GLO ATANMO: “I probably worked two months out of the twelve, or I will have worked two months out of the twelve by the end of the year. And what a blessing. What a privilege. It's something that I never even thought was possible. But I allowed myself to categorize my priorities at an early age and really put in the time and really put in the work and really put in the effort, but more than that, like, play the long game. Every now and then I would take opportunities that maybe didn't make financial sense, but I knew I was building a relationship. I knew I was building the experience. I was building the portfolio that was required to get the actual position or the actual value that I was working towards.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget, and the time to focus on growing my small-but-mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.
AMY PORTERFIELD: All right. Back to our usual Thursday episode. I hope you've been enjoying this week's week of gratitude and giving, and I've been having a blast with all of my friends, and I really do feel so grateful. I love to hear what they are all grateful for, because it gives me a new perspective.
Now, today you're going to hear from Glo Atanmo, and you're going to hear what she's most grateful for. And be sure to stick around until the end to learn about today's gratitude challenge.
So it's the final day to enter this special contest. And so, again, you're going to get a full year of the Full Focus Planner. You're going to get a six-month membership to Social Curator. You'll get a copy of my book, a signed copy, Two Weeks Notice, plus all the bonuses that come with pre-ordering my book, including a VIP ticket to my virtual event early next year. You're going to get a membership to GrowthDay. And to wrap this up in a big cozy hug, you're also going to get my very favorite blanket, Barefoot Dreams blanket. Listen, you can't be an entrepreneur without one. You're going to love it. You're going to thank me later if you've never had one.
So let's go ahead and hear from the lovely Glo.
GLO: Hey, everyone. Glo Atanmo here. And for this episode in the week of gratitude and giving, I wanted to talk about creating time freedom as an entrepreneur, because essentially, I looked at freedom in three categories. There's time freedom, there's financial freedom, and there's location freedom. So I was chasing these three different types of freedoms throughout my twenty-one-year entrepreneurial career. The first one that really appealed to me was location freedom. I love the idea of being able to work from anywhere in the world. So I amassed ninety-three countries and six continents under my belt, getting paid to travel as a travel blogger. So for me, I got to taste freedom at a very physical level.
The next one was financial freedom, so I was getting paid to travel, but I wasn't quite making what I wanted to make. And that's the thing about being an entrepreneur is that you have to play the long game. A lot of times we are chasing this dream job or dream career, dream lifestyle. We have our rates. We know exactly what we want to earn per year. We know where we want to live. We know the things that we want to afford, if we’re already thinking of our upgraded lifestyle. But have we put in the time to earn the amount that we're working towards? So I was willing to get my hands dirty and get on the ground and really build in the trenches. So as I built that location freedom, the financial freedom was probably the hardest part because it was the most time consuming and grueling, but I knew I was working towards that elusive time freedom.
My goodness, time freedom is the most valuable of them all. And when I look at my year and kind of review how 2022 was for me, I probably worked two months out of out of the twelve, or I will have worked two months out of the twelve by the end of the year. And what a blessing. What a privilege. It's something that I never even thought was possible. But I allowed myself to categorize my priorities at an early age and really put in the time and really put in the work and really put in the effort, but more than that, like, play the long game. Every now and then I would take opportunities that maybe didn't make financial sense, but I knew I was building a relationship. I knew I was building the experience. I was building the portfolio that was required to get the actual position or the actual value that I was working towards.
So often, times when you have that five-, ten-year vision for what you want your future to look like, what you're building for your family, sometimes that instant gratification is the part that is going to ruin everything for you, because if you try to get everything you want by next month, hey, you might get it. And then what? You lose motivation, you plateau, and then you spiral. And I want you all to consider, what if everything you ever desired came over the next ten years? Like, that's still a great life, and it gives you motivation to continue to work towards something.
Because one thing that people didn't prepare me for was what happens when you reach everything that you've worked so hard for? And I had to learn to get really comfortable just existing and not attaching my value to what I was making and what I was putting out there, how consistent I was able to be on social media. So time freedom for me is the ability to hop on a plane and travel across the world to make a friend's wedding or to visit a family member or friend, just on a moment's notice, because I can. And I think creating those seasons in those pockets in your life where you can do that is such a blessing and such a privilege.
And if I can categorize the way I started to plan out my year, I'll look at it like this because seasons are going to happen regardless. We don't get mad at the winter coming because we know, like, depending on where you live, like, okay, it's going to get cold, and the snow’s going to fall. So why get mad at snow when you know it's coming? We know that the sun’s going to rise in the summer. It's going to be great, long summer days. It's going to be amazing. We don't dread that happening, because it's just a part of life.
In the same way, for entrepreneurs, there is going to be a cycle of seasons that you need to be okay with happening. You're not always going to be launching. You're not always going to be profitable. You're not always going to have high momentum, energy, or motivation to do what you're trying to do.
So maybe borrow this framework that I created. So basically, what I would do is the winter in the winter season, that would be my learning season. So I would literally hide away from the world, usually be off of social media, and just dive deep into books. I'm, like, flying through three to four books a week, watching documentaries, and just learning a new skill. And so I'm doing this for about three months.
That leads me into spring, which is my launching season. Because I spent winter learning and just studying, I've probably got a new skill and different inspiration to launch something different. So by the spring I am launching, and I am focusing on making my annual revenue in that spring quarter. So I am going hard. This is the time where I'm like, “Okay, I've caught up on rest. I have done all the hibernating possible. I am ready to launch.” And that way, when it comes to summer, I am ready to live.
Summer is for celebrating the successful launch. It is for traveling and experiencing this beautiful world that we’re privileged to live in. And I think so often on this journey, again, of entrepreneurship, like, make sure you are injecting moments of your journey where you get to celebrate everything you're working for. I don’t want to wait for a certain financial goal to celebrate, like, making and reaching my goals. I want to celebrate that I'm on this journey, that I've chosen a path that very few can last in. So summer is for living.
And then last, we have the fall season, which is for listening. Now I am listening to the feedback of my community. I am listening to the trends. I'm listening to the market. I'm going to seminars and conferences. I'm listening to the feedback of the industry. Just really getting a pulse for what's coming next and what trends I want to focus on.
So again, the winter is for learning, the spring is for launching, the summer is for living, and the fall is for listening. I use these seasons to break up my year as an entrepreneur, but, ultimately, it creates the best type of life for me. Time freedom is my favorite aspect of entrepreneurship. And if you haven't reached the place that you're trying to get to and you don't feel excited about entrepreneurship anymore, or you're frustrated, or you just don't see that light at the end of the tunnel, just one more day. One more day, one more week, one more month, one more quarter, one more year. You owe it to yourself to continue on the path chasing the life of your dreams, because, my goodness, when you reach the other side, you'll look back and see that it was all worth it.
Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you all for having me. You can check me out on Instagram, @glographics. G-L-O-G-R-A-P-H-I-C-S, glographics. Thanks again. Take care.
AMY: Isn't Glo just incredible? That was such a fun episode, and I'm so glad she was the very last one to bring us home in terms of our week of gratitude and giving.
So tomorrow we are announcing the grand-prize winner and the five runner ups. So tomorrow's the big day. All the prizes that I've been promising you. Do not miss the opportunity to enter one more time today. Or if this is the first time you've heard this, enter today, because you still have a chance to win. And it's really easy to enter today.
All you need to do is go over to my Instagram. I'm @amyporterfield. I have a post for today's episode. Go find that post, comment below what you're most grateful for. If you've already done this once, choose something new. Let's expand our minds here. What else are you grateful for? Comment what you're grateful for, and you are instantly entered to win the grand prize. And if you don't win the grand prize, there's five runners up. So I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow, which is December 2, so make sure to check on Instagram. That's where I’ll announce the winners. And I hope you're feeling full of gratitude, and spreading it as well.
Thanks for joining me for another episode of Online Marketing Made Easy. I'll see you next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.