Money and Time Are Two Things That Can Make Major Priority Shifts

It is so hard to admit that you have been doing something wrong your whole life and of course now I am going to admit it to the entire internet. But I think that when you learn something important and you are willing to share the story that you should be able to tell it as a means of advice, encouragement, or as a training manual.

So here it goes. . .

I have been learning more and more that I have been living life all wrong. Not in the sense that I do not have schedules, passions, or even the work ethic.

I have all of those things.

Rather it is to put the method into practice of what exactly I spend my time, money, and energy towards. It truly is about working smarter rather than harder.

Research has been my best friend and I feel as if I have been preaching this endlessly! (Seriously check out my YouTube, Rizzle, or even other writing platforms)

I truthfully do not even have a liking for any type of research. It was such a taboo word in my mind. I resented the word with a passion and would do anything to not have to research what I would write about my ENTIRE high school career!

Now I practically do it for a living. I think this is God's way of having a slight chuckle at my high school self's expense. I can live with it though. After all, it got me to where I am now.

Better late than never! (as I never say)

I have found out that the biggest theme of my life is to be content in the present. Live as if that day, that moment even, is the last. Enjoyment of life is not being selfish or unproductive.

The longer I watch as people are working through life I am seeing more and more people, creators, influencers, and celebrities say that the more that they find joy in their craft and enjoy each moment as events come the more they get out of it.

The more they learn and the quicker they learn as they take their time, they build their craft, work on their passions and strive for more, the more that they have a fulfilled life.

I am learning to take my time. Not just strive for the goal faster than I am ready for, rather just enjoy the ride.

What does that look like in my life? What do I need to prioritize?

College.

I must confess this has been a struggle to prioritize. I will be writing another story shortly after this and it will explain my weird college experience. The short story of this is that I had to take an unintentional year off and I will be transferring within the next two years. I also have no help in the way of finances and have been trying to figure out how to best move forward in my career as a writer.

This should be my main priority.

Key word being should. So why is it not if this is so important for my future?

The answer is that I was scared. I was scared of turning out to not have any skill in the field that I wanted to have some future in more than anything. I was afraid of not being able to have the finances. I was afraid of growing up too fast and not knowing how to live in a world that expected more of me.

In short, I was afraid of being a disappointment.

It was a real mindset and something I had to work through. It was a hard process. It was something that truthfully NEEDED to happen in order for me to grow. It was one of those moments where I was so blinded by my fear and sense of worthlessness that nothing would have saved me except for learning to grow past that fear the hard way.

It will never go away completely and will always be something that I have to struggle through, but it is so worth it to be where I am now. I want to share this because I do not want anyone, ANYONE, to be where I was.

All of that to come to the point that I need to focus on this and really set down a plan for how I want to move forward.

Do I want to get a degree? Yes.

Do I want to finish the creative writing certificate? Yes.

Do I want to graduate from ASU because there is a great writing program that connect me with other amazing writers who will grade and critique my work? Yes.

Based on all of this I know I need to focus on grades, scheduling, and relearning study habits. I have been out of regular classes for the better part of three years now.

So I need to think about the next three years in the mind of school years with breaks and summer vacations in order to know how to schedule my work surrounding that.

Amazon.

Speaking of work, I will be sticking with Amazon. At the moment I am a full fledged part-time worker on her way to earning full-time status. This means that I am able to work up to 25 hours a week, 5 hour shifts, and get to pick my own schedule.

This as of right now is my biggest source of income.

So why would I put my main source of income and my schooling to the back burner for projects that would take me years to earn and 'real' money from?

Because I was having so much fun and learn along the way. You do not even have to tell me, I already see your eyes rolling (I know, I know), that was not the brightest move on my part.

I hate using the excuse that I was young. It was not an excuse. I just thought that I had more time to learn and grow. I have always considered myself teachable and I have been willing to learn and grow in all aspects.

Little did I know that for the career in writing and content within my channels, it is not always about being teachable, enthusiasm or even talent. Sometimes it is just about who you speak to and who you do not.

That was a hard lesson to learn and one that pushed me to see that the more that I continue now that I have built a base following, the more that I am able to see that if I want this to work I will need to invest more in equipment, time, energy and talent (online classes, maybe even some in person). That also means more money.

No other revenue of income is doing half as well as my steady paycheck from Amazon. Therefore this is a priority as I will need to pay for classes and supplies.

Therefore, the second level of priority.

Rizzle.

Now this next one may come as a shock. I actually have tried to make a platform on Rizzle as well.

For those of you who do not know what Rizzle is. Rizzle is a platform for creatives to make a one minute video sharing their thoughts, opinions, and stories.

It is basically the thoughtful side of TikTok for lack of a better comparison.

Now on this platform you can create videos and within a manner of months be able to get money from them. You are able to build tiers for your subscribers and are able to get sponsors on top of that.

I have two channels that are on route to be able to get their first tiers embedded into the system. The predictions would be a couple extra bucks a month at the start per channel.

I have ideas for some other channels that will be able to be sustained in the future as well and there is minimal effort in the editing and filming process. Therefore something that I can do daily that allow for me to express my thoughts and be creative while still having my main priorities be work and school.

Vocal/Medium.

Now of course I had to include both this platform and the ever increasingly popular platform of Medium. I have multiple lessons learned from both platforms and I cannot wait to share them all with you so that you might be able to decide for yourself where you want to start on your writing journey. I will say that I have no opposition to either and thoroughly enjoy both.

As far as all of the attention that I give to these platforms, I will go into a a little more of the statistics in regards to time than to the financial side of the situation.

It takes me a good 45 minutes- 1 hour on a solid article. That does not even include adding pictures, eye-catching titles, and of course editing the entire thing. In order to be successful on both in a way I feel as if you need to have a healthy balance of uploads.

Sure, there are many cases in which you are able upload on both and leave it be to come back to thousands of dollars. That is few and far between.

I like to think of these platforms as a lottery (much like YouTube). The more slips you buy the higher the chance you have to hit the jackpot with that one article that you write to make yourself known. Now more traction comes to your profile, there fore more eyes are on your work.

It takes time. You have to always put your best foot forward. Even then it may not get noticed right away.

It can be discouraging.

You cannot let that stop you. Keep writing. Keep putting your best work out there. When your work gets all those eyes do not let that audience be disappointed.

If you cannot handle delayed gratification than these are not the platforms for you. Point. Blank. Period.

If you are here for the money than you are here for the wrong reasons. Yes, it is nice. However, that is not why we write. That is not why I write and that is why I will put my best foot forward for these platforms, but they are not going to be daily, maybe not weekly, hopefully at least monthly.

In terms of time, there is just a limited amount of time in the day. I have to make sure that I dedicate all the appropriate time to this list of priorities in the way they are now so I can have more time in the future on these platforms and other places as well.

Personal Writing Projects.

Now we are into the world of no money making but just a lot of joy. So much passion.

I have wanted to be a writer since fourth grade.

I have a poetry book, a spin off novel, and a novel focusing on the topic of suicide all in the works as I am typing this to you now. There is a lot in the way of what I had always wanted to write.

I have to series in my head based off Greek/Roman Mythologies even!

However, I know that my passion for these projects will not make a living write (see what I did there) away. I want this to be something that I take my time on. I want it to be the best it can be. Not rushed. Not forced.

It will take time. There will be bouts where I will have to find other things by way of writing to make a living for a while throughout the rest of my life. I am okay with that and I understand that.

I want that.

YouTube.

Last but certainly not least, YouTube.

I have found a platform where I am able to come on, turn on a screen and press the record button and know that people are watching me. Listening to me and responding.

It is so much fun!

The entire process from planning out my videos and having mountains of unstacked free-floating papers haphazardly thrown in a binder, to actually sitting down and filming, to sitting behind the screen where I am most comfortable and learn how to edit, screenshot and of course then to learn more about transitions and thumbnails. Then of course the engagement.

The engagement with the audience is the best part. To hear their comments to see that they care enough to not only answer, but then to also ask questions back. To see the likes on videos that I was worried would get hate.

Knowing that they are there as part of a little community that will surround each other with support and love. That is the best feeling in the world and I cannot ask for better than that.

I will stay on this platform as long as I am able and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us all.

As always thank you so much for reading! I know this one was rather long, but thank you for sticking with it. If you want to catch me on either my YouTube channel or read about how I got into being a content creator and writer you can always click the links hidden in the text!

Have a great rest of your day!