This past week I have reached another milestone – 4 years of being self-employed. And it’s taken most of that time to figure out how I can create a life + business on my terms
That’s the thing about starting your own business – you must be willing to unravel yourself in terms of what you stand for, what you believe in and become really clear on who it is you serve.
So why on earth did it take me so long to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up and what I wanted to do?
When you’re someone like me who very naturally goes against the grain and doesn’t do conformity very well that often only leaves you to take in all the information and then sort through what makes sense to you and what can you work with.
I’m no unicorn, am not into the rainbow thing but I am all about living life + business on my terms, being me unapologetically as I share my words and part of my life with you here on this blog or on the social.
And I have to be honest, getting to this point has been very hard at times and while l’m pretty much an obnoxious optimist (believe you can and you will) – my own thoughts and self-defeating patterns contributed to my doubts but more importantly seeing my own worth.
Life + business on my terms required me to unravel everything I thought I know about life and business and who I was as a person. This isn’t easy when you’re entire life you’ve been judged based on
- Where I lived – Foster care (no cakewalk)
- Who my parents were (they’re not famous but…)
- What I did as a rebellious teenager (I was so angry)
- That I was a mom at 17 (but I graduated HS at 15)
- Where I am from (I’m an immigrant)
- I’m a special-needs parent (I’m grateful)
And those are just a few judgments – other’s were about me being naive about the friends I held, that I was a bad judge of character and that I couldn’t have the cake and eat it too.
Even now there are thoughts every now and again, who am I to do this work? And then I see all that I have overcome in my life and remember how I faced each and every hurdle in my way – and all I can think of is – yes, of course, I can do all of this. And we are only talking about life just now.
But then there’s this dream of serving people – to help them go after their dream because I know that there are plenty people like myself, who struggle with the worthiness and with feeling like they are good enough. But it’s really more than a dream actually. I can’t imagine not blogging about all things life + business and creating courses and offers in The Den teaching you everything I have learned in the last 44+ years of living and 19+ years of having a business.
I’ve been selling my art since 2005, owned a brick + mortar store for a bit selling others Artists’ handmade creations, before launching my services online as Petra Monaco – now The Rebels Den. I have written 5 books since 2009 and released 4 coloring books.
Why? My life + business on my terms – and I wanted to so I did – it’s that simple actually.
And it pains me to no end when people stay safely in the box of what they think their life should look like. Or that they believe they can’t write a book, have a blog, sell their art or start any other kind of business.
For me it’s all about life + business on my terms which means I create income with my skills, talents and my knowledge – and it isn’t all via the Rebels Den. In addition to the art and writing books, I help people with the tech side of their business as well as build websites.
Back in 2015, someone told me I had to niche down + focus on one thing and my inner little nonconformist was like – nope not happening. I don’t really believe that’s the only way to be successful. And I had to figure it out. I had to find my own way in between all the life and business advice in person and online.
And after spending months + years throwing myself into personal development, learning + taking everything on and observing I sat down with a piece of paper and unleashed my dreams + goals without inhibition and censoring and just let it go. It’s been a foundational process for me to know what I want to be, do and have and it doesn’t look like anyone else’s – ok perhaps one or two of you. Maybe.
I emerged with the understanding that there truly is no right or wrong way to live life (unless you break the law – that’s bad) but in terms of how you want to show up in this world and what you want to do while you’re here roaming amongst the living – it’s whatever you want it to be and how you want to make it happen.
Having a life + business on my terms really just means that taking in all the strategies + information I have learned and continue to learn and make them work for me, so that they feel good when I begin to implement them.
But I think more than anything else through all this I have learned that being me 100% matters the most and what other people think of my is none of my business.
And if you’re thinking you want to live a life + have a career that matters to you, doing it your way on your terms – then join me in The Gathering – my community for rebels and creatives to take their ideas and make them happen.
