I went “all in” a couple of years ago when I quit my job back in 2011. I love to write. And, I wanted to make it my dream to be a writer on my own terms.

Having learned about Internet marketing and blogging, I was totally hooked on the idea of creating a blog, or a lifestyle business as they like to call it today, and start earning an income. Yep. I was all for lifestyle design! “How hard could it be?” I thought. “It’s the internet. All I have to do is set up a blog, write, add value and start making money”. I *should* be able to achieve an income in due time, after some hard work of course.

But it was tough. Really tough. Everything I thought would be relatively easy turned out to be harder than I expected. There are always so many nuances when it comes to business:

Adding value? I had to learn to be consistent in my writing, and also develop my own unique voice. Getting my name out there? I wrote over 50 guest posts across the web and I had to learn how to approach bloggers to pitch to them. Making money? It took me a while to get over the fact that selling wasn’t a sin!

It’s been a long (two years and counting) and crazy journey for me and I’m proud to say that I’m now earning a consistent income from selling my own eBooks. It’s simple business: I write and create my own content and then lead readers to my books. I actually went full circle just to come back to this simple model.

The thing is, the Internet is filled with so much information and it’s easy to be tempted to try them all, especially when you’re being reeled in by some successful “guru” who swears by his or her own method.

I tried everything, and it simply came back to my passion for writing. I don’t do Webinars, Podcasts, videos or whatever other method that works for others. I just write.

Key lesson here: Follow your heart and continue doing what you’re good at. Just because others are good at something doesn’t mean you’d be good at it. Be really good at something, then grow later. The money will come.

Alden Tan keeps it real at his blog, https://alden-tan.com, as he writes about motivation and personal development. He cuts through the fluff to teach you how to be a better person in life.