Summer 2018, I found myself sitting on the side of the road in total shock.
My body decided to shut down and I fell asleep while driving on a British highway. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was at that moment that I knew I screwed up. Big time.
It happened because I decided to start an eComm business 18 months ago, after being sold on the idea of earning life changing money while traveling around the world. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I never thought I would almost kill myself in the process.
It happened not because I was too disciplined or ambitious. I’m not going to sugar coat things to make myself look better.
I screwed up due to pure ignorance and stupidity.
Whenever I encounter a problem or fall behind on my goals, I would default to working harder as my go-to solution.
It worked to a certain extent… until I ran out of hours to give. ⌛️
Apart from brute forcing my way through, with motivational videos and caffeine as my main fuel sources, I didn’t really have much of a plan.
“Sleep is for the weak, I’ll sleep when I’m dead…”
“If working 12 hour days isn’t enough to hit my goals, I’ll be sure to hit it with 16 hour days…”
“One day… when I wake up with [$ insert moving money target] in my bank account, I can finally get my freedom back…”
Those were the thoughts that filled my mind. Combine that with a fine mix of ego and insecurity, I was pretty much set to grind my way towards the burnout cliff. 🧗♂️
Falling off that cliff and not dying is the best thing that happened to me,
because it’s the wake up call that led me to put my ego down, stop being a lone wolf, get help, and learn how to create leverage.
If you’re currently trapped on a hamster wheel, or pushing maxed out with no room to breathe…
don’t beat yourself up, and definitely don’t punish yourself with more workload to catch up.
Honor that struggle, give yourself grace and create space.
It’s only then can you find that better, more effective pathway towards your ambitious goals.
One that does not require you to trade away sanity or things in life that matter most.
The future is bright as soon as you allow it to be.
Rest up and grow. 💪
*Pic of the car I dozed off in. Miss it from time to time lol.