The Money Mindset Difference – How to Plan For Success
There's a world of difference between working for a company and starting your own business. Succeeding in the latter requires a big mindset change, especially if building wealth is one of your goals.
In this episode of Start Yours, we speak to Fiona, also popularly known as The Millennial Money Woman. Fiona's a financial blogger and a certified financial planner. Her whole business and driving force is helping young professionals build their own business and start-up empires.
We dive into the mindset difference, our perception of money, and what we need to consider when complementing or replacing our nine-to-five job with a side hustle.
There's plenty of juicy information in this episode for business owners, regardless of which stage of the journey you're at. We hope you enjoy it and that you'll consider subscribing to our podcast.
Want a summary of our chat? Here's a seven-point TL;DR version:
- It's important to invest your money in money, invest in yourself, and invest in your network.
- With a 45-year plan in place, Fiona was able to buy her first house at age 23.
- 80 percent of having success with wealth comes down to mindset.
- Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Diversify your income stream.
- Take time and invest in learning the basics of business before starting. Do not quit your nine-to-five with no prior planning.
- Make sure a portion of your income is routed to a different account for tax payments.
- Showing up every day even when you don't feel like it is what will make the difference.
Start Yours is a podcast about ecommerce, dropshipping, and all things launching a business.
Join us as we meet entrepreneurs who have gone through the triumphs and headaches of running an online store, and learn how they managed to survive and thrive.
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The Decision to Start Financial Blogging
Aleisha: Fiona, thank you so much for joining me on Start Yours. It's really great to be chatting with you and to learn more about what you do and also how we can help our listeners get control of their money and also their mindset when it comes to making money, which I think is a huge topic.
Fiona: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it, and I'm super excited to share some of this knowledge.
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Aleisha: Well, no, let's start at the beginning. It's great to have you here. Tell me a little bit about how you got into financial blogging, and also what sort of has motivated you specifically to help millennials and that sort of age group of people get their shit together when it comes to money.
Fiona: I love it. Yeah, so I guess it really started when I was around ten years old. The people that influenced me to focus and really dive into finance were my grandparents. My grandparents, they were everything to me. They passed away. That's why I say "were."
They built this business together. It was a mom-and-pop shop, basically, nothing huge. But they spent every single day, essentially, of their lives, of their working lives building up this company.
And, unfortunately, due to some poor financial planning, they actually lost everything, the business, and more.
Aleisha: Oh, gosh.
Fiona: Yeah, so they mortgaged their house, and they lost their house. Basically, they were, I think, mid-70s or so, and they lost everything and were essentially homeless, living in the streets. And that was... When I saw them go through that, and we obviously helped them out and whatnot, but when I saw my grandparents go through that and the emotional stress...
I mean, granted, I was ten at the time, but I think that just left such a lasting impact and that just caused me to think, "Okay, first of all, I never wanna go through that. And second of all, I wanna help anyone that I can not go through that same situation."
Aleisha: And that's a really great motivator, and I also think we spend so much time when we're young absorbing information, seeing how our parents deal with money, and as you said, your grandparents and seeing, I'm sure, people that you saw to be really successful and then have that burn of losing everything would have been hugely impactful. As you said, it's really motivated you.
It's really tricky when you look at our elders and the change, I suppose, in the money mindset and thinking about how we think about starting the side hustles and stepping outside of the nine-to-five. A lot of our parents and grandparents probably look at that and go, "Are you crazy?" Or if you change jobs all the time. I freelanced for years, and my grandfather, who was a school teacher for 50 years, was always like, "Have you lost another job?" He just never really got it, and I'm like, "No, Poppy, I'm just moving on to the next gig. This is what we do."
But it was a real change of mindset for him to realize that I wasn't getting fired all the time. I was just finishing a job and moving on. I wasn't a bad person. I wasn't a bad employee all the time.
So yeah, it's interesting to see the mindset change between generations, because most listeners who are listening to this now are probably working multiple jobs or wanting to launch side hustles, which is something our grandparents probably would never have considered doing.
Fiona: That's absolutely right. I think it's just that entire mindset change, and especially now, we live in the internet age where we have so much information virtually at our fingertips where you can basically... As long as you have a computer, WiFi, and some type of dedication, you can definitely build a business.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about building a business](jpg/1614004122-8388a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: Yeah, so you took this sort of drive, you have a Master's of Science. Is that right? And then also you're into personal finance planning. Tell me about those two degrees, and then also how... We're gonna get to what we're doing today, but how we can help our listeners really build up from steady financial foundations to huge financial success.
Fiona: Definitely. So back to that story. Ten years old, obviously, you don't really know exactly what you wanna be at ten, but...
Aleisha: No.
Fiona: No way. But then I was like, "I wanna be an astronaut, I wanna be a lawyer,” or whatnot, but no. But I think, as you said, that was such a pivotal time in my life. So I think the seed really started growing, from starting at ten years old and then going into the college years, so we're talking late teens, early 20s.
And that's where I really wanted to figure out, I was just curious, I guess. Curiosity is kind of what drove me to learn more about finance because I wanted to figure out what happens between the point when you earn money and the point where you spend money.
How do you actually use money to make more money?
The investing basically. And we always hear like, "Oh, the wealthy, they have the tax... They use their tax advantages. They use trusts, and they use, I don't know, other investment accounts and etcetera, etcetera." And I was like, "I wanna know what they know," and so that is what really drove me to understand more about finance.
And yes, as you said, I got this Master's degree and really focused on just financial planning because again, I don't want that to happen, what happened to my grandparents. So trying to prevent that at all costs to my family and also anyone that I can positively impact.
Aleisha: It's interesting you talking about exploring finance and shares and looking at investments. I think that seems to be at the tipping point for a lot of people who then move into running their own businesses or getting into ecommerce or launching their own side hustle. It's that sort of initial bit of inquisitiveness that comes in probably like in your teen years or college years when you're like, "Hang on, all these people are making all this money. Then why can't I do it as well?"
So I think it's an interesting little spark that a lot of my guests and merchants that we feature on the show experience where they're just like, "There has to be more than just a nine-to-five, or there have to be other sorts of tips and avenues to explore."
Tell me a little bit about when you reached that point in your early 20s. What was it that was the key to you sort of stepping outside and starting to spend your own money to invest and making these decisions that have taken you where you are now?
Fiona: Absolutely. When I was in college... And as I'm sure you can tell by my accent, I'm from America. So the American school system, at least the way I was brought up, was: You go to college, you find a nine-to-five, you work for 40+ years, and then retire and that's it.
And to be honest, I literally, I think I was somewhat brainwashed, I'll admit it, because I never questioned that. I never thought, "Oh, is that really how life should be, or do you wanna find something that you can build and kind of grow on your own, like a business, ecommerce, whatever?"
And I never questioned it until I started asking myself more about what's happening when you invest your money? And I think that that path, that curiosity kind of led me to figure out, number one, you wanna obviously invest your money, but number two, you wanna invest in yourself, and number three, you wanna invest in your network.
And so as I really started growing my network and with like-minded people and to be very honest, people that were much, much better than me, I started realizing that there is so much more to life than just a regular nine-to-five, and yeah, that's how I started to really think about starting a website and kind of building this business.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about investments](jpg/1614004125-8488a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Building the 45-Year Plan With Delayed Gratification
Aleisha: That's great. So you basically went, "Okay, there has to be more than this." Tell me a little bit about you purchasing your first home in early doors when you were quite young.
What motivated you to do that? 'Cause I don't think there are many young people out there that... Well, certainly in my friendship group that did that and actually took a step into that world when we were all probably still partying and dicking around a little bit.
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Fiona: Yeah, so I guess I must say, as a disclosure, I was always a little bit different than the average person. So for example, I love planning. I mean, even to this day, I have a 45-year plan ahead.
Aleisha: Do you?
Fiona: I really do. Yes, I know it's sad, but I do.
Aleisha: You're a financial planner. That's fine. That's what you do. That's your thing.
Fiona: Yeah, that's true. That's my excuse. So when I was like 16, 17, I really started forming my plan, informally, so I didn't have anything formal. But I did visualize, "Where do I wanna be geographically-wise and obviously career-wise too, in ten years, in 20 years, and in 40 years down the road?" So I kind of tried to visualize and informally create this road map of what I wanted to do in my future.
And so I think creating a road map at such an early age helped me realize that, number one, I wanted to get through college as fast as possible, because the typical university in America lasts about four years, your undergraduate, and it's a lot of money.
Yeah, so I tried to cut that down by roughly two years.
So I graduated early and I got right into a career, right into the finance industry, and was able to save as much as I could those first couple of years, at which point I, one, had saved enough for a down payment on a house, and number two, I knew the area and I never wanted to leave this area, which is in Florida.
And so I was able to... I searched probably for months. It took a very long time to find "the" house and then with some negotiating success, that was luck, I'll give it all to luck. I was lucky to negotiate the price down a little bit, but that is basically what helped me buy my first house at 23.
Aleisha: Well, see you say luck, but I also think that you have demonstrated that you certainly had, as you said, a plan and you were motivated and you saved. And that's, I think, hugely beneficial at that age to be able to have the hindsight to go, "Let's invest the money."
So you purchased the property and then where did it go from there?
Fiona: Right. So basically from there, again, I'm not your typical early 20-year-old millennial, now. What I did then, after I bought the house, right, then my next step was figuring out, "What did I want out of my life?" So for me...
Everyone has a different version of success. Success is subjective.
And for me, success was just finding the time to still work, so earn money, but do the things that I wanna do. In other words, I wanted to travel. I wanted to not be bound to an office job. Honestly, when I found out that you do not need to have a nine-to-five to live a good life, I was like, "Okay. I am not ever doing that again."
So just figuring out, again, my plan, my goals, my short-term, my mid-term, and my long-term goals, and knowing that I wanted to build enough money and invest enough money so I could retire at an early age.
I started maxing out my retirement plans. I started investing everything I could and giving up a little bit, in terms of spending on, whatever it is, going out, partying, nice clothes. And for that, moving it for delayed gratification to get that satisfaction in the future.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about her definition of success](jpg/1614004128-8588a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: Yeah, and that's an interesting part. I've been reading a lot about the financial independence movement, the FI movement that you might be able to... Yeah, and I think people listening, if you haven't looked into it, it's really worth a bit of delving deeper into what they do.
But the idea is, I suppose, that it is that delayed gratification that people are saying, "Well, what is the goal in the end? Is it to retire before you're 40 or is it to pay your house fully off?" So what are the sacrifices, I suppose, without going completely nuts and not enjoying life? But it's finding that balance.
And it's such an interesting movement, and seeing so many younger people get involved in it, it's fascinating. It's really worth a look if you haven't looked already.
Fiona: It really is. I think it first started in... This Stanford professor, a researcher, created this experiment, the marshmallow experiment, in the 1970s. I'm sure you've heard of it.
Aleisha: Yeah, tell us. It's great.
Fiona: Yeah, so he basically conducted this experiment to determine how personality traits in young children could determine their future success or lack thereof. And what he did was he basically gave the child a choice of receiving one instant reward, which was, I think a marshmallow, one marshmallow, right away, or receiving two marshmallows if the child decided to wait for a certain period of time.
And it's so simple, but honestly... So he basically tracked these kids throughout their lives and found that those who elected to get the marshmallow right away instead of getting two in the future, they were actually... They had a little bit less success. They were a little bit more rash, had poor decisions, lack of self-control, a higher probability of living paycheck to paycheck, etcetera. So it's just very interesting. So yeah, delayed gratification, it could be a trait, but it can also be learned, for sure.
Mindset vs Cash Accessibility
Aleisha: And do you think then looking at the mindset... Let's hone in a little bit on today's topic. With the mindset of making money and being wealthy or having success, does it come back to that for you?
Or what do you talk to your clients about when it comes to people that come and say, "Hey, I wanna make a lot of money," or, "I wanna be financially independent by this age, how do I achieve this?" Is it partly mindset or is it also just access to cash?
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Fiona: I think you made such a good point just now. It is, in my opinion, probably 80 percent mindset and the rest is definitely access to cash, obviously, income earning potential, and a few other factors. But the majority, as you said, is absolutely part of the mindset.
And I see a lot of people fall victim to the YOLO, the “you only live once” mindset. So they think, "Well, you live now, and you're never gonna be 27, 30, or whatever it is, years old, so we're gonna go and spend our money." But the thing is, of course, life is finite. I get that. But that also doesn't mean you should be spending every last penny you earn. It means to be a little bit more cautious, in other words, invest, because chances are you're going to live to tomorrow.
You're going to live into the future, and you need to make sure that you are also, mentally, you're prepared for it.
Because I see some clients, they earn... I wanna say they earn about a million dollars a year. A million dollars a year. And they are, I wanna say, in their late 70s, and they are so concerned about running out of money, running out of money at earning a million dollars a year. Just think about that.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about the money mindset](jpg/1614004130-8688a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: It's crazy.
Fiona: Yeah, it's insane. But that's because they worked their entire life and they spent their entire life. So they literally have nothing saved earning a million dollars a year. It's just incredible. So they did not practice that.
Aleisha: It's bonkers and it's also just panic-inducing that people would be at that stage, at that life stage as well, but also when you should be relaxing and enjoying yourself. It floors me that people are still like that.
But also, of course they are, 'cause people burn money all the time and do silly things. That's a lot of personal judgment there, but I just panicked myself going, "Oh my gosh, just think about retirement. Have I got enough money? Who knows... "
Fiona: I hear you.
When Is It Time to Leave Your Day Job?
Aleisha: So many of our listeners are nine-to-fivers and who are looking to escape or at least add on to their income to start side businesses. We do a lot of talk about dropshipping and ecommerce, these are things that you can run whilst doing other things after hours, but also it can get pretty full-on, and especially with the burnout aspect of it as well.
What is some advice you give your clients that you can share with our Start Yours listeners about the mindset when it comes to, maybe not necessarily taking a leap straight away and leaving a nine-to-five, but when is the right time to do it, and both psychologically, but also financially?
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And how do you not get too caught up in the excitement of making a couple of sales online and then going, "That's it, I'm ditching the day job. I'm out."
Fiona: I love this. No, this is a great question. I guess I should start out by saying a couple of statistics. So for example, in America, at least, 45 percent, so close to half of Americans have a side hustle outside of their primary jobs, and that was in 2019, and this number has literally been growing just exponentially every single year, especially in COVID now. With COVID, people losing jobs, that number is just increasing.
And on top of that, 73 percent of those who do side hustles earn up to $500 a month minimum, basically, or more, depending on obviously the industry you're in. So just thinking about those two statistics, I think it makes so much sense to consider diversifying their income streams. And what I refer to that, also with my clients being Millennials all the way to those who are 70 and up, is in investing.
When you consider investing your money, chances are, you don't wanna invest 100 percent of your money in one stock or in one thing.
As the saying goes, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," you wanna diversify. And I think the same thing goes for income. So you have your nine-to-five, and then you potentially have your side hustle. So the question, "When do you know if you're ready for a full-time or for starting a side hustle at all?" I think it depends on a couple of factors.
Number one, it has to do with, "Are you financially ready?" It doesn't matter what type of side hustle you're doing, but are you financially ready? Because chances are when you start a side hustle, you will likely have to invest some portion of your money, it could be your time, it could be your energy, right? You're going to have to invest something to get something out of it, obviously.
So that's number one. I think the most important thing is to research your side hustle, so if it's ecommerce, dropshipping, whatever it is, how much does it actually cost you to invest? And do you have that money readily available?
The second thing is, I would also consider your passion for the side hustle because...
Aleisha: Yeah, that's good.
Fiona: Yeah, because... Okay, let's say you wanna earn money. Okay, everyone wants to earn money. And let's say you decide to go for a side hustle, I don't know, like a dog walker, for example. You're a high-end dog walker, but you absolutely don't like dogs and you just hate walking and you just hate everything about it, but you like the money aspect.
Why would you do this if you don't like what you do? The chances of you stopping at some point or giving up are so, so high. So I think the number one thing is figuring out what you're passionate about. What do you like doing, and what actually starts your engine in the morning and gets you up and going? You need that.
![Statistics on side hustles in the US](jpg/1614004133-8788a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: I think a lot of people say, "Oh, this is gonna make me cash, I'll enjoy it 'cause it's bringing me cash," but then the monotony of running the business in the day becomes something that people will just give up on because they're like, "Oh, this is not for me at all," or, "No, I have no interest in the product or the service that I'm supplying," and it's often forgotten because people overlook that for the money that can come in.
And maybe you can just do something for two or three months and it can make you the cash you want and you can move on. But also, it's about sustaining a business, I suppose, and if you're gonna leave one thing that you possibly don't like or isn't giving you the vibes that you need to keep going, doing the job properly, then yeah, you should consider that if you're entering into a new business, and I think it's not said enough.
So I'm really glad you mentioned it and I hope people listening can ponder a little bit on when they choose to leave or what they're choosing to do, and how they can sustain and maintain their sanity and fun, and not just think about cash.
Cash is fun, but it's not everything.
Understanding the Basics of Business
Fiona: That's absolutely right, absolutely. Okay, so I think the next thing that is important at least to remember if you're ready to start a side business, side hustle, is understanding your business basics. It doesn't mean that you need to be an attorney and set up your own limited liability company or corporation or whatever.
But I think it is important to understand obviously the laws surrounding some of the business basics. Like, do you have to disclose you're an affiliate? Do you have to include legal basic paperwork?
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Because if you're going to commit to a side hustle, whatever it is, dropshipping, blogging, for example, or whatnot, it could always be that one person out there, and if they find something wrong and you don't have proper legal measures, for example, especially in America, that could financially ruin you.
So that's important to do some of that research and not just legal work, but also understand, how do you market this company? How do you get customers? What do you do with your money? How do you reinvest into your business?
So those are some things that I think are really important, and especially understanding trends and possibly shifts within your niche business, very important to understand the market.
So I would suggest doing the research way before you begin to invest and actually start and commit that time to your side hustle.
Aleisha: Yeah, these are such good points. And also, I think the idea, people make a lot of money, especially in dropshipping, some people have excellent luck and skills, and they make a really tidy profit, then forget that they have to pay tax or forget that they have to move the money, if they wanna move the money offshore. If they're trading in the states, but they live somewhere else, these are all these very boring, but very important... Not boring, they're probably not boring to you 'cause this is what you deal with all the time as a planner.
But I think people sort of get overrun with the excitement of profit and then they get the Debbie Downers when they realize, "Oh, this is not all my money," or, "Maybe I should be investing it in my next business."
So yeah, the forethought and being strategic when it comes to that mindset change is so important, and I suppose that's what successful wealthy people, maybe, I don't wanna put it all in one barrel 'cause some people are very lucky, but get out of it with their pre-planning and their thinking about that sort of stuff.
Fiona: Absolutely, yeah, and what I've seen happen a lot of times, for at least those people that run successful businesses, is they have a couple of different accounts surrounding their business. So what I'm trying to say is, number one, they have, for example, a regular business checking account, number two, they have an emergency, like a rainy day fund in case, I don't know, they just need to pull themselves over and their employees over during a rough period.
And third, oftentimes, and you brought this up actually just now, taxes, you're responsible for your own taxes, so you need to make sure when you get some income, a portion of that income is routed to a third or at least a different account to store up the money for taxes. Because more often than not, I've seen it often, clients get side swept because they get whacked with a huge tax bill. We're talking $30,000 or whatever it is you make in a year, so it's very, very important you save money for taxes, absolutely.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about setting aside money for taxes](jpg/1614004136-8888a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Starting a Side Hustle: What to Do and What Not to Do
Aleisha: Yeah, yeah, and it's so easy, as you said, new account, don't even touch it, just we move it straight there, it's not even gonna be a problem when the tax man or woman comes to collect later in the year or earlier in the year, depending on where you are in the world.
Looking at the mindset then as well with your clients, if someone comes to you and says, "I've had this great idea for a side hustle, I think it's gonna work, I'm gonna give it a crack in the next sort of six months," what are some of the expenses... Just like thinking about our lives, what are some of the expenses we should be putting money away for to create a runway that not only helps us launch a business, but thinking about personal expenses?
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What are some of the bits of advice that you would give your clients, if we came to you and said, "This is the big goal, I wanna leave the workforce and start my own thing"?
Fiona: Certainly. Yeah, so I will share a story that I hope will inspire you not to follow in the same footsteps. So this is something you don't wanna do. So I was helping someone who basically went no communication for six months or so.
He was a 28-year-old earning $140,000 a year, a really great job, was going to become a young executive, but he hated his job, hated every single day of his job, and his goal was to create his own business. Now, please don't do what he did because he, in the middle of the year, without talking to me about it, just up and quit his job and then started...
He had a little bit of emergency savings, not much, didn't build it up. He started researching his business, started networking and all of that, and actually ran out of money, so he had to find a new job and his business didn't work.
So moral of the story, don't just cold-turkey quit your nine-to-five. The right way to approach it, or at least one of the right ways to approach transitioning successfully from a nine-to-five to a side hustle or a full-time side hustle, is I think first, you wanna understand what your potential is in terms of income from your side hustle.
The second thing is, I think you need to budget, obviously, for potential expenses within your side hustle. So those expenses could include research expenses, target audience and market research. You might want to attend a couple of industry seminars, get to know people, that's probably going to cost you lunch or coffee or entrance tickets. That can be expensive.
Borrowing costs, it would be important to know, do you need to buy inventory? Do you have money to buy that inventory, or do you need a loan? If you need a loan, it's important to do your research on which banks are offering the best rates because paying high interest rates for loans can drain your budget in the long term, that's very dangerous.
Then the next thing to consider is potentially insurance. Do you need to insure your business, your employees, if you have any? Licenses, licenses and permits, they can cost quite a bit of money. So to get information there, it would be good to contact your county or the city or town that you live in, they can give you good information about those costs.
And then obviously, we're talking about in this technology age, what's the cost going to be to you in terms of technology? Do you need customer relationship management platforms? Do you need social media marketing assistance possibly, or content creators to help promote your business, equipment supplies, advertising, promotion?
I can go on all day, but those are some of the real basic expenses that depending on the industry you decide to go in, if it's dropshipping, even blogging or whatever it is, it can cost some form of money, some form of start-up money.
And before you make that transition from your nine-to-five to a full-time side hustle, it's important to understand what those costs will be and have some type of emergency savings set aside for...
If you're asking me, I typically recommend six to 12 months if you're starting a business.
Because chances are your business is not going to take off within the first year, it's going to take time, or at least six months. It will take time, and that's where you need your resources, your emergency savings to give you that extra push over the finish line.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about not quitting your job cold turkey](jpg/1614004139-8988a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: And investing in an hour or two with someone like you would be an ideal thing to do, to be able to sit down and say, "Here are all my expenses, here are all of the non-negotiables that comes with your lifestyle," but then also getting a plan together, I suppose, to be able to then say, "Alright, here's the strategy to launch," and then a whole another financial plan for the business, but also just being able to maintain your lifestyle to some extent.
Fiona: Absolutely, it is very important to understand your lifestyle and your non-negotiables. What would you not give up in your life right now? What do you need to live a happy life? And there are obviously some expenses that can be cut, which could be used to be saved or toward your business. But, absolutely, it's very important to understand your budget and kind of figure out how much you need to live.
Everything in Moderation
Aleisha: Great. Yeah, and that's important, 'cause I think people sort of say, "Oh, I can live really cheaply." But then you're also like, "Well, but you need health insurance," and perhaps as much as... We've gotta pay the rent to the mortgage. And making sure that you do have some backup money in case things don't go to plan.
But also, there's all this stuff that we joke about now in our Oberlo group, that people sort of go on about the side hustle bro community who are all like, "You can give everything up. You shouldn't be watching Netflix at night, forget sport," all this sort of stuff.
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You're like, that's maybe true, you could do that for a couple of months and sustain that and think, "Well, I'm working really hard," but also you're a person and you're a human and you wanna enjoy life, and I don't know if sacrificing all forms of relaxation or socialization, as much as we can at the moment, is really a great decision to do in the long term for our mental health.
So, don't think you need to give up everything just to run your business. That's my little personal message to put out there today, Fiona. I think people really go hard and they get burned out and they give up because they hate it, when really that's not living at all.
Fiona: I could not agree more with you. I mean, I think that is so important to remember. No matter what you do, if it's building a business, if it's studying for school, if it's whatever it is, it's important to lead a balanced lifestyle.
And I kind of compare it back to dieting. I tried this diet once a long time ago, and it was basically one apple a day. I was like, "I'm going to lose 20 pounds." I was probably 18 at the time, not smart, and I was like, "I'm going to have one apple a day and that's it and nothing else." And that diet was probably lasting for three days, and then I went crazy and I ate so much that I gained more than what I actually lost. And since then, never again, right?
Just think of it as dieting. You wanna have moderation, you can't go all out or nothing, you just can't. It's not possible.
Aleisha: Yes. No. That's such a good way to describe it. And you're totally right, I'll eat those four pieces of cake, if you tell me I can't have one, so that is the problem.
Fiona: Yeah, exactly.
Aleisha: This has been really enlightening and great to think about our money mindset and also just a bit about planning and the realities of launching that side hustle or moving into a different industry.
That can be really exciting, but also it's just great to be prepared 'cause you'll be thanking us and you later down the track, when you know you've got that runway and you feel less panicked if things aren't going 100 percent the way you want them to go immediately, which is a majority of the time for any of us that have started a business.
Fiona: Yes, patience is the absolute key. And that is something I have found out the hard way for myself. I'm typically a fairly realistic person, and I thought it would be smooth sailing from probably month nine or whatnot, but it's taken a while, but I think the key is showing up every day, especially when you least feel like it, and that right there is what will separate the successful from the average. Showing up every day, that's what will make the difference.
![Fiona, The Millennial Money Woman talks about showing up](jpg/1614004141-9088a6.jpg?fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1440)
Aleisha: Damn straight it will. That's excellent advice. Fiona, if people wanna get in touch and learn more about what you do and hopefully be encouraged and inspired, where can they do that?
Fiona: Certainly. So the first place, the best place would be my website, themillennialmoneywoman.com, new posts are shared every week there, so definitely feel free to check that out. The second place would be Twitter, you can find me with my handle, which is @The_MMW, or if you're a Pinterest fan, you can certainly find me there too themillennialmoneywoman, and I'd love to engage and get in touch with you.
Aleisha: That's perfect. Thank you so much, Fiona. It's been great, and I hope people do get in touch and take your advice, still take the leap, but also do it in a way that's not gonna cause any trouble later down the track.
Fiona: It's my pleasure, thank you so much for having me.
Aleisha: Thanks, Fiona.