5 Lessons Learned After One Million Dollars in Online Course Sales
Before I dive into my 5 tips, I wanted to share this pic (above) from the beginning of my journey, back when most of my income came from babysitting and cleaning houses. I was living in a run-down, moldy, roach-infested apartment and sleeping on the floor on a futon that I had bought second hand for $20. When I look back at that time of my life, it wasn’t necessary for my circumstances to be that bad, but I still had a lot of inner work to do in order to step into the life I deserved and let go of what wasn’t serving me. I had to detangle my spirit from years of growing up in a constant state of survival mode.
✏️ Note: I don’t believe in the narrative of “You just gotta suffer first if you want to be successful in the end.” I don’t believe we have to pay a self-sacrificing price for success. I believe success is our birthright and that our suffering and separation from the life that we want is due to becoming separated from the truth of who we really are - how powerful and worthy we really are. True success is a result of letting go of the lies we believe about ourselves so that we can receive what we already deserve and create abundance from a place of just being our authentic selves. It’s not based on how much you’re willing to suffer. Yes, pain is a part of life and growth can be painful. But the added suffering we heap on top of life from our unseen inner child is optional.
I think the picture above is interesting because you can see how I was still surrounding myself with my dreams and my goals. You can see pictures on the wall signifying the beautiful things that I wanted in my life. The “Paris” decorated box that propped up my mirror and makeup. The habit and money trackers on the wall helping me focus on my progress. And can you spot the 🦉owl hanging on the wall, signifying the little business I was building at night - The Secret O.W.L. Society?
In fact, when I had moved into that apartment, I took one look at it and said out loud: “I’m not going to let this place hold me back. I’m going to make it the reason I become a millionaire.” Today, all of the courses I’ve created over the last couple of years that have produced over a million dollars in revenue… I can trace their origin back to that apartment. To that bedroom. To the futon on the floor where I worked nights on my laptop - creating and writing to my heart’s content.
This is all to say - success is not a destination. It’s a decision. I’m not successful because I’ve built a successful business. I have a successful business because I decided to practice thinking and acting and FEELING successful, regardless of my circumstances.
1. It starts with taking 100% responsibility for your life
My business - The Secret O.W.L. Society - started as a byproduct of my desire to take 100% responsibility for my life. That desire fuels the epiphanies, life lessons, and self-growth that turns into my courses. When you focus on solving your own problems and improving your own life, you'll have a wealth of lessons and content to share with others.
For this reason, I never have to burden myself with the question of "How do I serve my audience?" I simply pay attention to where I need to take more responsibility in my life or business and then I share what I learn.
2. Take inspired action
Many of my courses, if not all of them, are the result of taking inspired action. Inspired action is this magical energy that can help you get a week's worth of work done in a day. Or a month’s worth of progress achieved in a week.
This is how I'm able to create so much and so quickly as a mom and a one-person business. I don't constantly force myself to do things I don't desire to do. I tune in to what feels fun. That's where I do my best work.
Of course, there are always elements to a business that aren't "fun", but I'm always looking for ways to create systems around those tasks (or eliminate them completely) so that I can extract myself and stay in my zone of genius more - which is the most powerful place you can be and one of the best ways to get there is to act on inspiration.
3. Prioritize creating intellectual property
In the past, one of the ways that people built wealth was to invest in real estate - physical property. Today, many people are building wealth by investing in THEMSELVES and creating their own intellectual property.
Online courses are one of the most lucrative forms of intellectual property, but it starts with you seeing the power and potential in what you already know.
One person can look at a piece of land and see nothing but dirt. Another person can look at the same land and see a potentially unlimited source of income.
When you look at the expanse of skills, interests, talents, and abilities within you, I hope you're able to see what I see - the most powerful asset you can ever own, just waiting for you to turn it into intellectual property that you continuously improve, expand, and sell!
Want to make a full-time income with online courses? Check out the program that helped me accomplish this for myself.
4. Success is a decision, not a destination
There was a time when I made most of my living from cleaning people's houses. I've even worked as a school janitor for a time. But I remember how powerful I felt even then - even blissful at times. It was the feeling of knowing that I was in the driver's seat in my life.
I was doing the inner work to figure out what it looked like to take 100% responsibility for my life. To live my life on my own terms. With this perspective, cleaning other people's homes was nothing but an opportunity to be left alone so that I could listen to podcasts and audio books all day and still be able to pay my bills and work on my own passion projects at night.
I don't say this to glorify "putting in the sacrifice" or "no pain, no gain". I had a lot of work to do on my self-worth. I had to learn how to stop settling for less than I deserved, but because I was on that journey and I was doing that inner work, I felt successful even then. Success isn't circumstantial. It's mental. And you can make that decision (that mental shift) today.
5. The most powerful version of you is the full expression of you
For our entire lives, society has trained us to believe that success is a result of getting very good at doing one thing and doing it until we can retire. In business, that translates to "pick a niche and be the leading expert in that niche. If you stray outside of that, then you’re a victim of shiny object syndrome."
If you've followed me for a long time, you may already know what I'm going to say: Just be YOU. You're a human being. You get to be complex. You get to have depth. You get to have an unlimited number of interests and abilities and if some of them even seem to contradict each other, so much the better! That's what makes you interesting. That's what makes you unique. That's what makes you attractive to the people that only the FULLEST expression of you could attract.
In my experience, embracing this approach has led to enjoying being IN the journey just as much as reaching the destination.
Say Yes to Desire
If you resonate with my biz and life philosophy, you’ll love Say Yes to Desire - my personal growth business program for women who desire to prioritize their intuition, well-being, and zone of genius in their business.