I'm self-employed, I work on my own time schedule and I mostly do the work that I want to do; as to keep some sort of balance. It comes at a cost of regular working hours, a lot of time spent on the computer and, lack of understanding from people around me. How can you work on the internet?
To me, writing came naturally. At first, I didn't really think much of it -- I was learning to put together sentences and convey my ideas in a way that everyone would understand them. After a couple of months, I began receiving offers and job propositions for some of the major players in my particular niche.
I never told myself that I'd quit learning, or that I am prepared to write on any subject that I like; based on the amount of time I've spent doing research. Every article, blog post or column that I write is a completely new experience, a way of immersing myself into something unseen. Words find themselves.
Success means different things to all of us, in my working life -- success is the ability to have a stable income that supports my lifestyle and my choices, in return for my dedication and discipline. Here are four things that help me to stay focused, as well as bring me happiness and success in many areas of my life.
Meditation
Sasha, you're wondering what your 20s would've been like if you had began meditation back then, and I can tell you: simply wonderful. I'm referring to an article by Sasha Bronner, she found meditation to be deeply relaxing, as well as helpful towards her illnesses (bless her). Click here to follow that story.
I try to meditate every day. Meditation helps me to find contrast between my work life and my regular every day life, it's a great tool for maintaining a healthy outlook on life. I'm not keen on selling people something that they can read in New Age books, but trying meditation out for yourself should be one of the things on your Bucket List.
Diary
I do love to keep a personal diary of what I've done in the last couple of days, and what I'd like to do in the next few. Everyone should have a personal diary - it can teach us so much about ourselves. Here though, I'm referring to a Diary that you use to keep all your work tasks in place.
In the digital age, many people prefer to stick with tools like Trello, or Basecamp. I like to keep it classy and instead use a specific diary notebook for keeping track of what I need to do over the next couple of days.
You can always pick it up, go over things and perhaps even come up with new and fresh ideas along the way, whereas a digital tool like Trello; it doesn't really provide the physical experience that you'd expect.
Discipline
You're meant to meditate every day, which I happily oblige to do. I wake up no later than 6:30AM, and I will usually begin my working day at around 8:30AM (9:00AM at the latest). I'll be able to have breakfast, coffee, catch up with all my emails and social interactions (as well as reply back to those interactions), and probably read two or three articles from around the news world.
It's something I started practicing earlier this year, and it hasn't really felt wrong or difficult at any given time. If anything, it has showed me that getting up early and working hard towards your goals -- it will pay off in the long run, and it will make you appreciate your efforts and rewards a lot more.
I don't want to do this. I'm tired. I can't stand this anymore. Why is this hard?
I think we can all agree that at some point during our working weeks, we stumble across these sentences in our heads. We wish things would be easier, but ultimately it is the hard things that make us stronger and more prepared for the future.
Determination
The last thing on my list of things that help me to attain personal success is determination. We're all working towards some kind of a goal. I've no idea what it could be for you, but for me -- it's the ability to interact with people from all around the World, and be able to have meaningful relationships with these people.
Any person who is eager to succeed and flourish, but is not determined towards it -- will most likely be stuck for as long as he doesn't decide to make changes within his inner and outer worlds.
I will continue writing, and I'll surely improve with time, but until then -- I can only share and help with that which has helped me myself, and with that which has helped me to see things beyond the illusion of life. Success is attainable.
In any case, I cannot underestimate the fact that I'm still fairly young and that I've got a lot to learn and see, but it's a great feeling to know that you've started a journey towards something magical, and that as long as you keep working towards your dreams -- things start to seem a lot less impossible than they did before.