TiaWood.com

I watched a musical at my daughter's elementary school a few months ago. The theme: "If it is to be, it is up to me". How true those words are. What are your dreams working as a domainer? I blogged a few weeks ago about the best investment you will ever make as a domainer is in yourself. This post is about how to invest in yourself and how to keep going.

Know Where You Want to End Up

Everyone is different. Some people need to plan their every move. Me, I don't work that way. Plans change. Situations change. However, you do need to know where you want to end up. What is the end result of your life as a domainer? Want to make a multi-million dollar domain sale and retire? Want to live off PPC the rest of your life? Whatever you decide make it a realistic goal you can reasonably achieve without setting yourself up for failure. It may be impossible to be the richest domainer who ever lived but it can be achievable to retire off your internet income.

Rid Yourself of Social Distractions

I love to socialize and if you are like me, you could spend hours on Twitter, Forums and Facebook with other domainers. However, while networking is important these things serve as distractions from where you want to end up later in life. The same goes for friends in real life. There should be a time for work and a time for socializing/networking. The way I solve this is to set aside dedicated work time (even if you work from home) and do the Twitter, Forums, Facebook, friend phone calls, hanging out, etc after hours.

Work Towards Your End Goal Everyday

What prevents you today from reaching your end goal? It is tempting to say "money" but there is always an answer before money. Let's say you want to buy a new house earned with your domaining income. Money isn't the problem. Your monetization execution strategy may be the problem. How can you fix your monetization execution strategy? Start by auditing your domain portfolio to see what potential you are neglecting. [Lack of] money is only a symptom of the real problem. For me, I use education to work daily towards my end goal. My nose is in a development or tech book everyday. Currently, I'm learning how to create custom Joomla components which will help me move forward in a personal project.

Find the Proper Balance

I'm a workaholic. But it took discipline to work from home and stick to an actual work schedule. It used to be too easy to have a workfest for two weeks straight while my daughter was younger. I would often suffer burnout and want to quit. Worse, I was missing out on her life. This goes with settings aside work time and sticking with it so that the remainder of your day can be dedicated to the other important things in your life. Everything that needs attention every day gets it. It's also important to take time out for yourself. Set aside a day or two to do absolutely nothing except relax and spend time with family.

Ignore the Downers

You won't always believe in yourself. You won't always want to work towards your end goal. 99% of the people in your life will not understand what you are doing. Many of them will doubt you. But that doesn't mean you are going to fail. You have to learn how to ignore these things and keep pressing on. Five years from now is eventually going to be today. You have the choice to either be in the same spot you are in now or be where you want to end up. "If it is to be, it is up to me".

Who (and What) is Worth Your Time?

Keep people close to you who think like you do: domainers and non-domainers. Join groups and networks that inspire you to reach your goals. ( But for God sakes, don't be a poster at every technical forum known to Google). Personally, I like to keep a mentor around: someone who is focused, inspiring and knowledgeable.

Remain Open to the Possibilities

Times change. Technologies change. Situations in our personal lives change. Remain open to the path that will take you to your end goal so you can be flexible and adjust. Some people panic when things don't go according to plan. I guarantee you that on the internet, nothing will go according to plan. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." ~ Calvin Coolidge

Comments (5)

Helder

I subscribe, nothing to add, you said it all

Floris Fiedeldij Dop June 27, 2009

The singing was excellent. Too cute! Ask your mom to include you on every article she writes!

Dave June 29, 2009

Kids teach the best lessons regarding time management.

Bruce Marler June 30, 2009

Great post Tia and so spot on. You and I both love to socialize with folks on facebook and twitter and you are right, there are times that has to fall to the side while focusing on the task at hand. Thats the reason I disappeared off both the past several weeks, focus. Due to that now I have moved on to working for myself. You are spot on with this post in all regard. Thanks much!

Chris lopez jr July 07, 2009

This post is a great post! I like your honest view and uplifting message! I'm going to tweet this now...

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