Every ending is a beginning of something new- they say. This is the end of a week (it’s Friday), but it’s the beginning of week 5 of my 66 Days Challenge 5AM Club. I have implemented the 20/20/20 formula for almost a month now.
If you want to follow my journey from day 1, here are the quick links to those posts, if not, a summary of the last week follows right after this.
Summary of week 4
Week 4 was a productive week, and I learned a few new things about myself, and I reached few milestones as well. Here is a list with the last week’s highlights:
- I started to wake up at 4:45 AM. By 5AM I am up and running.
- My brain stopped searching for reasons to not get out of the bed in the morning.
- My flower boxes arrived so I finally was able to make the first gift boxes that will go in my online store.
- I discovered that any type of shopping for more than 30 minutes, makes me tired and stresses me.
- I made a list of new skills that I want to improve/or develop for the next 12 months, and today I have to pick one and focus on that.
- I had a meeting with my supervisor, and although I secretly hoped that I would get motivated to pursue my academic career, it didn’t happen. Which means that I stick to my decision in entrepreneurship.
- I put for sale my children/parenting blog: I realized that I will not have time for it, so I finally am letting it go.
Day 29
It was not easy to wake up this morning, I am not going to lie. Although my body wanted to sleep longer, my brain was not willing to start looking for excuses to do so. And this time, it would have been easier to find them. My daughter slept with a toy watch in her hands, and every now and then, the watch would make a very annoying noise (something related to Paw Patrol… in French). I tried to take it out of her hands, but I couldn’t. So, I woke up at least 5 times during the night, because of that watch. She came up in my bed quite early last night. Then I also woke up when my son came up.
I noticed that in the week with the kids, my sleep is not at its best, because I wake up at least 3 – 4 times (1 time when my son comes up, 2nd time when my daughter comes up – then I need to take her to use the toilet, so I get off the bed myself too, and at least 2 times more during the night because they either hit each other with the legs or they hit me). I am still taking my power naps during the day though. We were supposed to be back in the office from next week, but instead we just got informed that it will be postponed for another 2 weeks (at least). That means 2 more weeks of power naps during the day for me. I really hope I will get to the point where I can be productive the entire day without power naps.
The list with the new skills that I made this week is:
- programming
- content writer
- cooling technologies/heat pumps
- learn a new language
- play an instrument
- start trading stocks
Yep, that is all I could come up with. There are even 6 skills instead of 5. I am not happy with any of them though. It is very difficult to decide on one of them, as I don’t feel a strong connection for any of the above. I decided to take the weekend to come to a conclusion. I will spend some time for each of the suggestions, and try to see its benefits.
Days 30 & 31
Weekend again, which means no 5AM alarm for me. I woke up at 5:40AM on Saturday and 6:00 on Sunday. In reality, in both days I woke up earlier, but I didn’t stand up. So, to be more precise, I stood up 5:40AM & 6:00AM.
This weekend I sold one of my blogs. It was in the children/baby niche. I had to let it go, because I am so busy with many projects at the moment, and I don’t have time for blogging. Or at least not for that blog. I lost motivation, since I read The 5AM Club. I want to only create world class content from now on. Not that I haven’t done that before, but that blog I had purchased a year and a half ago, and I did some improvements quality-wise in the articles content, added some articles of my own (which I stand by the quality), but still, 70% of the blog’s content had someone else’s writing, and it was not good. I decided to let it go. Someone who has the time and patience, can take it to the next level. Also, I noticed that I don’t have the necessary skills to be a good SEO strategist – why? because I am not really passionate about that. That means, I am good at created blogs, with passion, but not so good at monetizing them.
I know how to do keyword research, and I am pretty ok-ish when it comes to picking keywords (in the niches I am interested in), but nothing more than that. While selling my blog on flippa yesterday, I realized that I like this type of job. Maybe it has been all the time in front of me, and I was not ready to see it. Maybe I could look into this as a form of income. Creating good quality blogs, and then sell them to someone who can take them to the next level. Who knows? That requires a lot of work though, and it seems like it is more of a content writer job, rather than a business. I’ll sleep on it.
Half of Sunday it was spent writing down my monthly expenses. I am going to hang this list on the kitchen’s wall, next to my other important things. I did a little bit of brainstorming, to see in which areas I can cut expenses, in order to have some savings. It was really painful to notice that 78% of my salary goes to invoices (house & car loan, telephone subscription, insurances, electricity bill, kindergarten and afterschool). That is a big chunk of my salary. I cannot believe that I work a full time job, and almost 80% of the salary goes out the window the same day that my salary arrives on my account. That is incredible. And so de-motivating. I work 8 hours per day to pay for a house that I spend so little time in (well, now with the corona outbreak, a little bit more time than usual). At least the car is a necessity. I need it to drive the kids to school and kindergarten (22 km away from where I live).
So, here is the breakdown of my salary:
- 78% goes to invoices
- 15% goes to food and things for the house
- 7% goes to my kids and my savings accounts
15% for food and other things in the house … this shows a little bit of my lifestyle… which is very very limited. I can’t afford to go out for dinners, and if I need to go to the dentist during a month, or buy new clothes for the kids, then I have to take the money out of the savings account. And the savings … the 7% stands for $250 per month (savings). This is not a lot, when just a control visit to the dentist costs $120. If you get something done, the bill will be more than $200.
The even sadder part is that I have a good salary here where I live. There is space for improvement, but not much, as long as I don’t have my own business and then earn as much as I want (ideally). I guess that is the price I pay when I am single, and live by myself. Still, I’ll have to do something soon to change that percentage. I need to get it down to at least 50% for invoices.
Day 32
Monday again 🙂 YES! I walked on the treadmill today for 40 minutes. Highest inclination and with a speed of 5.5 km/h. That was awesome. The homework for this week is to look into this content/blog creating skill. Maybe there is something there for me. I will also put my other blog for sale on flippa. This one is a really big passion of mine, so I really hope I will get the right price for it, otherwise I am keeping it.
Day 33
Half way there! 🙂 I think I am getting there, or that I am already there. It was painful to wake up this morning, because I went to bed at 9:45PM last night, but my will is there! Still wanted to wake up at 5AM. It is messy indeed, but there is no turning back now.
I have decided to dig a little bit more into the whole content writing and blogging career. I might be on into something. Or maybe not. Again, I am dividing myself into too many projects at the same time. This is one of my main challenges: to keep my focus only on ONE project at the time. Now I have the flower business going on, I am thinking of pursuing some writing projects, and also I am planning to apply for a job as an analyst in a bank here where I live. And for that I need to develop few skills, or at least learn a little bit more about finance, and economics until the deadline for the application, or at least until the first interview. Because there is going to be an interview. I have no bank or accountant background, (I am a process engineer, doing a PhD in mechanical engineering), but I have no doubts that I would be called for an interview. That is because I will be making the best application they have ever seen. World class!
Yes! I definitely need to focus more. I get so easily distracted by all the other possibilities. I have to remember the saying:
In order to say YES to an AWESOME opportunity, you will have to say NO to a lot of GOOD opportunities.
No idea who, I am paraphrasing anyway
So, maybe the new skill that I will develop on the side it will be the content writing then. I can do it as a hobby, for relaxation, and if I make money out of it, then good for me.
Today I had this crazy birthday gift idea for myself. Yes, next week is my birthday and since I am the most important person in my life (or at least that is what I have been told that I should be), I, obviously, have to give myself a present. And the gift will be: a 3 days cabin trip in the mountains, someplace where I can be alone. Me, and my laptop. I will go hiking and write the rest of the day. Make a plan for my life. Recharge my batteries. Reconsider my career. No internet connection. Can’t wait to start looking for such cabins. It doesn’t have to be to far away from my city. I just need a backpack, a good pair of boots, and warm clothes. And some food. But not that much 🙂 And a place where I could charge my laptop, because the battery goes off quite fast now.
Day 34
Today I started with the seminar “The Complete Financial Course” on udemy.com. I want to finish this course before I make my application to the Analyst position to the bank I mentioned yesterday. I am still reading the book “How to Make Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, and I am getting very useful information out of this book. The most interesting part is the fact that most of the things and strategies mentioned in the book, I was, or, I am already doing it, without knowing it. Or, without the realization that those strategies are tactical moves in order to get people to like me. I always felt that those were just part of my personality. Maybe they are. Maybe I am just a secretly self-taught person who knows how to deal with people. I do have a lot of flaws though, so I am super eager to read and learn more.
Day 35
The best way to solve a conflict, is to avoid it. Or: You can never win an argument.
Dale Carnegie, I am paraphrasing him right now.
This is my lesson for today, and I will remember to use it next time someone wants to start an argument. I can never win one. If I lose, I lose. And even if I feel like I am winning, in reality it just means the other person just gave up on arguing, so no real winning there neither.
I started with my financial analyst training yesterday. The first lessons are quite basic, I am learning how to use excel, which I already now the basics. However, it is a good reminder, and also I learned a few shortcuts that I didn’t know about. If you want to know more about this project, or if you want to start learning that too, you can follow my posts on First Steps To Becoming a Financial Analyst.
This is the last day of week 5 of The 5AM Club Challenge. I can’t believe I made it that far 🙂 Or, let’s change the wording: I am super proud of myself for getting here 🙂 Better.
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