Yesterday, I worked through my Epiphany Bridge of when I discovered my a-ha moment and when my shift in mindset started to take shape. Today, Russell Brunson has us working through an exercise to nail down our Origin Story. When your audience can relate to who you are, where you came from and who you are striving to be, you connect on a whole new level. He walks us through questions, so I’m going to complete my set of questions below, so you too can create your own origin story as well. Does that sound good to you?
Backstory: What is your backstory that gives us a vested interest in your journey?
I turned 40 last year and as I look back on my career, I believe that I’ve done pretty well for myself and my family. However, I also think about all of the plans that I had made when I was younger. All of the memories I had hoped to have made already, all of the milestones that I had hoped to have checked off my list by now and all of the bucket list items that I had hoped to already have achieved by the age of 40. Then, after turning 40, I told myself that I wanted to accomplish several of these items before I turned 41. Now here I am, turning 41 in a couple weeks and I think to myself – where on earth did the time go so quickly? The fact that time passes so quickly, that the years are going by with the blink of an eye and the reality that there is never enough time in a day has hit me pretty hard this past year. Not to mention, losing precious loved ones who passed away way too early in their lives. Makes me realize that life is short. I’ve been conditioned by society to stick with climbing the corporate ladder and holding onto a secured position within corporate America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my job, I have the best boss I could possibly ask for, I enjoy the team I work with, I get to work remotely from home, I work for a fortune 500 IT company that has a great reputation, I get paid well and I have a super flexible schedule. Here’s the BUT…but I have known my whole life that I was meant for more – more than working for someone else, more time to spend with those I love than working time for money, more money for my family using online tactics that others are having huge successes with and just more resources to help more people.
I realized that I live in a place of fear across several things. My job is not steady, the company is constantly laying off and I’ve made it through numerous rounds of layoffs over the last several years, but it is stressful watching all of my work friends and colleagues who at no fault of theirs, got let go in the blink of an eye. I have been in marketing for 20 years now and I really, really don’t want to have to start over. I don’t want to have to go back to driving to an office, I don’t want to share an office with other people, I don’t want to have to dress up everyday and certainly don’t want to have to go another year without a single raise…as it has been 5 years now and not even an inflationary raise has been bestowed upon me or any of colleagues for that matter. Sure, working for the man used to feel so secure, especially if you were a long-lasting loyal employee – but not anymore.
So that brings me to today – where I’ve realized that I have options. That we all have options. What is even greater, is that the options are exciting, they are within my passion realm, they offer working less time but getting paid more and even better, I’d be able to finally check off some of those milestones, bucket list items and memories that I have on a list in my head. Why you ask? Well, the power of the internet is quite amazing and if we are equipped with how to harness that power, marry it to our passion areas, add in our skills/knowledge/experiences and mix all of these elements together into a framework that has worked for countless other ordinary people, then I know it can work for me and you.
You are probably wondering why I believe in this so much. I have always been a believer of making money online and I have always known that a business idea coupled with the right online sales funnel could potentially be a game-changer for any single person. So why can’t that person be me? Why can’t it be you? Well, I believe that I’ve settled for my current career status, when I truly know I am meant for more. And I believe the same for everyone else. This is why I’m focused on learning how to build funnels so that I can not only help myself, but also ultimately help others.
External Desire: What did you want to accomplish? What external struggle are you dealing with?
My goal is to create a set of online income streams that are automated. More work on the front end, but the back-end would potentially be a steady stream of income. I have thought long and hard about what goals I have for myself in the online making money space and my passion is to help people break the chains of their current work situations and become online entrepreneurs along side me. I want to focus on three core audiences: (#1) aspiring course creators who have a passion, talent, knowledge, experience, know-how, idea or skill that can be turned into an online sales funnel with lots of information elements that will result in a steady stream of income. (#2) small businesses who want to scale their business using online sales funnels to develop, cultivate and mature leads who ultimately become customers resulting in higher sales, revenue and income. (#3) joint venture entrepreneurs where we partner and scale a business together where I help them take their passions/skills/knowledge and I hold their hand in extracting the information out of their heads and putting it into course format for membership sites and information products that we will scale to six figures income streams. My struggle though, is that I want to do this so badly for others, but have to be patient because I’m working on creating these businesses as we speak. For me, it is only a matter of when!
Internal Desire: What did you want to accomplish? What internal struggle were you dealing with?
The underlying goal for myself would be to create a lifestyle that I so desire. One where I am my own boss, have the laptop lifestyle and can work from anywhere, provide more of my time for my kids and family, make more income so we can make more memories together and follow my dream of starting a business that I’m super passionate about because I will get to help people transform their lives and break the bondage of their current financial situations and work lives. My struggle is whether I’m going to continue to stand in my own way. I feel I am my own worst enemy and I sabotage my dreams with fear, anxiety, every day stresses and the conditioned corporate mindset that I’ve had for 20+ years. What I mean is that I know deep down, the only thing keeping me from achieving these goals is me. I have the ultimate power and control over my own actions, yet, I fight contentment and sometimes laziness. I really don’t have to pursue these goals, because our current lifestyle is status quo. We aren’t starving, we aren’t super struggling to pay bills, we aren’t unhappy, so why change? Anyone feel the same way that I do? We are settling for contentment, but deep down we have this little voice telling us we are meant for more. I’ve been conditioned to believe that corporate careers are the only way. That we have to put our dreams on the shelf and spend all of our time doing the same thing every single day – day in and day out.
Wall: What wall or problem did you hit within your current opportunity to start you on this new journey?
Most people wait until they are in a desperate situation before they make any change. And if this was my situation, it would be when I lost my job due to routine corporate layoffs or my husband lost his corporate job. But why wait until then? Why can’t I create a plan b now. I’m not talking about the contraceptive, what I’m talking about is we currently have a plan a going in our lives, but how cool would it be if we had a plan b going at the same time? How secure would that make you feel? For me, it would be amazing to know that I’m working my corporate job because I enjoy it, not because I need it. It would feel great to know that I am not bound to my corporate job to make ends meet. It would be a great feeling to know that I’m getting to follow my passions of a side hustle which is what I’ve always wanted. So knowing that at any moment, I could get laid off, scares the bejesus out of me. I get anxiety thinking about that situation and what I would do – how desperate I would be to start my online business quickly – but I’d be scrambling, making hasty and non-strategic efforts to make money online. I would be kicking myself knowing that I could have already made progress towards a plan b, so if the situation did occur where I got laid off – I wouldn’t even have to worry as much because my plan b would be my back-up plan that was already in existence.
Epiphany: What was the epiphany you experienced and the new opportunity you discovered?
I have been researching the online making money space for quite some time – years in fact. I have always had the aspiration to start an online business, but have never had the drive to see it to completion. Mainly because, as I’ve said before, I’m content in my corporate career and I tend to spend my time helping others rather than focusing on my sided hustle goals. I have taken lots of online courses, I have read numerous blog posts, listened to lots of podcasts, read books and have virtually stalked those I see who have made it online. I dissect their stories, listen to how they got there, document the tools they are using and I drool over their successes. It makes super excited because every one of these ordinary to extraordinary stories gives me hope. They have shown me, it is possible. They continue to inspire me as they grow their online businesses and influence. I have attempted some online business tactics over the last couple years, but have failed at almost all of them. Mainly because I have been trying to piece-mail everything together into a seamless, evergreen sales funnel, but struggle time and time again with technology. I have always been an early adopter of technology with a skill set of graphic, video, web design and even some programming. My friends even call me for all of their tech support issues. I am pretty technical when I need to be, but often trying to get a ton of technologies to work in harmony has been overwhelming and the headache when they don’t work is overbearing.
Earlier this year, I stumbled upon a tool called ClickFunnels and it was like looking into the horizon and seeing this heavenly glow over the words ClickFunnels as it slowing approached me in slow motion. Like it was heaven sent…Why you ask? Well, because it was the answer to all of my online business prayers. This tool, has every component I need to build my online business. I don’t need OptimizePress, WordPress, ConvertKit, Kajabi, InfusionSoft, MailChimp and all of the other tools that I was trying to piece together. ClickFunnels makes it super simple to build a robust online funnel with all of the components needed customized to each business and individual’s needs. I can have my funnel built and automated, email sequences set up, membership site created, course content published, email marketing management, affiliate capabilities set-up, analytics and business intelligence, sell ClickFunnels memberships for commission, view information on leads that you won’t find anywhere else and so much more. It was the epiphany in my journey to breaking through and finally getting a business started online, with ease.
Plan: What plan did you create to achieve your goal?
The first thing on my plan that I have been working through was to immerse myself with all things ClickFunnels and ClickFunnels. I ordered the free book Expert Secrets that was mind blowing, as well as upgraded my order to DotCom Secrets and the Black Box bundle that included even more information to get me started. I started listening to Russell Brunson’s podcasts, researching all of the millionaires who have used Russell’s methods to get where they are today and last year I tried to sign up for an event called Funnel Hacking Live 2018 – but it was sold out. I put my email on the waiting list and I knew that it was an event I had to attend. And when tickets came available for Funnel Hacking Live 2019, I immediately signed up without hesitation. By signing up for Funnel Hacking Live, I was given a bonus that included all of the Funnel Hacking Live audio files from every single year prior which included over 60 presentations from the events that took place from 2015 through 2018. Even better, they gave me a huge 430 page binder of all of the notes, as well as all a MP3 player that included all of the audio files. I immediately listened to every single presentation starting with 2015 and working my way through 2018. All I have to say is WOW – I was inspired, my mind was blown, I could not wait to emulate any of these millionaires and I got a fire lit inside me that has pushed to be diligent and intentional in making progress towards learning ClickFunnels and starting my very own online business. You are probably asking why Russell Brunson and if you don’t know him, you should. After weeks of research, I have discovered a ton of people helping others become millionaires in online space, but non that compare to Russell Brunson. He is a highly successful entrepreneur focused on impact over income and helping ordinary people become extraordinary online entrepreneurs making millions. To me, there is no other person I want to help me get started on my journey to having an online profitable business presence. Aside from Russell, I have been focused on connecting with other successful entrepreneurs.
Other things I have been doing is working my way through the 100 Day Affiliate bootcamp, which is a quick win on getting some income going by promoting other people’s products. In this case, it is promoting ClickFunnels and the many other product offerings that go with it. What better way to get to know ClickFunnels than to promote it. If I promote, I feel I need to use it because I really don’t believe in selling or promoting something I don’t believe in. Therefore, I signed up for the highest ClickFunnels membership called the Etison Edition of ClickFunnels that includes all of the major capabilities that ClickFunnels offers. I’m the type of person who is all in when I do things so having the highest level will help me learn it faster and become better quicker. I signed up for Spencer Mecham’s course titled Affiliate Secrets 2.0 because he is currently the top affiliate for ClickFunnels and what better way to become better than to learn from the best, so I’ve been working my way through his course as well. And as you know, I’m also involved in the 30 Day Challenge that Russell Brunson is offering as we speak. So a lot of daily progress in my spare time, but I’ve stayed true to the plan and I have been learning every day.
Conflict: What conflict did you experience along the way?
As exciting as all of this content is – my biggest hurdle right now is time. I work a full-time demanding corporate job, I have 3 beautiful children and a wonderful husband, I have friends who I love being social with, I’m soccer and gymnastics mom 5 to 6 days per week and I have all of the Mommy duties of having a home that needs cleaning, a fully stocked kitchen and everything else. On top of all of that, I was helping several friend’s businesses with some piece of their marketing at no or little cost to them. So, as you can see, my time was sparingly and I had no time to focus on my dreams and side hustle goals.
So earlier last year, I outsourced all of my side favors to a bare minimum, I learned how to say no when called upon for help, I got super organized in my daily routines and I created time where originally I was filling it with things that were unproductive. For instance, instead of watching a movie, I would watch a video from one of the courses I’m taking to learn ClickFunnels. Instead of listening to music while I worked out, was driving or did household chores, I would listen to podcasts of previous Funnel Hacking Live sessions or one of Russell Brunson’s recordings. So I got better at multi-tasking and ridding the activities that didn’t further my goals.
Achievement: What was the end result you achieved?
What has been truly amazing about this whole journey is the clarity that I know have of where I want to be in the future. I have stopped making excuses as to why I haven’t pursued my goals and dreams and rather taken up the mantra of “don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get by the work you didn’t do!” I have also stopped waiting for perfection and have taken up the mindset of “taking imperfect action!” and finally, I have made daily progress for months and every day I get excited that I’m one step closer to my dreams and goals. I have been staying laser focused on sticking to a few paths rather than spreading out my time across too many, which means I’m so much closer than I ever would have been had I not stopped getting distracted. I’m excited about what is to come and I can’t wait to see the progress I’ve made in a year’s time. Funnel Hacking Live is a little over 100 days away and I have made a commitment to myself to make daily progress every single day. I believe that hard work will always get you where you want to go and now that I know my destination – hard work is the fuel that is going to get me there.
Transformation: What transformation did you experience?
I believe that I have already been transformed from the content corporate mindset into the millionaire entrepreneur mindset. A mindset of hope, that no dream is too big, that taking imperfect action is okay, that I have a community of like-mind people, that it is okay to replicate what others are doing so that you too see success, that impact over income will win every time and that having a profitable online business is possible.
My thoughts on all of these points have been confirmed and now it is all about action, because goals without action are just unrealized dreams. I’m ready for what is to come, I’m not afraid of hard work, I can’t sleep at night thinking about where I’ll be in a year and I can’t wait for my family to reap the benefits of all of the fruits of my labor. And ultimately, I can’t wait to be truly transformed into my future self.