Knowing when to take a step back!

  Growing up, there were so many things I’d dreamed of doing. I remember decorating my report card covers in primary school with an endless slew of drawings and ideas of what I could be and what I could achieve. From artist to Olympic figure skating world champion, frankly speaking, nothing was going to stop me, that is until life crept in.

  What happened exactly, I can’t quite begin to explain but all  I know is that the older I got and the more I ‘put myself out there,’ the more I started to embody the persona of an unambitious career woman who was dead set on being a writer, a freelance writer.

  Seeing that I love to try ‘everything,’ in my early career, I  started off as a teacher. To be frank, it was and still is, good, easy money that pays the bills. So, between my grammar lessons and after school discussions with parents regarding the progress of their child, in the back of my mind, I still kept my writing dreams alive because I knew deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down that one day, I would be able to make a name for myself and achieve my goal of becoming a freelance writer.

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  I scored my first job teaching English shortly after university.  I was working in Taiwan and while it was an experience I will NEVER forget, it was during that year I quickly realized that I wasn’t 100 percent in love with the profession. So, with my contract set to expire, I took a year off, did a bit of soul searching, and contemplated this thought,

“Do I have what it takes to become the writer I’d always dreamed of being?”

  The answer to that question was, yes, yes I do.

  After my year away from the ‘workforce’ and preparing to ‘get back out there,’  I told myself,

  “It’s time to create a life that works for me.”

Well, as the saying goes,

“Man plans, God laughs!”

  Honestly, my career didn’t transition into writing as seamlessly as I’d envisioned it in my head. Along the way, I taught at another school, got a job at a magazine, and even tried my hand in the corporate world of marketing! And while I was still under the thumb of a boss no matter where I went, I found myself caught up in the ‘rat race’ and adhering to rules and regulations that didn’t necessarily jive with my value system.  I felt defeated.

  To be completely honest, the ‘rat race’ wasn’t a ‘good look.’ I became cold and hard, hyper-focused on being the best and making the money, lots of it.

  However, it wasn’t until a health issue took me down in the later part of 2012 did I feel as though I got some sort of sense ‘knocked’ back into me. This lifestyle of stress, high anxiety, and constant worry isn’t what I wanted. Thankfully though, it forced me to slow down and get still for the second time in my life.

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  So, here I am, eleven years later, and while there are days when I feel like I’m still ‘fluttering’ around as a teacher, I am proud of myself because I’m FINALLY stepping out of my comfort zone and taking a chance with my business, Frankly Speaking.

  To be quite honest with you, starting my own business and working a day job has its challenges. Between marking homework assignments and coming up with Facebook posts, somewhere in between I am always having to find time to ‘read up’ on the essentials of business, which I am coming to the realization that are a lot of things I still don’t know and as such, there are a lot of people ‘out there’  who know how to do it better.

Hmmmmm!

  So far, Frankly Speaking has seen its shares of ups and downs. From launching my first opt- in to trying to sort out my website, this whole year plus has been a HUGE learning curve for me in terms of really getting down and dirty in order to make this thing fly the way I see them flying in my head.

  I’ve learned a lot, and continue to do so, and I’ve grown exponentially. But now, and as much as it secretly pains me, I’ve FINALLY come to the conclusion that I need help. Sure I could try to learn things, take classes and save the cash I’d most likely have to pay in order to higher a ‘professional’ who knows a heck of a lot more than me, but why? Why stress myself out? Why create unnecessary angst and worry?

  So, as we round out the last few months of 2020, stay tuned! I’ve got great ideas up my sleeves and, I’ve got a crew behind me now who knows exactly what they’re doing!