I just got home from a walk outside and got to enjoy the most beautiful sunset. On this walk, I took some time to just reflect on the things going on in my mind and ended up feeling much better.
Lately, I have been feeling much more in a slump than I usually have and needed to not rush back home from my day job to work on Grapplers Graveyard like I normally do. My schedule for the past year has been the following.
Wake up at 6 am - drink coffee, work on my biz till 9 am and work the day job till 6 pm. Come home and either go to training or work on the biz some more.
The past year has been great in terms of what I have produced, but not seeing the monetary gain I was hoping for left me in a state of mind for questioning why I was even working on this in the first place.
This walk was impactful just now, not just because I saw a great sunset but because I listened to a specific podcast catered to this issue.
When I started out on this journey I vividly remember making a promise to myself that I would commit to this for one whole year and see what I could accomplish and looking back I am damn happy I did so.
I am learning that one year is not long enough to shut off the blinders and not look at what monetary gain I can have when building authority sites, it is something that takes years to accomplish and I am shifting my mindset almost daily to sitting in state of mind.
Getting into slumps and going with the wave of emotions that come with this journey is still new to me but I am trying to learn new ways to navigate it so that when I start new businesses I understand what is it come. Also to give you all something to learn from along the way.
Writing is an outlet for me to get out the junk in my brain so bear with me.
Beautiful Sunset Walk Along the Canal
Today the podcast I listened to was by Dan Koe.
If you are unaware of who he is just search him on Instagram or twitter and you will see his work. In the podcast, he explains what it is like to feel lost in life (from an emotional standpoint) and what people go through along the way of building businesses. I tend to believe that building businesses is much like life in a lot of odd ways (much like BJJ) and so does Dan.
Dan speaks about most things you build or start will take 3 -5 years to actualize. The first issue I was dealing with in my head was solved at this point.
He then goes on to talk about the 4 phases which I have gone through since starting Grapplers Graveyard to a T.
The clarity phase: The learning and excitement phase of starting something new. This is where you learn a new skill or just take the leap of starting and run really fast at trying to make it come to life. I remember this like it was yesterday. 6 months into training BJJ I looked around the mats and saw at least 50 people training, I said to myself “why don’t I do something here?” Next day, Grapplers Graveyard was born.
Intensity Phase: After making it out of the clarity phase you step here where flow state is almost second nature and you find it easy to pump out new things. I think for me this was close to three months - eight months in on this journey of building. I was pumping out content like a mad man.
Consistency Phase: This is the phase where pressure is almost built up to have consistency with what you built in the previous stage. This is when systemizing and delegation started to come into play with me. After about 6 months of staring at the laptop and not looking up I knew I needed help and to keep up with the output I had originally been doing that’s whatI needed to do.
Lost Phase: the phase I feel as though I am in now. A stage where you look back at all the progress that you have made and realized you actualized the purpose that I had set out for in the clarity phase. Doubt starts you creep in about the future. This phase in meant to be a highly mental and almost spiritual phase where you just have to stay consistent and learn how to navigate the dark until you eventually find the light to the tunnel.
Turning Negatives into Positives
Life is always going to be filled will ups & downs and what I am noticing is that so will this whole online business thing. This is not only a great journey to partake in terms of trying to set myself up for a better, more abundant future, but it is also morphing me into a person of character who learns how to navigate those challenging periods and solves the problems that arise.
This is something I can really thank jiu-jitsu for too. BJJ, much like a business, has many applicable principles to life. Turning this period into something fruitful is my sole focus at this point.
Maybe you can relate and are in this same period or maybe not. One thing I know is that this to shall pass. Everything has its time, I (and you if you relate) will make it out the other side *if* we keep taking the next step to go and find that light again.
Building Momentum Again
I am building momentum again for myself in the ways that I see fit. those walks are a great thing for my mental and I forgot how amazing the Sunets are in [Redacted]. It has seriously been a long time since I just went out to go enjoy one.
It was very encouraging this morning to see my Domain Rating for my site jump up today (24) as well as seeing the organic monthly traffic refresh to over 1,000 visits per month. Site traffic is slowly, but surely going up and I have much to be looking forward to.
I will write more content here on my substack that allows people that actually want to hear from me to develop a better relationship with me over time. If what I say and go through can help you (the reader) in some way shape and form I am doing my job.
I have many things to be excited about for the future but one thing I know I must do is stay present in this moment. You can only control what is right in front of you. Don’t count the days, just make the days count.
Appreciate this kind of honest discussion about the downsides and difficulties of starting a biz. Keep going man. You'll look back at these moments with a smile.