In the words of actor and comedian, Jim Carrey, when explaining the admirable but ultimately unsuccessful life choices of his father.
“You can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
Percy Carrey (Jim Carrey’s father), had a talent for both music and comedy. But he put his dreams aside to a pursue a career as an accountant, hoping that it would provide stability for his family. However, at 51, Percy lost his job and the Carrey family struggled to get by despite his father’s best efforts to choose what he thought was the safest option.
This taught Jim Carrey a valuable lesson and gave him the courage to follow his dreams, doing what he loved doing.
I’ve always known what I wanted to do, or at least, I knew what I didn’t love doing. When everyone around me was discouraging me to leave school at 17, or to quit my marketing job in London when I was 20. The fear of regretting not doing something has always been greater than the fear of doing it.
Even after I quit my job, I was still indoctrinated by what I thought I should be doing, rather than what I wanted to do. I spent years focusing on a social media business, based around selling and promoting other people’s businesses. I found myself trapped again in a sea of micro-management and phone calls from clients. This wasn’t freedom, it was just another office job repackaged at home.
Initially, I didn’t have the confidence to pursue blogging. But when I spent more time doing what I loved, I realised how effective it was to sell myself rather than a faceless company. People love working with people they can relate to and especially when that person is passionate about what they do.
"You will never influence the world by trying to be like it."
HELPING PEOPLE LIKE ME
I started blogging because I enjoyed sharing what I was learning. I wanted to build awareness of alternative lifestyle choices so that younger versions of myself won’t feel so alone in a world where we are told we won’t achieve anything without a university degree.
I hope to help people like me by documenting my journey as I try and fail to make money online so I can travel more.
"Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you're proud to live."
CURIOSITY
Of course, I’ve always loved the idea of travel. The curiosity of opening a door I’ve never opened before, seeing something for myself instead of hearing about it.
Curiosity drove me to live and work from 30+ countries in the past 4 years. It’s what keeps me up working late at night so I can buy myself the freedom to travel more, experience more, be more.
The neverending question of what if the grass IS greener on the other side?
"Tomorrow could be the someday you've been waiting for."
PURPOSE
Whether you are writing for your family back home or building your personal brand for monetary reasons, owning a blog gives you something to do on the road. When you are by yourself or you have a few hours spare, there’s always something you can work on.
For me, my blog has grown to become a vehicle for helping others. Not just my readers but with my Give Back campaign, I work with Care International UK to give back 100% of my e-guide sales to microfinance entrepreneurs in developing countries.
It seemed irresponsible of me to tell my readers to follow their dreams when not everyone has that privilege. And it seemed fitting to give back to entrepreneurs who have a dream but are deemed “too high risk” to receive loans from traditional banks.
I’m only just getting started but having something to work towards, gives my travel blog a purpose much greater than just earning money and telling my story.
What or who are you blogging for?
