Many of the people in my IMPACT membership are coaches just starting their businesses or transitioning from a business like counseling or massage therapy. They often ask:
“How long will it take to create a full-time business that makes money?”
I’ll draw from my experience with coaches to answer, but the same is true for any such transition, based on my experience across industries.
It depends on your unique situation.
Do you have an established network? Are you familiar with the self-directed creation of client inquiries? How much energy, time and money are you willing and able to invest?
This overview of the First 1,000 Days in a new business by Rich Litvin provides a thorough, honest answer. He says on average it will take 3 years to create full-time income from your new business. Some do it sooner, others take longer.
(I think it took me 3 years to transition into full-time income from my previous business, and at year 6 I still haven’t reached my previous income level.)
That’s a real answer about how long it might take to make a living with your business.
However, one of the things I love about the work/play that we do, is that while it takes time to find yourself in business and create a flow of clients…
…loving what you do is available right now.
Even if you’re doing tasks you don’t prefer. Even if you’re not working with your “ideal clients,” or your service isn’t where you really want it to be.
Enjoyment is always available.
I’m not saying you should enjoy yourself – just pointing out the possibility.
At any moment, you can stop thinking whatever thought you have that feels unpleasant, and feel good right where you are now.
Please don’t breeze by the prior sentence. I invite you to read it again, slowly.
The secret to living an enjoyable life is right under your nose.
It’s easy to get conceptually, but exploring the direction of enjoyment for real will transform your life. It reveals the truth:
You’re already living your most enjoyable life – sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it.
Enjoying yourself is not only the prize, it’s also great for getting good at marketing, business, and whatever goal you set for yourself. When you’re enjoying yourself, your performance is better, and you stick with the learning curve long enough to become a master at playing the game.
For many of us, it feels unnatural to make the switch from the stick to the carrot. After all, most of our lives we’ve been conditioned to criticize and pressure ourselves into doing better.
Enjoy myself? Not me – I’d turn into the world’s biggest slacker!
But the more you see about how the path of enjoyment is the way to everything you’re after, the more it just doesn’t make sense to give yourself a hard time.
We’ll be playing the game of creating the what you love AND falling in love with your life in REFLECT: Rediscover Joy, Focus and Ease.
You’ll get crystal clear on what you want, reflect on the actions that serve you (and those that don’t) to create your path forward.
Most importantly, you’ll have a deeper experience of the enjoyment that’s available right now as you create your future.
Come join our community as we light up from within, amplify and SHINE through our creations in the world.
Get all the details about REFLECT and how to join: https://theawakenedbusiness.com/reflectjoy
For IMPACT members, REFLECT is included with your membership, so you don’t have to buy it again.
Yours in love and play,
Steph
