Symbology and Action
If all goes as planned, tomorrow the first dollar I’ve made outside of my regular job in nearly 5 years will hit my accounts.
It’s stupid money, like $1.88.
This is not income replacing. This is not lifestyle changing. It’ll go into my account and I might very well just leave it there.
But it is symbolic.
For years I’ve suffered some strange mental blocks. First it was that I didn’t think anything I could do was worth anything. I lacked confidence and a certain self awareness of my own potential and abilities. It took a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was capable of doing things that were valuable to others.
And that’s just in the professional world. In my personal life I still find myself wondering why on earth friends and family would want to spend time with me, but I’m super grateful that they do.
Business has been burning on my mind as a dream for years. And that may be one of the biggest mental blocks of all.
For I have dreamed and dreamed and dreamed. Small spurts of action here and there have led nowhere. Lots of talk, no income to speak of. Nothing even for sale. It’s almost laughable. It’s hard to not mock myself at this point.
And so my hope is that this $1.88 starts a crack in that mental block. That it says to me: “Look! You took some small actions, and those actions rendered a valuable service to someone else, which netted you $1.88. KEEP GOING! Take more actions, render more valuable services, and turn this lifetime of dreaming into action.”
So where’d it come from?
Rev.
I did some audio transcriptions. Super easy to sign up. You just need a computer and a decent command of the English language. Luckily I have both.
Some simple math seems to indicate that I won’t be able to support myself and my wife on Rev, and it’s really not the kind of work I want to do long-term anyways. But it was fun, and I might do more of it because of that.
My next stop is Upwork where I’m hoping I’m able to market my more valuable skills and earn a tad more than $1.88. With any luck the math should be more favorable there.
The idea of Upwork is exciting to me, but I’m sure the reality will be a tad more of a slog. It’s not as straightforward as transcribing audio files; it’s coordinating with people and understanding the nuances of their projects. It’s marketing myself and trying to select the best clients. And probably more I’m yet unaware of.
Neither Upwork nor Rev quite fit my vision of how I want my business to be long-term, but they serve a very specific purpose: After years of dreaming and having little to show for it, they provide some concrete first steps I can take.
And my hope is that once my brain starts seeing me go from idea to action to money in the bank, I’ll start to piece together what I need to do to make my real vision happen.
In a future post, I’d like to delve into the vagueness that has fueled so much of my inaction. Lately I’m starting to get more and more specific about my dreams, and if I can ride that trend to completion, and then follow through on it, I think I will end up in a very good place.
All this said, this old line rings especially true today: The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The second best time is today. Let’s get planting.