How often have you been asked the question, who are you and what do you do?
That’s the question I get asked a lot especially in my industry, and to be honest this is the question I loathe the most. Yeah, this may sound a little bit arrogant! An example… the other day in the sauna, this guy I started chatting to asked me “what I did for work”. Funny I said, I’m just writing a blog about that very question and how I don’t like answering it. He apologised, I smiled, and said it’s not your problem it’s my problem because I don’t know how to answer it.
The reason I say that is because I never really know how to explain it without going on and on. I do multiple things to support myself. Let me give you an example, I run a few online shops, an online travel company, I host a few websites, I tutor people on how to use technology, I get commissions from promoting other people‘s products online, and my main bread-and-butter comes from my subscription-based business networking company.
So as you can see it’s a difficult question to answer because explaining I receive income from multiple sources could be difficult for someone who works at one job, doing one thing on an hourly rate. I could be wrong, however when I start explaining to others, it results in me dominating the conversation and I’m sure that is exhausting for the ones who are listening!
So as I was walking around the mall today, I thought of tackling that question from a different angle, hence this blog, ‘what don’t I do’?
I don’t conform
I don’t always conform to society, maybe it’s my religious upbringing. Celebrating my birthday or Christmas does not excite me at all, in fact, I loathe it, and ladies, I don’t even get excited about Valentine’s Day, it’s not going to happen! I believe if you see a gift or you want to do something nice for a dear friend or your partner, don’t hold back, do it straight away.
I hate commercialism
I don’t read the newspaper, in fact, I don’t read. I don’t watch the weather, I don’t like other people influencing me, however I do love listening to motivational books that I choose to hear, and if you want to read a good one, make sure you read the “Be More Pirate : Or How to Take On the World and Win by Sam Conniff Allende”. At Christmas time when you are all running around trying to find that special present for your loved one, I think you’re all crazy.
I don’t follow
I would like to think that I am a leader. I’m not sure how many people are following me, but if you check out my Facebook and LinkedIn profile‘s you could say quite a few. I would find more value in saying I am an influencer and I’ve never really learnt much from following others, the reason for this is that I don’t seem to absorb the information I get taught. I believe this is because of my dyslexia. Let’s use Richard Branson as an example, he is a true leader. Do I follow his example, not really, do I admire him as a leader, 100%. I’ve gleaned a few ideas from listening his books.
The idea of going to university and listening to theory, or educating myself on how something should be done by other leaders, doesn’t really interest me at all. This could be part of the reason I left school at 14, I was bored out of my brain and couldn’t wait to start life.
I don’t stop thinking
I was speaking to somebody the other day and we were talking about sleep, and I said I normally get between 4 to 6 hours sleep a night. When I sleep I actually pass out from exhaustion!
Sometimes I feel like the elevator goes to the top and the doors open, the light goes on, and it never goes off. However, I often keep thinking until I come up with a solution or concept. When it all comes together, I quickly document it or come up with a way of remembering my thoughts before I forget them. Some may say I have ADHD, however, I say I am an action person, I think on my feet in real time as I implement stuff. So for this reason my brain is always thinking.
I don’t absorb negativeness
Negativeness brings me down and I can’t have it in my life at any cost. Now I’m not talking about when you have a bad day and you need someone to share your problems with. I think you can fix most things by having someone to listen to. Would you agree with the saying, that a problem shared, is a problem halved?
Failure is not an option
If you ask me whether I have ever failed with anything in business, the answer would be no. A businessman said to me once, you’ve got to have your failures in business, they are the compost for your next business. You can always learn to do things better each time you do them, it’s like exercising, the more you exercise, the fitter you get, well it’s the same in business.
In conclusion, sometimes it’s just easier saying to people I’m a qualified painter and decorator and I specialise in interior paint techniques. It’s maybe 20 years old, however, it was a lot easier to explain to people what I did when I was a house painter!
P.S. If you like this article, please click “like” or provide comment, as that will motivate me to publish more. Share and inspire. Thank you.
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