After writing part one, my history of making money on websites since age 15, I realized one key truth I’ve learned over this time:
My income equals my demands on life. If my desires are fake and I only want something in my fantasies while in reality I can easily get by without it, then I won’t make that money. Period.
I don’t consider myself stupid, but I truly reached exactly what I aimed for — right down to the specific target amount, give or take $1,000. At that point, I would stop and rest, thinking everything was fine and I could relax.
Naturally, revenue would start dropping at that point.
I judge based on my own experience and the experience of many webmasters I’ve talked to, and the common thread is this: if I want it, I get it. But it has to feel like quenching a thirst — something you simply cannot live without — that’s when I’ll actually get it.
If living in Nowhere-ville is the limit of my imagination, that’s exactly where I’ll end up.
And the second important thought:
Everyone ends up where they are striving to go.
We’re not dumb guys here, but some make serious money while others barely scrape together a thousand dollars. The difference lies in two things: knowledge of the algorithm and your ambitions. 50/50, I’d say. And while you can buy the algorithm in a course or share everything you know and get equal value in return, the second part is harder.
“Changing your mindset” is a very generic phrase. Levelling up your desires and ambition — I like that much better.
Ways to level it up:
- Get a girlfriend whose level of demands is higher than what you can currently provide, driving you to grow.
- Have a child (haven’t tried this yet)
- Move to Dubai or the US and feel like a broke amateur; pay $200 at a restaurant in one sitting or take a helicopter ride.
- Coaching (currently testing this myself).
- Your network/circle:
1) Go to a conference, talk to guys who are head and shoulders above you, and be blown away. That expands your mindset nicely too.
2) Ideally, build a circle where the rule holds true: your income is the average of the people around you.
3) Have someone above you to learn from, someone at your level to relate to, and mentor someone eager to absorb experience and shorten their path to results. That makes 3 tiers.
I currently live in a Mediterranean climate, enjoy a certain level of comfort, and feel generally fine. But to want more and reach higher, I definitely need to push my ambitions and desire baseline. The key is understanding what I genuinely need versus what was imposed on me to desire. Where real desires lie, and where it’s just hype and advertising.
Let’s summarize episode two:
- My income equals my demands on life.
- When people talk about abstract mindset shifts, they usually mean leveling up your desires and ambitions for more.
- Everyone ends up where they strive to go.
If you think everything is decided purely by SEO knowledge without considering psychology and your desires, my years of experience say otherwise.50/50.