Time to Play Big

This is the year where I play bigger in my life. The past two years have been a comfortable life. A life of making money online and occasional traveling. 

My wife and I even bought a new house that we’re currently remodeling.

Life has been good to us despite the ups and downs which is typical of life.

While I’m thankful that I’ve created a comfortable life, that is the problem I’m feeling. I’ve gotten too comfortable. I haven’t done as much personally and professional as I’d like. I know there’s much more in me that I can achieve, but I haven’t.

When I think back to 2017 and 2018 and look at the progress I’ve made, it’s not much both in my personal and professional life. Maybe if I really think hard about it, I can think of one or two life transforming results I’ve gotten from something I’ve put my mind to and executed.

In 730 days, I feel like I could have done so much more though.

I think back to the years past when I ran my first ever half marathon, made $100k in 5 months selling t-shirts, started a podcast that briefly ranked in the top 50 of all podcasts, or started my first Shopify store. I felt those were huge wins that got me out of my comfort zone.

Those achievements radically transformed my life in great ways.

The past two years, however, have felt the same. I haven’t experienced new highs. Business has been stagnant. It’s been good, but not fantastic. I feel like the same exact person two years ago struggling with wanting to do more in my life.

My income in 2018 was down from 2017. I didn’t add any new income stream like I hoped in 2018. My plan to create a new side business with Amazon FBA didn’t go as planned. I actually lost some good sources of income which also contributed to the decline.

Making more money each year would be great, but I don’t want to just make more money. I want to be making more money doing something I want to be doing.

I’ve had big dreams like writing a book, growing the podcast, doing interviews, reaching more people around the world, and much more. 

I just haven’t and each year I feel the same way and tell myself the same things. I keep having the same wants and wishes. I’m basically like a broken record and I’m tired of telling myself the same things each year.

I’m tired of wasting another year and just staying in my comfort zone.

I’m going to stop the excuses and putting things off till the time is perfect. I’m going to stop sitting on the sidelines watching other people achieve success in areas where I want to as well. 

I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I just know that I’ve got to shake things up in a good way.

2019 is going to be a transformative year for me and I plan to share more about it here.

Health

One area that is my main focus is better health through exercising. I know that if health is taken care of then everything else in my life improves. I’m happier, have more energy, am more productive, more focused, and achieve more. I know that is a fact because I’ve experienced it.

The bottomline is that I’ve gotten lazy. I cannot blame anyone but me.

Three years ago was the last time I can say I was physically in great shape because I ran a 10k in January 2016. Right now if I went to run a 10k (6.2 miles), I physically and mentally could not and would give up.

Two months after that I got an idea to sell a certain design on a necklace using Gearbubble that broke my daily sales records. I sold a lot of Gearbubble necklaces that year and at the end of the year started my first Shopify Store. I had my best year of sales that year.

In 2011, I ran a half marathon. I always think back to that time because of how I felt while training for it and the huge sense of accomplishment when I did it. Afterwards, I felt like I could achieve anything.

After I ran the race, I started development on my first iPhone app. That changed my life. Without a doubt if I wasn’t in the best shape of my life and didn’t train and run a half marathon, I don’t think I would have taken that risk.

Before the half marathon the last time I remember being in the best shape of my life was 2008 when I regularly went to kickboxing class when I was a Chinese language student back in Taipei, Taiwan. I went twice a week and every time would be physically exhausted at the end but I felt great.

It was because of that feeling that my confidence was though the roof and it lead me to meeting my wife. If I had never joined kickboxing class, the series of events that led up to meeting my wife would have never happened.

Good things happen to me when I exercise. It’s a fact. I’m not just talking about a little sweat. I’m talking about all out pushing my body to the limit and getting stronger each week.

I miss that feeling of challenging myself physically. The past two years I’ve exercised on and off with no goal in mind.

I want this to change this year. As I get older, the importance of my health is even more important.

I know when I exercise in the morning I feel better the rest of the day. When I can physically push myself to the limit in the morning, then I feel like nothing the rest of the day will be harder than that.

Currently I don’t have a plan, a goal, or have gotten started on this. I just know it has to be a priority this year because it’ll improve all areas of my life as well.

Business

My business the past two years has been good. I’m very thankful. I have a profitable online business. I get to make a living working on my own terms. Being my own boss has its benefits but it also comes with it’s own things that only a boss deals with. 

There are hundreds of way to make money. I’m not just talking about making minimum wage either. I’m talking about six and seven figures a year. There are obscure ways that I had never realized.

You could make a lot of money doing something that brings you long hours and stress. You could make a lot of money doing something that’s just okay. You could make a lot of money doing something you love.

I have a good business now, but I want to do more.

Since 2013, I’ve been a full time online entrepreneur. That was the year I quit my job and went all in online and it paid off.

The last two years my main source of income has been from a Shopify store where I buy wholesale from overseas and resell it to customers. The type of products I’m selling isn’t what I would say I’m passionate about. I like it, but when someone in person asks what I sell online, it always takes them a few seconds to understand it.

If I’m being honest with you, I always pause a second before saying the answer. The truth is that what I sell isn’t me. It’s not something I’m going to post on my social media profile.

It’s a market that I stumbled into and found it to be a good business.

What I do enjoy is selling. I enjoy getting that sale and then making customers happy. I enjoy hearing from customers about how much they love their order. That’s the part I enjoy.

So it doesn’t matter if I’m selling dog beds or t-shirts, I enjoy selling things online.

Since I enjoy selling online, I’ve been thinking about what else I could sell. Again there are countless possibilities. Just go to Amazon.com and you can see what’s able to be sold online.

I don’t want to just make money. I want to sell something that’s more aligned with me.

But besides starting another Shopify store, there’s something else I’m wanting to do. I can’t do both at the same time so I’m thinking about where to focus first.

I’ve wanted to write a book for too many years. Many years I’ve started and stopped a month or two later. I’ve lost track of how many years I’ve wanted to but haven’t. At least 3-4 years.

One of the main reasons I haven’t completed it is because I’m worried my book will suck. That’s why we don’t do a lot of things is because we’re worried about what others will think.

It’s just hard to put that aside and create something very personal and put it out there. That is what I think has been the number one thing holding me back.

I want that to change this year. I’m tired of telling myself I want to write a book and then each year not do it. One year I even announced it on a podcast episode thinking that would keep me accountable, but I didn’t finish.

I know it’s going to take much more than a desire and motivation to write a book. I know there will be days where I have zero motivation. I have to figure out what will work best for me to complete it.

Once I figure it out, I’ll share it here with you.

Besides just writing a book, I want to do more with my personal brand. I feel like I’ve got something great going here. I’m not just consistent with it reach more people and to make a great impact.

Join me this year

It’s easy to say what I want to do. It’s harder to keep my word. I know that I have to lead by example. It’s pointless to give personal development advice to you if I’m not even doing it.

So 2019, I am committed to playing a bigger in my personal life and in business. I don’t want it to just be another year doing the same thing and staying in my comfort zone.

I want to expand into new things. I feel like I’ve been on this current level of my life the past two years. If I wanted the same results, I would just keep doing the same things. 

I’ll be sharing my journey and lessons with you here through writing, podcasting, and social media. 

I hope that will help you play a bigger game in your own life this year as well.