one thing, being restless or changing my mind too often. I guess those are simply my fears of how I will be perceived. But I am not letting those fears get in the way! And I know that if you are reading this and are on my email list, you will perceive this change kindly and be curious of what it all entails.
I invite you to explore the significance of the new name on your own manifestation journey as well as remind yourself that you have the permission to change your mind based on new information!
I’d like to take this moment to thank you for reading my blogs, watching my videos and being on my email list. To another new start!
Peace,
Sophia
Film Sachertorte and the Law of Assumption — Application for Love & Romance
I share with you a beautiful message in the 2022 film, Sachertorte, a romantic comedy. It carries some real messages about applying the Law of Assumption in our every day lives.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
I share with you a beautiful message in the 2022 film, Sachertorte, a romantic comedy. It carries some real messages about applying the Law of Assumption in our every day lives.
In this live, I explore the idea of “being loyal to your vision” and how to live in flow and reception of life based on the love story in this German-Austrian film. If you are imaging being in a relationship or even if you already have a significant other, this session is a fun one.
I extrapolate the message as it applies not only for romance but it has implications for life in general. Watch this fun conversation about applying the law of assumption to romance.
Peace,
Sophia
How Neville helped a friend find his lost piano using an imaginal act — Neville Goddard Success Story
This is the story of how he helped a friend get back a piano that was lost after he sent it in for repairs. He got the piano delivered back using an imaginal act, without lifting a finger!
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Neville Goddard - author, speaker and some call him a modern mystic shares many “success” stories of how he used the law of assumption to create results in his life and those shared by his students.
This is the story of how he helped a friend get back a piano that was lost after he sent it in for repairs.
He got the piano delivered back using an imaginal act, without lifting a finger!
Peace,
Sophia
Without lifting a finger, he got out in 9 days using his mind — Neville Goddard Success Story
This is the story of how he was drafted in the US military during the Second World War but he wanted to be back with his wife and daughter who was not even a year old. He got out in 9 days without lifting a finger.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Neville Goddard - author, speaker and some call him a modern mystic shares many “success” stories of how he used the law of assumption to create results in his life and those shared by his students.
This is the story of how he was drafted in the US military during the Second World War but he wanted to be back with his wife and daughter who was not even a year old.
He got out in 9 days without lifting a finger.
Today, I am super excited to share about how Neville Goddard applied the law of assumption in his own life.
Watch my first YouTube Live to get the deets on Neville’s own success story.
Peace,
Sophia
Are we ill-equipped to deal with life?
Often I’ve wondered about this while pondering about our world.
Why are so many people suffering? Why are they experiencing all kinds of misery? Why does life bring us into this world of suffering, at all?
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Often I’ve wondered about this while pondering about our world.
Why are so many people suffering? Why are they experiencing all kinds of misery? Why does life bring us into this world of suffering, at all?
This line of thinking inevitably leads to feelings of sadness for the state of the world. And thus, I too, slip into a form of suffering - a suffering that comes from seeing others in pain and misery.
Then, I saw an interview of Jenifer Lopez by Oprah as part of Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour Visionaries. In this interview, J Lo was describing how she feels that life is just beginning at 50 while Oprah accentuates the point that life doesn’t even begin to get good until we are in the 40’s and 50’s.
I get the good intention of that statement - it’s about reminding us that things are still good and will get better when we turn 40 or 50.
But why do people have to go through years and years of being lost and struggling till they get to the “good part”. Why “waste” 40 or 50 years before we get to realizations and insights and begin to enjoy life? (Nothing is a waste, I am using that word to exaggerate the point only!)
So while all this pondering and wondering was going on, I listened to a lecture by Neville Goddard. In it, he was talking about our human capability to imagine. He said that we don’t ever have to create our imagination; it’s always with us. We may not be good at using imagination. We may not yet have mastered the art of imagination. But we don’t have to invent it. It’s already something we know how to do.
That’s when it clicked:
We are already birthed into this world with all that we need. We are already given the tools to navigate this life.
I used to wonder why we are so ill-equipped to deal with this life. It seems like everyone is going through some version of emotional, physical or mental hurdles. But I realized that it’s not that we are ill-equipped; we are unaware of all that which we are equipped with. In fact, not only are we well-equipped to deal with this life, we have the best tools already within us.
If you know the movie, The Matrix - there’s a scene where Neo, the protagonist needs to fly a helicopter but doesn’t know how. He calls up control room and asks for the helicopter flying program to be uploaded to his mind. Then instantly he knows how to fly the helicopter!
I think that’s how it is for us. We already have the program we need. We just didn’t know.
The two tools that we are equipped with:
1. Awareness
2. Our Creative Imagination
We just need to use our creative imagination and we need to begin applying our awareness to life.
We have it all!
Peace,
Sophia
How I went from $32K to $100K in one year using simple mindset shifts | Neville Goddard + Florence Scovel Shinn
Money mindset shifts are powerful. I used simple shifts to triple my business revenue in just one year. And I did that not by changing the marketing, the website, content creation or such things in the external world. What I did change was my internal world
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Money mindset shifts are powerful. I used simple shifts to triple my business revenue in just one year. And I did that not by changing the marketing, the website, content creation or such things in the external world. What I did change was my internal world.
These are simple practices that I have learnt from Denise Duffield Thomas, Rachel Rodgers, Neville Goddard, Florence Scovel Shin, Wallace Wattles and others.
Today, I am super excited to share these simple yet powerful practices with you so you can get results too!
A little background of my biz journey
A moment of real low that helped bring about a big shift in me
Actual results in numbers
10 practical money mindset shifts
My assignment for you
True abundance & how all this applies to you individually
Watch this YouTube Live to get all the juicy details including insights, anecdotes and actual revenue numbers. Plus, I have a free gift that I share about in the video that you can download.
Peace,
Sophia
Congratulations Scene: Manifestation Method of Neville Goddard
3 second Neville Goddard method (Congratulations) to get results in your 3D world.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Today, I am super excited to share about this Neville Goddard method that helps you create results in 3 seconds.
What is the Congratulations Method
What it is not
How I first began using it and my first success
How I am currently using it for my next goals
Tips on using this method successfully
4 examples of how you can apply it in your life
Watch my first YouTube Live to get all the juicy details about this method.
Peace,
Sophia
How to get guidance from your future self | Visualization
Meet your future self in this guided creative visualization.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
In this visualization, I guide you through a visual journey so you can meet your future self. Ask questions about a particular problem you are facing right now or insight about your next step.
Be You
Be you. Being yourself, being authentic is your secret to success and abundance.
Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass
Be you. Being yourself, being authentic is your secret to success and abundance.
Anytime you second-guess yourself, know that this is not you. It’s not coming from your true self. Your true self doesn’t judge you. It doesn’t say you should be anyone you are not.
Yes, being your true self can be challenging at times. Especially, if the culture and society you live in doesn’t accept you and your way of being. Then, see if you can go to a different place if that’s possible right now. Be among those who will accept you and love you for who you are. But if you can’t change where you are and if it is dangerous to show your true self, be safe first. Do what’s best right now so you can be safe. Then in your mind, go to a place where you can freely be yourself. Visualize this.
In your mind, be free because no one can take away your freedom there. Then see yourself in a place where you can be yourself in safety and complete freedom.
Be guided from within.