My Journey as a Teen Business Owner (March 2023)

This past month, I've been working on my business a little inside-out. Not much has changed since February except for my motivation.

Sure, I vanished again. But now that I've stepped away from things, my motivation and hyperactivity are through the roof.

Although it doesn't all seem to be related to my business, I did three things this month that helped things move along.

First, I let go of the pressure to keep up on things I really just didn't want to get done.

Writing is writing, whether it's daily, weekly, or monthly. I taught myself that posting in a timely fashion isn't worth the burnout and procrastination.

I'm taking my sweet time, and that's perfectly fine with me now.

Second, I got learned something about attempting to rush success.

A long time ago, I made two discord servers. One for members of my work, and one for fans of my work.

Essentially, neither worked out and both flopped. I couldn't pay "staff" members, which made me feel really bad, and the people in the other server were there because of promotion, not because they were really interested in my work.

At first, I felt horrible. I felt like I was all talk and no action, that my passion was too much and I made aspirations I couldn't fulfill.

I did get ahead of myself, but that's not the end. I slowly learned that life goes on, and if everyone gave up on an idea the first time it fails, we wouldn't have anything.

Additionally, I learned that every person who has ever been successful does not have a two-sentence biography. They have good times and bad times. Things that do and don't thrive. Successes and failures. Nobody's perfect, and holding myself up to that kind of standard was unrealistic and unhealthy.

I also learned that I shouldn't start on big projects until I'm an adult. I already knew this, but this experience confirmed it for me. Teenagers don't have much power in the grand scheme of things.

So, instead, I'm doing the best I can. I'm writing, I'm blogging, I'm entering all sorts of writing contests, and I'm focusing on school. But most importantly, I'm taking care of myself more than ever.

Finally, I gained a new (healthy) obsession.

A music artist I really enjoy revealed that they are starting a song series! I was and am extremely excited. I own a plush of a character from the series from a campaign that was run. It is the only one out of 2,243, and they will never be made again.

Now, this doesn't seem related to my work. However, I think that this was really helpful to me because it gives me a sort of role model. It comforts me to know that I'm not the only one searching to please an audience with my work, and I'm learning what it feels like to obsess over a character that isn't mine, which is an experience I rarely have.

It's also really nice to enjoy a character without the thoughts of "what if people don't like this character" and "what kind of plot should surround this character?" racing through my mind. It's not my concern, and it's relieving to know that.

I'm excited about what will happen in this series, the way I'm excited about what will happen in my own series. It's helpful to obsess over something that runs parallel to my own work.

In conclusion, it has been a little crazy and all over the place this month. But that's how it should be for me, and that's how I'll reach my goals.

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