Hi friend,

Tomorrow, I complete two years of being self-employed.

Did I always want it this way? LOL, no. How could I dare to dream? I:

• got fired from my first job
• did tasks I didn't enjoy at all
• nobody in my family is self-employed
• was the junior-most in my second job
• was low on self-esteem and didn't think I could do it

This was all to be self-employed, perhaps a freelancer.

But today - owning a business by

• running a cohort-based course that has sold out 7 times out of 8
• creating passive income from digital products and a course​
• growing my audience across platforms
• getting recognised for my words

This is something I never even dreamt of in my entire life. Freelancing still looked a tad bit achievable. But having an audience that will invest in me by spending $0 on marketing and not sending hardcore sales emails was unimaginable

I've wanted to teach since 2014 but snubbed my PhD plans away. And now teaching via my courses feels like life has come a full circle.

Here's what helped me:

1/ Mindset:

I come from a family where we save money because we work extremely hard to earn it. My parents have done everything in their capacity to save and invest in me. I believe in the same, but I also believe that there's an abundance of wealth in the world and I don't need to limit myself to any number.

My dream 3 years ago was to earn 1L rupees ($1300) before I turn 30. Right now it's $50k/m. I'm not even half way close to that goal, but I know it's 100% achievable. Also - I don't need to pull anyone down to rise.

2/ Work:

I may work for 3-4 hours a day. But when I work, there are no tabs open and zero room for distraction. I go all in and that's how I produce decent-quality work.

3/ Self-learning:

Tbh most of your answers exist on the internet. The most common question I get is how to freelance or how to be a solopreneur. But the answers to this already exist! Hell, I've written 100s of content pieces around it. Don't be lazy. Learn from others' content + invest in online courses. It's the easiest way to learn from those you look up to.
​
​4/ ROI driven:

Maybe it's an Indian thing, but I want to see the long-term benefits before I invest. In 2020 I did a $400 writing course which was nearly half my salary. I had a feeling it'll pay off, and it paid off in multi-folds As humans, we have loss aversion - we see short-term loss and not long-term gain. We see losing $500 but not gaining $5000 as a consequence of investing $500. Look at the ROI and put your money where you multiply it.

5/ Experimenting:

I wasn't sure about creating and teaching an online course (because I thought I wouldn't manage it lol). But it happened to me as a result of a tweet I put out to ask if I should help people write consistently and I got a positive response. Same with products. I thought 'passive income' is what successful YouTubers and Twitter bros talk about. But nope, it's a reality that happened by creating, engaging, and experimenting.

6/ The right environment:

I have zero online friends who crib or post negativity. That's just not my vibe. The way you think affects how you behave which affects your reality. Please be conscious of that.

7/ Value Systems:

Last month, I lost $2400 because I refused a LinkedIn sponsorship deal with a gaming app. It was a no-brainer for me because gaming isn't my niche and I don't know anything about the app. This week, somebody told me that they'll pay me 1/4th of my rates (lol) to talk about their brand. The money looks shiny, but I believe that money that doesn't align with your conscience doesn't feel as good. It's easy, but karma will come back to you. I've worked hard to grow an audience and it'll take one such gaming app deal to break their trust. My value systems of honesty and being myself preced anything that I do.

8/ Having fun:

It has been my #1 priority. How else do you show up when you keep getting rejected, get ghosted by clients, and when things don't go your way? You have to be in love with the craft and have fun. There's no other way around it. Please have fun!

I have similar challenges as some of you:

• I can't predict my monthly income at all.
• I have no clue what I'm doing with life, I just know I'm going the right way.
• I don't know what life 2 or 5 years down the line looks like. I don't know if this solopreneur thing will last forever.
• I often compare myself to those a decade older than me and then realise how they were just as lost at my age (27).

But I know that:

• I own my time and I'm a free bird. There's no better feeling than this!
• So far, so good + I'm having a ball. It's important to be happy, and I'm happy.
• I know I'm aligned with my guiding force and my purpose. This is why I'm here.
• I can either blame my environment/ people or take ownership of my life. I choose the latter.
• I've grown from zero. Zero investments in the biz, a bit of savings to get by, and on my own. I can do it all over again.

I can't predict what will happen when, but I can at least have fun with this one hell of a ride.

Here are my final 3 recommendations for you:

1. Financial independence: especially if you're a woman in the Indian society like me, this is a game changer. You'll feel great about yourself and be a primary decision-maker. It has little to do with money and more to do with the place it gives you in society. And even for everyone else - this is super important.
2. Side hustling: I won't comment on what your corporate contract says. All I say is, please try to have more than one source of income. Hop onto Fiverr and look for skills in demand. Learn that via YouTube or online courses and then do some gigs on Upwork.
3. Inner game: Nothing will change until your inner universe does, for it affects your world outside. Picture somebody always cribbing and talking about how they're unfortunate and others got lucky. Do you think such a person will ever succeed? Yeah, me neither. So read about building an abundance mindset, it will change your life.

And finally, book recommendations (yay):

The single-most life-changing book for me was Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins.

The others are:

• ​The Practice - Seth Godin
• ​Grit - Angela Duckworth
• ​Mindset - Dr. Carol Dweck
• ​Shoe Dog - Phil Knight
• ​Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
• ​The Millionaire Fastlane - MJ DeMarco
• ​The Minimalist Entrepreneur - Sahil Lavingia

All the best. Please work on your dreams, because you deserve better.

No, it won't happen instantly. It will take a lot of time, work, and rejections. But at least you can make it fun :)

I encourage you to take decisions today keeping your future self in mind.

Love,

N

---

Learn From Me:

1. ​LinkedIn Ultimate Content Mastery: a self-paced LinkedIn course to help you grow on LinkedIn and write compelling stories that attract opportunities. I gained 75k followers in 12 months and became LinkedIn Top Voice within a year of writing, so this stuff works.
2. ​LinkedIn Ultimate Content Mastery(for Indian users): Same as above, but enables you to make INR payments with parity pricing (yay).
3. ​Summit 21: Join my flagship cohort-based course, Summit 21. After 3 successful cohorts till June'23, this will be the last cohort of this year.

Work With Me

If you're a brand or a business looking to grow, I get 3 million+ views every month on my content. Click here if you want me to help you shine bright in front of my audience :)

---