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“Some people are so poor, that all they have is their money.” — Rodolfo Costa
This is one of many quotes that I’ve written on my mantra pad, to remember and recite whenever I feel necessary.
It can be challenging sometimes, especially as a woman who has more ambition than the average person, to be so loud and proud on her journey and not feel like society wants you to be quiet and compliant in your little corner.
But that’s never been me and Lord knows it’s not my ministry to start now.
In the last few months, I’ve made monumental investments in myself, my brand, and my overall growth trajectory in hopes to start automating more of my business so that I can continue to free up more time to do things like writing reflective blog posts like these, which is my true therapy.
I have to shout out one of my Sisterhood Circle mentees Brianna for linking me to the article that inspired this blog post to begin with: Use These 4 Questions For Your End-of-Month Reflection.
I’ll be reiterating the questions below and sharing my answers to give you some more insight into what life is like behind the scenes and on this journey of mental and spiritual growth in congruence with my finances.
January was either a good or bad month for you. There is no in between when you're chasing a dream. Either you gave it your all, or you didn't. Simple. Click To TweetJANUARY REFLECTIONS
January was a month of solitude. If you’re an ambivert, you can relate to needing to flip on a switch when in public spaces, but you also equally relish in your own company, finding validation and comfort through books, productivity, and other personal development practices.
I’m currently in Malta where I’ll remain for a couple more weeks before my next exciting trip I’ll get to share soon.
I have a new assistant and she’s been amazing. I love that I can feel progress and alignment with each week and I’m excited to see this relationship flourish as my biggest struggle with assistants in the past was, and here is where I take total responsibility:
I didn’t know how to delegate. I didn’t know how to relinquish control over something that I’ve spent the better part of the last decade building.
It’s crippling and it can feel like you’re giving away a limb and trusting someone else to use it properly.
My extreme analogies are both prize-worthy and questionable, but stay with me here.
I reached out to one of my mentors, the powerhouse founder of the Travel Noire brand, Zim, and this woman is not only one of the most brilliant and humble people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, she’s also incredibly well-versed and resourceful.
She told me about Ramit Sethi’s “Delegate & Done” course (enrollment is currently closed), which I ate up in 48 hours. Ironically, just a coupled days prior, I learned of him for the first time and downloaded his book to my kindle. Alignment!
But if you looked at the price of the course and said, “Wow Glo, you wasted $300 on someone teaching you how to teach someone else how to do things?!”
I would humbly reply, “yes.” Because the level of excellence I’m trying to reach requires constant investments into myself from people who are light years ahead of me and have a world of knowledge and wisdom to impart.
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More than anything, I want anyone who works with me to sincerely enjoy what they do, for us to have effective and respectful methods of communication, and to set healthy boundaries so that neither of us is being triggered by something we had no idea was a trigger for the other.
I think delegating is one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn as an entrepreneur, but as Julie Solomon’s podcast mentioned the other day, if I’m the bottleneck of my business and it requires me in every aspect of day-to-day operations, that isn’t freedom, and that surely isn’t why I grind as hard as I do now.
FEBRUARY INTENTIONS
As February has sprung up, I have a LOT of butterflies for the new digital products I’ll be introducing to the world. The influencer industry, as you know, has become scam central with so many viral articles of privileged people preying on the ignorance of their followers and selling pipe dreams.
To share professions and industries with them can be both embarrassing and humbling, as these things need to happen and be called out so I can see the backlash and let it serve as a reminder that anything I put my name on has to serve my audience to a premium degree that matches their premium investments.
In February, I want to continue only aligning myself with brands and opportunities that elevate me. I get travel gigs and opportunities emailed to me DAILY.
I promise you this is the biggest blessing ever and I will never take it for granted. At the same time, there are so many bloggers in this industry that still struggle with valuing themselves (and that’s why my consulting services are booked out), because it can be a challenge to turn down money, especially when you really need it.
But when one person says yes to low-hanging fruit, we collectively get low-balled for our efforts.
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I unexpectedly scaled to a six-figure income last year, and that showed me how possible it is to be paid a premium for my work, and also how rewarding the word NO is.
My team and I have turned down 95% of the opportunities that have come to my inbox since January 1st. Has it been easy? HA! The opposite. I definitely tossed and turned the night I rejected two 5-figure contracts. One didn’t serve my audience, and the other was off-brand.
The bigger your brand grows, the easier the money comes, BUT you have a responsibility to not say yes to all money, because you might lose yourself and partner with the wrong people along the way.
Again, had I not done my homework researching and consulting with brands who work with influencers and bloggers 10x my size, I might’ve questioned myself.
But I’ve invested in the guidance of people who control multi-million dollar budgets at corporate levels and it’s hard to ever look back. You can’t un-know or un-learn certain information. My value is one of them.
That said, two years ago, I would’ve been crawling at the feet of these companies, honored by them even acknowledging my existence!
But the beauty in that is seeing how I can buy back my time to work on passion projects, while still making that same amount of money from my laptop and residuals.
Another one of my mentors Brandon told me that true freedom is being able to say NO as much as possible. He couldn’t be more right.
No to low-ball opportunities
No to toxic energy
No to unnecessary obligations
Exercise your right to use the word NO and no alone - because it's a complete sentence. Click To Tweet
You might — actually, you will definitely offend someone, and even get a couple, “Who does she think she is?” and this puts it perfectly.
Time to give up the illusion that you will ever live in a world where you get to control the image others have of you 24/7.
And finally, to the 4 questions that inspired this blog post to begin with. If you don’t have a journal, please get one to write out these answers monthly. I highly recommend Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Planner as it has daily prompts to write every morning and evening.
My morning routine is immaculate, but my evening routine needs work. I work to the point of exhaustion and then cuddle up in bed to read a couple chapters of my latest book until I pass out. So I need to work on leaving room/energy to do evening journaling.
Again, full credit to Maxie McCoy who wrote this article where I found the questions and I just wanted to share my answers as I thought this was so useful. And to be clear, these are just answers for January.
1.) What’s my happiest memory?
It’s not a single memory, but rather a series of moments that have led to the overall peace I feel now. Last year, I averaged a flight every 10 days. And while that looks sexy on camera, it’s exhausting in reality.
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I had a lot of incredible campaigns and opportunities come up last year that truly felt like once in a lifetime experiences. Again, this idea that saying NO to anything meant I was ungrateful and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Because now I can gift these experiences to friends in the industry and bloggers on the rise, and buy back the time that I lost, to truly work on myself. I rented a cute Airbnb for the month and while I might never get to the point where I can find it normal to hang clothes up in a closet again, I’ve fallen in love with my morning routine and the productivity it’s subsequently produced.
Guys, I published SEVEN FREAKIN’ BLOG POSTS LAST MONTH! I don’t remember the last time that happened! Crazy what stillness and routine can do.
2.) What is one lesson I learned and who/what was my teacher?
There’s a popular online marketing guru I follow (and many of you probably follow) who recently came under fire for having an affair with his also well-known girlfriend.
Instead of acknowledging his wrongdoing when it became public, he blocked and deleted comments from anyone encouraging him to speak out or use this as an opportunity to grow.
It’s a humbling reminder that:
We CANNOT put people on pedestals, because a lot of our favorite online gurus are living a double life. Click To TweetThe biggest takeaway for me was that you could have all the fame and fortune in the world, but your reputation and how you treat people will always prevail.
If you abuse and treat people poorly, I believe that will always surface and it has the potential to tarnish the body of work you’ve spent years to build up.
Be kind to others and above all else, own up to your mistakes. We all have our demons, and none of us are perfect, but it takes a certain level of maturity to admit your wrongdoings and I really expected better from someone like him.
Side note: I won’t name him, so please don’t ask.
3.) What stress or concern worked itself out?
I was starting to worry that I wasn’t spending enough time strengthening my relationship with Christ. I know not everyone who reads this shares my belief or faith, but it’s always been a part of my life.
I got the personal development part down but didn’t have a daily routine in talking to God, or rather, just listening to Him speak into my life.
Reading the Bible as an adult can be a challenge when you’re so accustomed to structure from a pastor’s sermons. But that’s when I dug into my suitcase and found the perfect little book that a dear friend gave to me three years ago.
I had traveled with it all this time, but this was the first time I actually opened it — crazy! That book is called Jesus Calling and it’s a daily devotional that includes scriptures and beautiful revelations.
You’ll just be walking and you’ll spot your favorite perfume on sale — THAT’S GOD!
You get an email that a brand wants to fly you to their country JUST for a meeting with the CEO — THAT’S GOD!
You discover a new software that automates something that you spent close to 5 hours doing each week — THAT’S GOD!
You begin to build a new level of gratitude and you stop trying to take credit or shift blame for the things that happen in your life.
And when something doesn’t work out in your favor, instead of pity myself, I now ask — WHAT IS GOD TRYING TO TEACH ME?
Perspective and gratitude, that’s what.
4.) What area(s) of my life did I make the most progress? And the least progress?
Definitely in reclaiming my mornings, regulating my sleep habits, and dictating how I delegate my energy.
A friend of mine is back in Canada after doing a Vipassana, a several day long silent meditation where you’re pretty much in isolation, stripped of your electronics, most human contact, and forced to just get to know yourself on a much deeper level.
For us who can be quite obsessed with our devices, this sounds like a nightmare, but I have a handful of friends who have done this (this also goes to show that I do my best to align myself with people who are constantly working on themselves), and I’ve heard nothing but great things. I hope to be able to do this in the Fall.
Anyways, we both talked about how it can be exhausting to always be the resource and carrier of other people’s emotional baggage. In November, I had to let a friend go because I couldn’t be the friend she needed me to be, and I took responsibility for not drawing boundaries as our friendship escalated quicker than I anticipated.
It’s heartbreaking to say that to someone, and it’s arguably worse than a romantic break-up. But over time, I started to realize that I can’t be a best friend to everyone. Only certain people can get that intimate level of devotion from me.
Because those are people who are constantly working on themselves so that they’re not putting pressure on friends to always rescue them.
We’re all damaged and healing in our own ways, but I attract a lot of reliant energy to where, as an empath, I take on and carry their baggage to the point of my detriment.
How could I be a friend to people I really care about, while letting them know that I could no longer shoulder the weight of their problems? This was my ongoing struggle. Click To TweetI have so many amazing friends (Samantha, Erin, Dakota, Mel, Brandon, Jessica, Tawny) who know me to a degree that few get to. And I love that after all these years and throughout this journey, they will always see me as Glo the person first, and Glo the blogger, second.
They reach out and ask how I’m doing. They support me any and every way they can. They make me feel loved. It’s a feeling you can’t beg for, it just has to be genuinely given.
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On the flip side to this question, I would say I made the least amount of progress in seeing the sun, haha. It’s very easy to for workaholics to get in a flow and forget to catch a ray of sun after 14 hours of non-stop work.
I have so many exciting things in store this year, that I’m addicted to the productivity high I feel every afternoon when I’m crossing multiple things off my to-do list and then I look outside and see the sun setting almost on cue.
Dang it, I’ll catch you tomorrow, I foolishly promise. Knowing dang well I’ll be singing the same song tomorrow. Oh, but when I do catch it…
Sometimes I’ll leave my phone at my apartment and only bring my Kindle and switch off the wifi so that I can enjoy some uninterrupted reading time.
I’ve even tried to insert a healthy amount of Netflixing into my week, trying to get my mind off of work and allow it to wander a bit with thrillers and Black comedies.
If you managed to read this, now 2500-word essay, I commend you! I hope it serves as a bit of a compass, helping you dive deeper into yourself, uncover your inner demons, and work on self-improvement.
More than anything, I want financial riches and success for every single person reading this. But understand that the true riches are developed internally through character first. And no dollar amount can buy that.
