I just don't know anymore...

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Long story short, I feel stuck, demotivated, and lost.

I've been in this IM/entrepreneurship game for almost 4 years now. I've learned so much and I possess many skills, and I've recently started achieving some notable financial success (for me) for the first time in over 2 years. However, something has been eating away at me every single minute of every single day for the past 3 weeks now.

Basically, I just can't. I can't find the motivation (energy) to do anything work-related.

This is weird, because I want my life to get better. I hate where I'm at right now. I'm 22 years old (23 in December) and I don't know how to cook an egg ffs. I live with my parents (though this isn't too sad nowadays considering a 1-bedroom apartment in a small to medium sized city costs $1200.00 a month for rent in Canada) and I literally have no friends. I live in a small retirement town and I'm surrounded by people who are 65+ years old 24/7 (besides my parents). I'm just f*cking bored honestly.

I know what it takes (I've studied all the Jim Rohn material in the world and I've read nearly every single post from @CCarter etc.) to improve one's life, so I just don't understand why it's been so difficult for me to just do it.

I wake up every morning feeling "meh" and that's it. I'm not depressed and I'm not happy, I'm just there.

I want to earn and receive more money so I can move on with my life, but at the same time I don't (?).

Is this all because I don't enjoy the work I'm doing?

Is this because my surroundings are making me negative all the time and draining my willpower?

Is it everything combined?

If so, how on earth do I solve this? I can't move because I don't have enough money, so I'm stuck with my current surroundings, and for goodness sakes, I can't quit my client work and go back to making $0.00 a month AGAIN- I just went through 2 years of earning $0.00 and it was pathetic.

I'm sleeping well and have always slept well, I workout 4 days a week, I eat healthy, etc.

I've tried setting S.M.A.R.T goals (I spent an hour last night in my bed doing this for the 10th time).

I possess skills that are apparently in demand and valuable (YouTube marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, graphic design, etc.).

I just don't know at this point.

Am I just being a whiny loser or are there actually some issues here that need sorted?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Be honest with me- I trust everyone in this forum completely, as I know from reading posts that there are so many people here who have had success.

Thanks,
Daniel
 
To be 22 again :D Get back to me feeling down, when you're nearing 40 like I am.
I'm going to write a longer reply to you later Daniel. I think, I can contribute some insight here, so I will take my time to write a proper response.
Edit:
Ok, so let's recap:
  • No friends
  • Live with parents
  • Bored
So the solution is rather simple:
  • Get friends
  • Move out
  • Find stuff to do
You're also 22, so your ability to screw things up beyond repair are very low. There's all sorts of things you can do. No one says it has to be internet marketing. You have time to do anything. Go to college, learn to code, play an instrument, become a pro bodybuilder, what do I know :smile:
The things you see as holding you back are miniscule really. You can get a job, rent a room with a roommate if too expensive. You can get a student loan and spend it studying or partying or whatever.

You could also go backpacking/digital nomading around Asia. I'd really consider that if I was you. Go to Chiang Mai for a month or two. Make new friends. Why wouldn't you? Just get travel insurance and $2000 or so in reserves for emergency. Set up some Fiver gigs and start earning. You can live on $500 a month in Chiang Mai if need be.

Now with all these things available to you, why haven't you done so? I'm not being accusatory, I'm just straight up asking. I'm asking because I think the answer might help you answer your own questions. Do you have a diagnosis? Abuse drugs, internet, pron? If so, quit negative habits, move out, go to Asia. Find out some more about yourself and what who you are and what you're about. Then move back and to college or start a business or stay in Asia and teach english.

In any case, make a change now, figure it out, try some stuff, for your sake, no one else. Don't worry so much, just don't do drugs or do some criminal or neglect your health, everything else can be salvaged, so get out of your room and start living.
 
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If I look at your post the following statements stand out:
  • you live with your parents
  • you hate the town where you live
  • you have no friends
  • you are bored with your life
Doesn't sound work-related to me, even though a lot of your post is about work.

I could tell you stories about events or things I did that changed my life, but it wouldn't matter to you because a) I am an old fart and b) you are you, not anyone else. What I will say - and it is the philosophy I've pretty much lived by - is that if something is making you unhappy in your life and you can change it then do so.

You are 22 and, if you live a normal life, you will never again be as free as you are now. So use that freedom to...

Tell you what, the genie of the BUSO has just appeared in front of you and granted you any three wishes you desire. What are your three wishes?
 
To be 22 again :D Get back to me feeling down, when you're nearing 40 like I am.
I'm going to write a longer reply to you later Daniel. I think, I can contribute some insight here, so I will take my time to write a proper response.
Edit:
Ok, so let's recap:
  • No friends
  • Live with parents
  • Bored
So the solution is rather simple:
  • Get friends
  • Move out
  • Find stuff to do
You're also 22, so your ability to screw things up beyond repair are very low. There's all sorts of things you can do. No one says it has to be internet marketing. You have time to do anything. Go to college, learn to code, play an instrument, become a pro bodybuilder, what do I know :smile:
The things you see as holding you back are miniscule really. You can get a job, rent a room with a roommate if too expensive. You can get a student loan and spend it studying or partying or whatever.

You could also go backpacking/digital nomading around Asia. I'd really consider that if I was you. Go to Chiang Mai for a month or two. Make new friends. Why wouldn't you? Just get travel insurance and $2000 or so in reserves for emergency. Set up some Fiver gigs and start earning. You can live on $500 a month in Chiang Mai if need be.

Now with all these things available to you, why haven't you done so? I'm not being accusatory, I'm just straight up asking. I'm asking because I think the answer might help you answer your own questions. Do you have a diagnosis? Abuse drugs, internet, pron? If so, quit negative habits, move out, go to Asia. Find out some more about yourself and what who you are and what you're about. Then move back and to college or start a business or stay in Asia and teach english.

In any case, make a change now, figure it out, try some stuff, for your sake, no one else. Don't worry so much, just don't do drugs or do some criminal or neglect your health, everything else can be salvaged, so get out of your room and start living.
Thank you very much for your response!

To answer your question here: "Do you have a diagnosis? Abuse drugs, internet, pron?" I'm all good in terms of mental health (no diagnosis), I've never done drugs before (seriously, never smoked marijuana, never smoked cigarettes, never been drunk even), and I haven't been a regular pron user for nearly 6 years now.

As far as it goes for college, I've disliked the idea of going to college so much that I've never bothered stepping foot on a college campus in my entire life. Really, really do not want to go to college, as while I can get student loans, etc. I see it as a waste of time. I understand the suggestion though!

As far as it goes for moving out, I don't know anyone (serious- everyone within 5 years of my age left my town the minute they graduated high school). I also don't have enough money to do so, as everything in Canada costs an arm and a leg. Yes, I could get a job at another factory, or McDonalds, etc. but if I'm being 100% honest, if I get a "normal" job I will become comfortable with the job and will stop bothering with IM.

As far as it goes for travelling, this should sum up my experience with travelling: I have never possessed a passport in my life (pretty sad right). I do understand the appeal of travelling and living cheaply abroad, but again, I just feel like this would be me hiding from what's really the issue: my inability to earn and receive a significant income using the skills that I've learned over the past 4 years.

I know it sounds like I'm just making up excuses, but I want you to know I really do appreciate your input and I welcome your responses!
 
So, I dunno, get a job at Whistler or Banff for the winter, learn to ski, shag yourself silly and make all the stupid mistakes you haven't made in the last four years of your youth because you have been concentrating on internet marketing.

It's not a life, it's a four month timeout. If the above sounds shallow, it's meant to. You're 22, just blow off some steam and then get back to it.

That was just an example. Or go work on the fishing boats. Or hike the whatever trail. Or volunteer for something.

Still waiting for the three wishes, btw.
 
Tell you what, the genie of the BUSO has just appeared in front of you and granted you any three wishes you desire. What are your three wishes?
If I'm being 100% honest...

1. To wake up happy, excited, and motivated in the morning.
2. To earn and receive enough money to live comfortably on my own.
3. To be able to give my parents a couple $1000.00 every few months or so to help them be more at ease financially.

That's really it if I'm being honest. A girlfriend would be nice, but a girl who has the qualities that I would like doesn't exist in Canada, and a sports car would be nice, but repairs would cost a decent amount of money and the roads aren't really paved where I live.
 
Everything I'm about to type is bullshit in general because I don't know you and can only do armchair psychology based on the few things you've typed on the forum thus far. Hopefully something hits the mark though.

Meaningful Work
Having read your intro thread that boiled down to "I keep spamming and losing my income" (I do recognize what you were saying about Fiverr changing their algorithm, not trying to undermine your legitimate work), I think that's the first place to start. I thought you were doing okay on Upwork now?

Is the work you're doing meaningful? Is it, first and foremost, fulfilling to you? After that, is it honestly helpful to other businesses that are contributing to society? Or is it just paper chasing?

Because paper comes when you're contributing to people. You need to be chasing "offering value." The rest comes naturally after that.

Social Interaction
I'm guilty. My friends all got married, have kids, have jobs. I don't see them much any more. Every time we hang out, I learned they hung out several times in between without me. It's a curse of being an entrepreneur, working from home, and of being an adult.

Surely you have hobbies, and I bet there's clubs or Meetup.com groups or something you can get involved in. This isn't a waste of time. It invigorates you, you make connections, you find love, you stay sane. It increases your will power and motivation levels too.

Location
There is literally nothing stopping you from moving somewhere with cheaper rent. Being near your parents is nice. Living with them is not. You could never get me to live with my parents, let alone a sibling, let alone have a roommate. A spouse is nice though.

No chicks you like in Canada? Move. I'm sure there's very desirable women of all types in Canada though, that's not a very realistic thing to say unless you have unrealistic expectations. You have to put in the footwork to meet high quality women.

Don't like the weather? Rent too high? Would prefer paved roads? Want to live around people who aren't 65+? Move.

Income
There is ZERO shame in getting a day job in order to achieve your other goals. You can still do internet marketing in the evenings and weekends, and you'll have some money to spend to outsource tasks, too. If you get complacent at McDonald's wages, then you're beyond help, honestly. Nobody should be complacent at minimum wage.

Responsibility Levels
This is probably an issue too. Your drive and motivation will expand to match your responsibility. That's why a lot of us talk about "burning the boat" as the old Buddhist parable goes. You cross the river and destroy the ability to go back to comfort, and then the only path is forward and survival is a must. Suddenly you become ready and you rise to the challenge.

If you HAD to pay rent, you'd be making the money to pay rent. The only people who don't are willfully being stupid or are addicts or have mental health problems.

______

If I had to pretend to understand and wrap up your problems in a neat package with a bow, I'd say you're complacent now because you live a cushioned life in a home that doesn't require you to pay your share of rent and utilities. Do you even pay for your groceries?

I'm not at all trying to dog you about this. You're young and in a transition phase in life. We all were there or will be there soon enough. It sounds like you're itching to take it to the next level, and you know what the options are. You're just not at that moment where you're ready to seal the deal.

I'd choose one problem and solve it. You could start by learning to cook an egg. Just fry the bitch, then learn sunny side up, over easy, scrambled. Then decide it's time to move out on your own. That'll open up the next problem of money. A day job offers immediate income, doesn't stop you from doing IM, and opens up the ability to socialize more and meet people too.

You need to open up the box you've placed yourself in. You don't have to ONLY do internet marketing. You're not stuck in that one city. Canadian women aren't all 'whatever.' Any fetish you have can be fulfilled in Canada, I'm sure.

You're at a transition point in life and you're looking at it like a barrier instead of a gradient you'll slide across like everyone does. Open up your options by unboxing yourself mentally and it'll all fall into place.
 
1. Not happening with your life at the moment.
2. Also not happening.
3. And it's a full house, because of 2.

Therefore change is necessary.

So much truth in the post above from @Ryuzaki but especially in the section he titled Responsibility Levels. You are in a deeply uncomfortable comfort zone at the moment. Challenging yourself by breaking your patterns will teach you far more about yourself than repeating those patterns and hoping the outcome will change.
 
Is the work you're doing meaningful? Is it, first and foremost, fulfilling to you? After that, is it honestly helpful to other businesses that are contributing to society? Or is it just paper chasing?

Because paper comes when you're contributing to people. You need to be chasing "offering value." The rest comes naturally after that.
So, the work I originally was hired on by this client who is currently paying me $1600.00 a month was work I do find somewhat fulfilling. However, as time as moved forward, I have slowly been transitioned into a glorified social media manager making $20.00 an hour.

The work this client is doing is related to real estate investing, so I wouldn't say it's very meaningful in terms of contributing to society, but the client seems to be passionate about it and does know what he is talking about.
Surely you have hobbies, and I bet there's clubs or Meetup.com groups or something you can get involved in. This isn't a waste of time. It invigorates you, you make connections, you find love, you stay sane. It increases your will power and motivation levels too.
My only real hobby outside of work-related activities is going to the gym, but I've gotta be 100% honest, I've not liked going to this gym for about 2 years now. However, if I do not go to this gym, my car will never be used, and I will never talk to anyone besides my parents. I don't have full blown conversations at the gym, but just saying "hi, how are you" to people at least gives me some form of interaction. Beside the gym I just ride my bike around or go for walks up to my old elementary school to relax.
There is literally nothing stopping you from moving somewhere with cheaper rent. Being near your parents is nice. Living with them is not. You could never get me to live with my parents, let alone a sibling, let alone have a roommate. A spouse is nice though.
I'm with you on the not wanting to living with a sibling or have a roommate. Being completely honest, the reason why living with my parents stopped bothering me when I turned 18 is because I stopped doing basically anything when I was done with high school and organized sports.
No chicks you like in Canada? Move. I'm sure there's very desirable women of all types in Canada though, that's not a very realistic thing to say unless you have unrealistic expectations. You have to put in the footwork to meet high quality women.
I don't have high standards- but I am a christian and due to this I would really prefer to devote time speaking to girls who are as well. I dated girls in high school up until about grade 11, but then I got "red-pilled" as they say and I started focusing 100% on sports.
Don't like the weather? Rent too high? Would prefer paved roads? Want to live around people who aren't 65+? Move.
I guess the only response I can really have to this is: Yeah, you're right (haha).
There is ZERO shame in getting a day job in order to achieve your other goals. You can still do internet marketing in the evenings and weekends, and you'll have some money to spend to outsource tasks, too. If you get complacent at McDonald's wages, then you're beyond help, honestly. Nobody should be complacent at minimum wage.
I should mention that I did try this when I first got started. When I worked at the factory job, I did graphic design activities when I wasn't at home. The problem is that I only had about 1 hour of free time, as I worked from 3:00 PM until 11:00 PM and the drive was 30 minutes 1-way.

I don't look down upon people who work at McDonalds or anything like that- I think these people have some admirable qualities, such as being able to show up to work at a job they don't like day in and day out. My problem is that I've been making between $20.00 to $25.00 doing the freelance work that I have done, so going to work for $14.00 an hour (they raised the minimum wage last year where I live) sounds like a worse off option than simply finding another freelance client.
This is probably an issue too. Your drive and motivation will expand to match your responsibility. That's why a lot of us talk about "burning the boat" as the old Buddhist parable goes. You cross the river and destroy the ability to go back to comfort, and then the only path is forward and survival is a must. Suddenly you become ready and you rise to the challenge.

If you HAD to pay rent, you'd be making the money to pay rent. The only people who don't are willfully being stupid or are addicts or have mental health problems.
This definitely makes sense and I agree. I've thought about this in the past and I was actually thinking about doing this before rent prices increased rapidly over a 2-year period. Again, I understand the logic, but now I'm not just playing with $750.00 a month for rent, I'm playing with $1100.00 a month in rent, meaning I would need to work more hours which would take away time from IM activities. Also, I don't even think I would get approved for an apartment at this point in time (I have no credit score, etc.).
If I had to pretend to understand and wrap up your problems in a neat package with a bow, I'd say you're complacent now because you live a cushioned life in a home that doesn't require you to pay your share of rent and utilities. Do you even pay for your groceries?
I don't even do my own laundry. I pay for my car insurance, gas, my gym membership, 60% of my internet, my cell phone ($15.00 a month) and that's it.
I'm not at all trying to dog you about this. You're young and in a transition phase in life. We all were there or will be there soon enough. It sounds like you're itching to take it to the next level, and you know what the options are. You're just not at that moment where you're ready to seal the deal.
I 100% understand and I really do appreciate your honesty!
You need to open up the box you've placed yourself in. You don't have to ONLY do internet marketing. You're not stuck in that one city. Canadian women aren't all 'whatever.' Any fetish you have can be fulfilled in Canada, trust me.
It's not a fetish thing :tongue: (I mentioned this above, haha).
You're at a transition point in life and you're looking at it like a barrier instead of a gradient you'll slide across like everyone does. Open up your options by unboxing yourself mentally and it'll all fall into place.
I guess maybe one of the issues is that I simply went from highschool into a full time job into an IM job. These were very easy and comfortable transitions for me to make, and this has caused me to have more time than people in post-secondary school to think about my life, etc. In other words, I've placed pressure on myself to succeed and with every year that's gone by I've become more and more impatient because I'm starting to realize that I'm not 18 or 19 anymore- being broke isn't really normal. I can't use the excuse of "I just need some time to figure out what to do" anymore, because I've had 4 years to do this.
 
I can't use the excuse of "I just need some time to figure out what to do" anymore, because I've had 4 years to do this.

What is it that you're trying to figure out? How specific can you make that answer? If you can't answer it to a T, then that's a core problem. You have to know where you're going before you can get there.
 
Your main focus should be to move out, it will help and change a lot for you both internally and externally.

Look for Jobs in another city/country and then move there once you got one. Switch up your routine and surrounding.

I Come from a ghetto In Europe. Lived at home, no Jobs, no flats, I had no education and all the People i grew up with were either abusing drugs/alcohol or criminal. So I applied for a lot of Jobs in another country and finally got one and packed my bags.

Best thing I ever done. I recognize The feeling you have. I told my parents that if I dont get a job within 6 month, I Will start robbing. Irrational and immature, but when in bad situation it easily messes up your mind without you knowing it.

Get out of The house and your routine.
 
Moving - so all your friends left after high school to get out of this retirement community and...
...starved to death? (I'm guessing that some of them managed to get jobs and places to stay and have created different lives for themselves?)

Work - you wrote this a week ago: "Create a long-form sales page/letter for my service on my own website". If I had contracted you to do that for me I would expect it to be long finished by now. Is it?

Women - you live in a 'retirement community'. The older generation have requirements as well. There will be medical facilities within reach with doctors, nurses, and other workers. There will be local government facilities with employees. There will be people working for the emergency services. There will be kindergartens or schools, like the one you went to, with staff. Around half of all of those employees will be women. Many of them will be in your age range and single. Some of them will be Christians. All of them will not fill 100% of their life with work so will be doing stuff that does not involve being on your computer in your room.

Your Room - of course, you are never going to make friends if you don't do stuff outside work, since you can't hang out with us 'computer people' and meet other people that we know. You were into sports at school and you were at least until recently interested in keeping fit. Anything strike your fancy? Climbing, kayaking, running, hiking, learning something new? There are clubs and groups for all those kinds of things. Or, and I mentioned this earlier specifically because of the possibility that you might be religious, voluntary work - sounds a good way of making friends with women who share your beliefs.

"Red Pill" - I'm hoping for your sake that this doesn't refer to the whole Reddit manosphere thing. You are too young and sound too smart for that. None of the above is going to work if you deliberately turn yourself into a misogynistic twerp who spends their life blaming others for their own self-inflicted unpleasantness.
 
Moving - so all your friends left after high school to get out of this retirement community and...
...starved to death? (I'm guessing that some of them managed to get jobs and places to stay and have created different lives for themselves?)
They just ended up going to post-secondary school. Then when they're done post-secondary school they live with 3 people in a 2 bedroom apartment to be able to afford rent, etc. to avoid coming back home to the town I'm currently in. Eventually, if they're lucky, they find a job with the degree they studied to get, and they just work until they move back home to commute to the place they're working at. That's all fine for them if that's what they want to do, but that's not something I would be willing to do (living in an apartment with 3 other people).
Work - you wrote this a week ago: "Create a long-form sales page/letter for my service on my own website". If I had contracted you to do that for me I would expect it to be long finished by now. Is it?
It isn't complete- I've been reading The Ultimate Sales Letter (4th Edition) by Dan Kennedy to freshen up on my copywriting, as it's been about a year since I've really done any copywriting. The goal is to have the sales page created and complete by the end of July.
Women - you live in a 'retirement community'. The older generation have requirements as well. There will be medical facilities within reach with doctors, nurses, and other workers. There will be local government facilities with employees. There will be people working for the emergency services. There will be kindergartens or schools, like the one you went to, with staff. Around half of all of those employees will be women. Many of them will be in your age range and single. Some of them will be Christians. All of them will not fill 100% of their life with work so will be doing stuff that does not involve being on your computer in your room.
I know this is going to sound like I'm just making excuses, but the workers in my town are old. You ever seen a 76 year old lady working a cash register at Walmart before? That's all there is here (serious). Personal trainers at the gym I go to are literally 50 years old. The age ranges in my town are 0-18 and 30+ and between 18-30 everyone is gone at university or working in the city. Then they move back when they're 30 because they've finally clued in that they haven't really gotten anywhere because all their money is being spent on rent, etc. so they move back to my town and commute to work 4 hours a day to and from work.
Your Room - of course, you are never going to make friends if you don't do stuff outside work, since you can't hang out with us 'computer people' and meet other people that we know. You were into sports at school and you were at least until recently interested in keeping fit. Anything strike your fancy? Climbing, kayaking, running, hiking, learning something new? There are clubs and groups for all those kinds of things. Or, and I mentioned this earlier specifically because of the possibility that you might be religious, voluntary work - sounds a good way of making friends with women who share your beliefs.
I still do go to the gym, but again, everyone is old (yes, even at the gym). Honestly, the best course of action for me is to simply stop worrying about meeting anyone around my age at this point- I'm not really in a position to be pursuing this. With this said, I do appreciate your suggestions!
"Red Pill" - I'm hoping for your sake that this doesn't refer to the whole Reddit manosphere thing. You are too young and sound too smart for that. None of the above is going to work if you deliberately turn yourself into a misogynistic twerp who spends their life blaming others for their own self-inflicted unpleasantness.
No I don't mean that- I'm not angry at all girls lol.

What is it that you're trying to figure out? How specific can you make that answer? If you can't answer it to a T, then that's a core problem. You have to know where you're going before you can get there.
What I've been trying to figure out is how to earn and receive a decent income doing work that doesn't cause me to have a mental breakdown on a daily basis so I can move out on my own (without setting myself up for failure) and take the next step in my life.

One of the biggest issues I've had thus far (which has been pointed out in my introduction thread) is sticking to something for more than a few months. The reason why I've been unable to do this thus far isn't because I have the inability to avoid shiny objects (I got over shiny object syndrome in my second year of doing this stuff) it's due to the fact that I always start ripping my hair out after 2-3 months for reasons like: boredom, stress, impatience.

Currently I am earning money via. Upwork. I've been working as a freelancer on Upwork consistently for about 6 months now, but the problem is that I'm starting to get bored and stressed out. However, I'm not getting impatient, because I'm earning money. If I wasn't earning money, I wouldn't be freelancing on Upwork.
Your main focus should be to move out, it will help and change a lot for you both internally and externally.

Look for Jobs in another city/country and then move there once you got one. Switch up your routine and surrounding.

I Come from a ghetto I Europe. Lived at home, no Jobs, no flats, I had no education and all the People i grew up with were either abusing drugs/alcohol or criminal. So I applied for a lot of Jobs in another country and finally got one and packed my bags.

Best thing I ever done. I recognize The feeling you have. I told my parentes that if I dont get a job within 6 month, I Will start robbing. Irrational and immature, but when in bad situation it easily messes up your mind without you knowing it.

Get out of The house and your routine.
I didn't grow up in a ghetto, but I'd imagine it would be crappy. Can definitely relate to having all the people I grew up with abusing drugs/alcohol or doing criminal activities.

I do see the logic in moving away, but my problem is balancing the advantages and disadvantages of moving. Yes, it would be nice to be in a new place, etc. but is it worth the monthly price tag? This is one of my big roadblocks when it comes to moving.
 
What I've been trying to figure out is how to earn and receive a decent income doing work that doesn't cause me to have a mental breakdown on a daily basis so I can move out on my own (without setting myself up for failure) and take the next step in my life.

This is your main work related problem. I asked you "what are you trying to figure out, and how specific can you make the answer" and that's what you responded with: "how to make money in a way that doesn't make me bored." The least specific answer you could have given, and I knew that would be the case which is why I asked you to be specific.

You don't know what you want at all. You just know what you don't want.

You need to pick an angle of some sort so you can start to become a specialist if you plan on being a freelancer forever (employee). People who specialize command far more money than people who generalize and do whatever they can for money. Specialists offer way more value and thus receive more money. Like @Ryuzaki said, you need to focus on providing value, not "getting money."

If you don't want to be a freelancer forever, you can hire people to do the jobs you're being hired to do (having your own employees) and take on more jobs, or you can start building assets that generate an income for you.

A real specific answer would sound something like:

"I want to build an information and entertainment hub on my own website surrounding gym activities. I want the design to be modern to build trust and enthusiasm. I will start with images and text but eventually I want to incorporate quizzes and videos and calculators. I will promote this website passively through SEO and actively through social media and by posting links to my site on fitness forums. When people come to my site, I will try to get them to submit their email addresses so I can remain in touch with them and build a much larger audience. Ultimately I will introduce a protein powder and pre-workout powder to sell, as well as extra upsell items like sweat cloths, wrist bands, protein shakers, etc. Once the brand is generating $33,333.33 per month, I will sell it for a million dollars and start a new venture."

You managed to sputter up the tiniest, thoughtless answer of "I want money but I don't want to be bored while working." That's what everyone wants. What do YOU want.

Do some soul searching, man!

"I want money." - How do you want to make money?
"I want work from home." - Okay, of the X amount of choices, what kind of internet work will you do?
"I want do social media marketing." - For yourself or for others?
"For myself" - Are you going to send them to your own website? Youtube channel? Shopify site?
"Website" - What value are you offering them to get them to come to your site?
"Top 10 ways they look stupid at gym" - How will you make money from them once they're on your site?
"They will click advertisement" - What's the best spots to put ads to generate clicks?

Use the Socratic Method on yourself and start asking some basic questions and see where they lead and if you like the story line that pops out of it. If you don't like it, start over. But you've got to discover what it is you want.
 
This is your main work related problem. I asked you "what are you trying to figure out, and how specific can you make the answer" and that's what you responded with: "how to make money in a way that doesn't make me bored." The least specific answer you could have given, and I knew that would be the case which is why I asked you to be specific.

You don't know what you want at all. You just know what you don't want.

You need to pick an angle of some sort so you can start to become a specialist if you plan on being a freelancer forever (employee). People who specialize command far more money than people who generalize and do whatever they can for money. Specialists offer way more value and thus receive more money. Like @Ryuzaki said, you need to focus on providing value, not "getting money."

If you don't want to be a freelancer forever, you can hire people to do the jobs you're being hired to do (having your own employees) and take on more jobs, or you can start building assets that generate an income for you.

A real specific answer would sound something like:

"I want to build an information and entertainment hub on my own website surrounding gym activities. I want the design to be modern to build trust and enthusiasm. I will start with images and text but eventually I want to incorporate quizzes and videos and calculators. I will promote this website passively through SEO and actively through social media and by posting links to my site on fitness forums. When people come to my site, I will try to get them to submit their email addresses so I can remain in touch with them and build a much larger audience. Ultimately I will introduce a protein powder and pre-workout powder to sell, as well as extra upsell items like sweat cloths, wrist bands, protein shakers, etc. Once the brand is generating $33,333.33 per month, I will sell it for a million dollars and start a new venture."

You managed to sputter up the tiniest, thoughtless answer of "I want money but I don't want to be bored while working." That's what everyone wants. What do YOU want.

Do some soul searching, man!

"I want money." - How do you want to make money?
"I want work from home." - Okay, of the X amount of choices, what kind of internet work will you do?
"I want do social media marketing." - For yourself or for others?
"For myself" - Are you going to send them to your own website? Youtube channel? Shopify site?
"Website" - What value are you offering them to get them to come to your site?
"Top 10 ways they look stupid at gym" - How will you make money from them once they're on your site?
"They will click advertisement" - What's the best spots to put ads to generate clicks?

Use the Socratic Method on yourself and start asking some basic questions and see where they lead and if you like the story line that pops out of it. If you don't like it, start over. But you've got to discover what it is you want.
Okay, I misinterpreted your question- my mistake.

Currently I am do YouTube channel management work primarily in combination with social media management work for my 1 Upwork client. I much prefer YouTube-related work as opposed to social media work, as the social media work is very boring and mundane (I'm literally just scheduling repurposed content).

As far as the work I do on the YouTube side of things, I help create content strategies, optimize videos, design thumbnails, monitor and report analytics, etc.

I'm a YouTube certified expert with 8+ years of YouTube experience under my belt and 50+ million organic views gained for clients over the past 3 years (just to prove I know what I'm doing and am a specialist in the area of YouTube marketing).

The goal is to get off Upwork and not set myself up for failure by earning all my money through 1 client (which I am currently doing). I have a short-term goal set for myself- $3000.00 a month in revenue from 6 separate clients paying $500.00 a month. I would like to convert prospects into clients by reaching out through cold email and sending them to a story-driven sales page that addresses their pain points, etc. I would like to add 1 client each month over the course of 6 months to have a total of 6 clients. I figure if I send 2 emails every Monday to Friday, I will be able to send 40 emails a month. All I need is to convert 1/40. What I have not specified is a specific time I would like to accomplish this all by, because as I stated in this original post, it's been a struggle to do any work for the past month or so.

(Is this more of what you were looking for? I've done the whole S.M.A.R.T goals thing- have it all written on my phone).
 
What I have not specified is a specific time I would like to accomplish this all by, because as I stated in this original post, it's been a struggle to do any work for the past month or so.

Breaking Down Tasks

I have this problem every time I need to do something NEW that I haven't done before. Especially complex tasks and processes. It's easy to get bogged down if you don't have the tasks properly broken down, prioritized, and sequenced.

Ask questions like:
  • What do I NEED to have before I can start sending out those daily emails?
  • What is the fastest way to get those things? Get the MVP, working prototype?
  • How would this look like if it was easy?
And then, start EXPERIMENTING. You won't get it right the first time. Keep trying shit, and take it step by step. Day by day.

Accountability, Deadlines, Responsibility

Make a contract with yourself. Something like:

"If I don't get 240 emails out by X date, agreen that you're moving out of your parent's house to live in a hostel. I'll keep working from that hostel until I have achieved my goals."

If that doesn't do it, try something else. And keep trying different methods until something sticks.

By the way, why not start a case study on BUSO about sending those emails and force yourself to write weekly updates? Here's a quote from Psychological Barriers To Success by Ryu I read yesterday that really hit home:

One of the most frequently observed methods of being counter-productive we see on online forums is that of Withdrawal. It's similar to Isolation and the Fear of Responsibility. "Wait a second. If I'm constantly posting about what I'm doing, I can be held accountable..." This is why case studies are abandoned, why members suddenly disappear from the community, and why people lurk instead of engage.

Environment Change

All I can tell you is... JUST DO IT.

Move the fuck out. You only have one life, and you're missing out bro.

With your online income, money is not an excuse to keep living with your parents. Especially if you don't want to do it.

While studying, I spent a year in China and lived in multiple European capitals. Each city was a new experience, and meeting new people in each place changed my life for the better. Without traveling, I would not be who I am today.

If Canada is too expensive, go to Thailand like people have been suggesting. If you don't like Asia, check out Eastern Europe. I hear Ukrainian women are more conservative and like foreigners. It's also dirt-cheap there, your money will go a long way.

Remember, it's only 3 months, you can always come back to live with your parents.
 
Hey Daniel, some food for thought:

When you're working by yourself, unable to outsource, the only way to improve your results/life is by improving yourself. As others pointed out, your habits. But it's also your thinking.

You're never going to achieve working on exciting stuff 100% of the time, 365 days a year. Why? Human nature. What's exciting now will be boring tomorrow or next week, next month perhaps. It's the need to achieve Y after you've achieved X, even if X is a billion dollars.

Two things to think about: you have to accept that you can't work on exciting stuff all the time, but you also have to accept that it's YOU that has to push through it. Example: your YouTube's work boring? What if you tried to get 1k views as fast as possible making a video about any topic? How would you do it? Social is boring? Try becoming an influencer on TikTok with 10k followers.

If you're bored, you're not challenging yourself enough. Turn whatever you're doing into a game. Find the rules. Play them. Break them. See what happens. Be a mad scientist. Life's a game, start playing it.

I'm also getting a sense that, maybe, you're getting ahead of yourself. You seem like you know your goals, but you also seem disappointed not having achieved them yet. You can't get what you want fast enough, so are you sure that what you're doing right now isn't accepting the status quo rather than fighting? Why would the answer to "haven't achieved it yet" be inaction?

Are you sure what you're doing isn't focusing on the end goal too much? You can't win the soccer match by skipping the last half of the game bro, as they say here in Europe. You're learning the lessons required to get to your goal.

Last but not least: getting what you want can feel like an evolution. Slow progress. It feels like it takes years. Sometimes, there's a meteor crashing into earth on purpose: because a revolution is needed. A MASSIVE change in your life might be just what you need. Go move to Australia. Or do something over the top like paying a "fine" to your parents every time you miss the goals for a month. Slap yourself out of that slump man! Not literally of course, lol.
 
Make a contract with yourself. Something like:

"If I don't get 240 emails out by X date, agreen that you're moving out of your parent's house to live in a hostel. I'll keep working from that hostel until I have achieved my goals."

If that doesn't do it, try something else. And keep trying different methods until something sticks.
I have thought about this believe it or not, but you pointed out something in your response that I didn't do, which was to be specific. I said back in January that if I wasn't making $3000.00 a month by December 31st, 2019 I would get a "normal" job. I think what has happened is that I've gotten a little comfortable with earning $1600.00 the last 2 months and I've stopped really pushing for that $3000.00 a month mark.
By the way, why not start a case study on BUSO about sending those emails and force yourself to write weekly updates?
This is something I'll definitely be doing once I've gotten further and finished the sales page (I don't think directing prospects to my Upwork profile would be a good idea, so I need to do the sales page on my own website first).
Thank you for these pieces of information! I'm going to read all of these this weekend!
I'm also getting a sense that, maybe, you're getting ahead of yourself. You seem like you know your goals, but you also seem disappointed not having achieved them yet.
Part of this is due to my repeated failures over the past 3-4 years. Yes, these failures were mostly self-inflicted- algorithms change, etc. Also, something I just thought of: I've tried to do the same 4 things multiple times over the years and I've just rotated through them. Freelancing, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing, Repeat. Maybe this is why I've become worn down.
Are you sure what you're doing isn't focusing on the end goal too much?
I think that I am, and I think this is because I haven't really gotten started on what will really allow me to accomplish the end goal. For example, I could make $3000.00 a month on Upwork, but I would much rather get clients off-site so I don't need to worry about 1 bad review destroying my profile. If I was "in the trenches" and sending emails, etc. then I would focus on getting 1 client at a time as a goal.
Last but not least: getting what you want can feel like an evolution. Slow progress. It feels like it takes years. Sometimes, there's a meteor crashing into earth on purpose: because a revolution is needed. A MASSIVE change in your life might be just what you need. Go move to Australia. Or do something over the top like paying a "fine" to your parents every time you miss the goals for a month. Slap yourself out of that slump man! Not literally of course, lol.
I agree! I'm definitely lacking some sense of urgency. Now that I think about it (and after reading everyone's helpful responses) I think I'm actually nervous to move out. The reason I think this is relevant is because it is a pain of mine. The pain isn't that I won't have enough money to rent, the pain is that I literally don't want to move. But why don't I want to move? Well, because I'm comfortable and I've gotten used to being in my house for 22/24 hours of each day.
 
Progress starts with getting out of your comfort zone + being in a comfortable house is almost location-independent. If you're in the house that many hours of the day, it might as well be in Europe.

I've moved to pretty much all corners of the country in my life, leaving everything behind. It takes a while, but you'll be comfortable somewhere else in no time. Plus, being the new guy is actually a nice way to strike up random conversations. "Could you tell me where I can find the spaghetti here?" Lol.
 
All your problems stem from your parents and how you were raised. However after 18 years old it is your responsibility to take control of your life and hold yourself accountable.

Why haven’t they kicked you out?

Did you get participation trophies (8th place awards)?

You are fucking soft and built that way cause you never had anything rough. You’ve never been punched in the face by life. You have never been challenged.

What is so crazy is if you move out and fail you literally can move back in with your parents, yet you don’t take the leap.

You think Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or hell Steve No-Jobs didn’t have to eat shit for years before success? Musk slept on his couch at the office at Paypal, he sleeps on the factory floor at Telsa still!!! Everyone has to crawl through the shit before they are successful. Bill Gates was working for fucking Apple, promoting Apple at conferences!

There are people here that ate shit for 15+ years and THEN they got something going. All that shit eating built up skills, habits, and it is where all the lessons are learned to taking the next venture to the next level.

You’re whole fucking life you have been playing on “easy” mode, and are complaining that you aren’t challenged. You have had a rebuttal for every single solid suggestion:

“sports cars” = “costs too high”,
“Move out” = “they increased rent, don’t want roommates, credit scores, + excuse #4-10”
“Girlfriend” = “No one my age” - motherfucker bang 30 year olds housewives who’s husbands commute 4 hours a day like you said, problem solved. If I was there I would be slinging dick all over town, those housewives with their red wine after 12:01pm.... shiet.

You want success without the hardwork or eating shit for 15+ years. Basically you want a participation trophy without putting in numbers.

You are fucking scared to stop playing the game of life on easy.

And your “time”, $20 an hours, give me a fucking break. You time is only as valuable as the market is willing to pay you. $1600 a month - there are 4.3 weeks in a month, 40 hours a week, so 172 workable hours = $9.30 an hour, that is what your income is worth when it comes down to comparing yourself to hourly wages.

You are better off working at McDonalds in your area, at least you’ll talk to people, “want fries with that?”

Cause realistically that is where you are heading. No one likes client work, and if you are “stressed out” with 1 fucking client, imagine 6 of them for $500. Have you ever had clients paying you that low of a price? 99.99% of your headaches come from the cheap clients.

There is a reason we discontinued our $24.95 price plan at SERPWoo, guess where 99.99% of our headaches came from? I know Saas owners that say they’ll never charge less then $199 a month ever again for any product they make, why? 99.99% of your headaches will come from the low fucking end clients. And you want 6 of them???

And WTF is this 2 emails a day shit? Who the fuck reads spam emails for outsourcing? You want more clients go to Instagram, type in a hashtag of an industry you are in, then look at people’s social game, if it is not Garyvee level content model (https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/vaynerchuk/the-garyvee-content-model-107343659) then hit them up in DMs and ask tell them if they need help with their social and you can do the Garyvee content model for them for $5k a month, DM 200 people a day from different hashtags and industries and you’ll have 10 new clients at $1k to $5k in a month’s time. Email... wtf era are you in?

200 people a day, not a month, or a week, a fucking day!!! Fucking lazy fucks.

Or you could hit them up for Youtube marketing, doesn’t fucking matter, only thing that matters is upping your fucking price and contacting 200 people in a day instead of 2 people. Fuck you are lazy, you probably are thinking of taking the weekends off with this blitz campaign...

I showed 4 people in the last 2 months to do this and they ALL are making more then $20k in new revenue. Fucking $500 for a client, lord have mercy...

Money is not a problem if you have skills and are willing to eat shit and hustle to get going. Your grandparents and your parents did not have the internet. The internet is the great equalizer. And if you can’t make money RIGHT NOW when there is NO recession and money is free and it is “good times”, then you suck at this shit. What is going to happen to your “business” when there is a recession? You can make unlimited amount of money if you are willing to go for it. Doesn’t even have to be internet marketing.

You can create a fucking youtube channel interviewing all the business owners around town and have the whole town talking about you to their customers and network of people and gain mad referrrals simply by creating a “My Town/Community Latest”. You don’t think a savvy business owner is going to ask you if you could that for them and help their business?!?!?

And this fucking landing page bullshit, “end of july”, wtf. I have to sell 6000 [XXXXXX] by then and I don’t even have a landing page created, that will happen in less than 4 hours. A fucking month for a landing page... if that doesn’t tell you that you aren’t serious about client work I don’t know what will.

But it is not even about money.

Your problem is you are playing the game of life on easy and your parents have not kicked you out.

Really tell us why they have not kicked you out? Why not ask them why they have not kicked you out. It should start opening your eyes with what is wrong with you and if I am right.
 
Did you get participation trophies (8th place awards)?
Played hockey for 14 years and played baseball for 10 years- never got any participation trophies (but I understand what you're getting at).
You are fucking soft and built that way cause you never had anything rough. You’ve never been punched in the face by life. You have never been challenged.
I mean, I've been challenged by getting cut from sports teams and what not, but I've never been challenged by "adult" things like bills (which is what I think you mean).
What is so crazy is if you move out and fail you literally can move back in with your parents, yet you don’t take the leap.
This is a good point!
No one likes client work, and if you are “stressed out” with 1 fucking client, imagine 6 of them for $500. Have you ever had clients paying you that low of a price? 99.99% of your headaches come from the cheap clients.
I have to be 110% honest- $500.00 a month sounds expensive to me, let alone $1000.00. Here's the thing- growing a YouTube channel takes time. The first 3 months of consistent YouTube marketing are literally useless in the eyes of clients. Why? Well, because the "Google Sandbox" is a thing on YouTube as well. Charging someone $1500.00 for 3 months of foundation setting work sounds mental to me, let alone charging $3000.00 for 3 months of foundation setting work.

Is $500.00 seriously too inexpensive for what is essentially a video SEO service? I don't do video editing- I optimize videos follow YouTube SEO best practices, design thumbnails, track and report on analytics. That's literally all there is to do with YouTube aside from editing. I am generally curious as to how I'm supposed to charge more than $500.00 a month for this.
And this fucking landing page bullshit, “end of july”, wtf. I have to sell 6000 [XXXXXX] by then and I don’t even have a landing page created, that will happen in less than 4 hours. A fucking month for a landing page... if that doesn’t tell you that you aren’t serious about client work I don’t know what will.
I can't disagree with this. I am honestly not thrilled about client work. However, client work is the quickest source of revenue, and I went 2 years straight without earning more than $1000.00. I can't just jump in and create an affiliate site and sit here for 6 months making $0.00 again.
Really tell us why they have not kicked you out? Why not ask them why they have not kicked you out. It should start opening your eyes with what is wrong with you and if I am right.
I'd imagine they haven't kicked me out because:

1. There's nowhere for me to even rent in my current town.
2. If I move to the city which is about 1 hour away I'll be paying $2000.00 just for rent. No food, internet, etc.
3. They don't want to increase the likelihood of me failing.
 
I have to be 110% honest- $500.00 a month sounds expensive to me, let alone $1000.00. Here's the thing- growing a YouTube channel takes time. The first 3 months of consistent YouTube marketing are literally useless in the eyes of clients. Why? Well, because the "Google Sandbox" is a thing on YouTube as well. Charging someone $1500.00 for 3 months of foundation setting work sounds mental to me, let alone charging $3000.00 for 3 months of foundation setting work.

Is $500.00 seriously too inexpensive for what is essentially a video SEO service? I don't do video editing- I optimize videos follow YouTube SEO best practices, design thumbnails, track and report on analytics. That's literally all there is to do with YouTube aside from editing. I am generally curious as to how I'm supposed to charge more than $500.00 a month for this.

Holy Shit. So basically you just generate a thumbnail and generate reports... Seriously? There is 1000x more things you can do to generate YouTube traffic with a $5K budget. You take $1K and run YouTube ADs after using $200-$500 to create a YouTube pre-roll AD for the client (Fiverr.coM), then take the $1K a month as budget and simply do paid YouTube ADs on-top of already successful channels and videos within your client's industry to siphon subscribers - and oh I dunno do a magical thing like get traffic to their website to convert into sales!

You walk away with 3.5K in profit while your client is growing their Youtube channel and subscribers AND generating customers AND growing their brand.

What sort of business do you run? You are a marketer that generates no fucking revenue? Seriously?

However, client work is the quickest source of revenue, and I went 2 years straight without earning more than $1000.00.

Cause you are fucking not serious. I literally just gave you a fucking game plan on how to get 10 clients within a month paying you $1K to $5K - notice how you didn't disagree it wasn't possible. You just "blanked out" that whole portion. So on one hand you are crying about rent of $2k being too high, but when I give you a solid way to generate $20K a month in new revenue "blank out". Holy Shit.

Notice what else you "blanked out"? The Garyvee Content model that literally shows you how to chop up content pieces and generate massive amounts of micro-content to fill up social media accounts for future clients.

In my "CCarter Weekly #3 - Evolution" there is a section literally labeled "Your Evolution Domination Game Plan"... It's got a fucking gameplan that you can use to generate massive amounts of traffic and brand awareness from social, literally! Another "Blank Out".

But you read everything I wrote... But purposely choose not to apply the things that will drive traffic for you or your future clients. Another "Blank Out".

You also conveniently "Blanked Out" the parts about having to eat shit for 15+ years or work hard swimming through shit till you "make it". You are impatient about "winning" without wanting to do the hard work. You're a millennial, so am I, I'm just on the other side. Zuckerberg is one of us too. You either set goals and get to work or go get a fucking job at McDonald's, there is no other options.

I can't just jump in and create an affiliate site and sit here for 6 months making $0.00 again.

Who the fuck told you to do that? Do you not hear me ringing the fucking bells that SEO is a waste of 9-12 months of your fucking time? You claim to have "ready all of @CCarter's posts", but you seem to be clearly missing the parts about Traffic Leaking, or even the fucking suggestion about going around your town and starting "My Town Latest" YouTube channel. You'll not only get referrals but also will generate revenue from fucking ADs that run against your channel!

This is fucking mental, there are gamers making $60K-$100 a MONTH in just YouTube revenue and you are talking about fucking affiliate marketing website with fucking SEO. Holy shit.


I'd imagine they haven't kicked me out because:

FUCKING ASK THEM WHY THEY HAVE NOT KICKED YOU OUT!

It has ZERO to fucking do with actually getting out of your fucking parents house. It has 100% to do with how you are setup to win or lose in life.

If they think you are literally going to fucking fail, that means that reflects on them being bad parents or soft.

You need to stop making fucking assumptions and ask your fucking parents why they have not kicked you out. This is a sit down conversation and be serious about your fucking life.

You literally are scared to ask. Holy Shit.

You need to do @eliquid's alignment assessment, cause you have zero fucking goals in this life, yet have thousands of excuses about everything literally. I literally can give you a truck full of gold bars and you'll complain "oh, but then I have to take it to the bank or something..." Holy Shit.

There is only so much "You are fucking up and no one is coming to help you" that can be said in multiple ways until you realize this life is not for you. All the fucking excuses, No one cares. Every single person has their own problems they are dealing with. The world doesn't give a shit about you unless you bring value to it. You don't even bring value to your own parents.

You literally should not have written back, the only thing you should have done is got on Instagram and started contacting 200 people a day and get to $20K in revenue, that's it. The fact you wasted time writing back means you aren't going to make it.

There was no response needed - everything you wrote was more excuses. First you have to admit you are in a bad place, or "a loser", or "a procrastinator" and once you admit that to yourself and have the conversation with your parents on why they haven't kicked you out, then you can start from scratch on building a better you.

Write down what you want in this life. Then write down goals towards that achievement. Then write down micro-goals, and use your "SMART" whatever, to get there. But it's like being an addict or an obese person, first you have to admit you have a problem. If you DO NOT then you cannot move forward.

I just don't think you have it in you.

This is all I got left for you, here is a screenshot of my phone's home screen of what I look at whenever I pick it up:

fD2FmX2.png

You are going to fucking die anyways... So why not go after your fucking goals?
 
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