There was a time when simplifying my business felt like giving up. What is it about our culture (at least western culture), that we can't shake the 'no pain no gain' mentality? Why does it feel like things have to be hard to be worth anything? Fortunately, those days are behind me. Now I feel like I've won the time lottery (it exists in my head, just go with it). I was talking with a friend recently and I realized how everything I've done in my business has brought me to exactly where I am now and it feels so right. Let's take a brief stroll down memory lane and we can look at all the iterations of my business. I've come full circle to what it is I really wanted to do (and this path has prepared me to step into this next phase). I've mentioned a bunch of times that my intention when I started my business was to be an information marketer. I had zero technical skills, no idea about creating websites and had only played with WordPress.com. All I knew was that I was fascinated by online business and knew I had to make it work. I needed to work for myself and pretty much committed to never going back to retail management again (we won't talk about my stint in real estate or insurance, because... yawn). I'd had my fair share of attempts at other businesses: MLM (my guess is a LOT of entrepreneurs have been down this path at one time or another) Contract recruiting for retail Physical retail scrapbook store Loan & Real Estate agent Insurance agent Dang. Makes me tired thinking of everything that went into each of those ventures. Especially the real estate and loan agents, because again, they were a little dry for me (and I am SO not good at being at anyone's beck and call). Once I connected with this whole online business thing it was like coming home. I couldn't get enough of it. I was consuming as much information as I could, with a bunch of words I had zero understanding of but it clicked (pun intended). I KNEW it was possible. Fast forward 9 years and here are the different paths I've been down that have brought me to exactly where I am today (I can't really give you a definitive timeline, but know that it started in 2008 and has brought me to 2017) Up until 2017 I was still offering websites for clients: Long story short, I've come back to to the fundamentals of what I wanted to do in the first place. Is it easier for me now than it would have been even 5 years ago? Absolutely. I have an audience and I know so much more. I'm not weighed down by the challenges of making the technology fit. However, I will tell you that I had I stayed the course of doing what I knew I was supposed to keep doing (i.e., not getting sidetracked by shiny things) my business would probably be in a different place today. That's not a judgment, simply reminding you of the role you play in getting to where you want to go. I also know I'm much more confident in my abilities and how I want to run my business today than I was 5 years ago. As much as I like having a nice income from my business, the freedom to enjoy the fruits of my labor has to be there too. And it wasn't. I had created a business that had more overhead (salaries) than I had ever wanted and I felt like I was in a constant state of chasing something. The big launch, the big lifestyle, the big high-ticket offer, the big 'whatever the latest guru is preaching' thing.... Before you start thinking I'm anti the big lifestyle (or however that may come across), at the end of the day I'm not anti-anything except for what doesn't work for ME. I had some amazing experiences but I'm not driven but flashy stuff. The houses, cars, planes, watches... none of it gets me excited. Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, but I'm way more inspired by experiences (travel) and freedom. But I found myself feeling like I needed to keep up with a lot of that and have all kinds of funnels, strategies, campaigns,