I feel like it's been foreverrr since I posted a blog article on Freedom Wanderers. I actually miss writing weekly blog articles, but I love writing my weekly newsletters instead, because it's allowed me to explore different topics (outside of travel destinations) and at a deeper level.

My newsletter is now where I share the more personal BTS stuff and I'd love for you to join us in our weekly discussions about important topics! You can sign up riiiight here:

This year has been a tad overwhelming to say the least - add starting my own web design business to that ... and it's like having a fire lit under my ass. While you might perceive me to be super chill, calm and always optimistic... the REAL behind-the-scenes is a little different.

Which is why I finally decided to publish this article on what it's like to start your own creative business. But instead of all the glamour and hype - I'm pulling back the curtains and showing you what it really looks and feels like to be your own boss and run your own show (spoiler: it’s not all roses!)

While I still have the mindset of a baby entrepreneur, who is currently learning how to walk without falling - I thought it might be interesting to share what it’s like in the beginning.

But first… here’s a quote from moi :)

If you really wanna get to know yourself better (bring out all the good and the bad), then either have children or start a business.
— Emily Peilan

The 7 Lessons I’ve Learnt:

Work Smart, Not Hard
Invest in yourself and your learning!
Find your weaknesses and outsource
Set up good systems and processes from the start
Re-wire and train your mindset for success
Face your finances and deal with your money blocks.
Rest & Play are just as important as Focus & Work

1. Work Smart, Not Hard

Not to undermine hard work at all... but sometimes we refuse to work 'smart and efficient' (even if it leads to the same results) because we would rather show that we work harder and longer hours - that we are more deserving.

Whilst working smart and efficient is what we should strive for, I find it then difficult to value my work. Since I'm so used to being valued at an hourly rate, it makes sense to work longer hours to earn more money.

Now that I'm slowly making the switch to working smarter and more efficiently (whilst also improving my service and end result), I should technically stop valuing my time in terms of hours.

Hard work does not always equate to success. Smart work does.
— Emily Peilan

Instead, I need to take into account all the things that come together to create the end-result, such as: the thousands of dollars I've invested into courses this year, the technology and softwares I purchase to make this all possible, the time and energy it's taken for me to accumulate such a wealth of knowledge on this topic - and more importantly, my design style, personality and my creative thinking.

It's hard to put a monetary value on these intangibles because there's no one to tell you how much it's worth - so it's easy to be too modest and play yourself down. It's easier to just work harder and longer hours, in order to justify to yourself that you DESERVE that much money.

Even if, by working smarter and shorter hours, you also equally deserve that same amount (or perhaps even more!). But until we rewire our mindset to work smarter for success, then we will continue being enslaved to this notion of working long & hard for mere pride.

2. Invest in yourself and your learning

When I stopped to think about it... this amazed me: that I didn't even hesitate to spend over $40,000 on my University education that I now have to pay back (for two degrees that... I feel don't even help me much in the pursuit of my ideal life).

Yet I was hesitant to fork out a few thousand dollars of current money (ie. not a loan) on practical courses that would ACTUALLY help me achieve my goals! Like wtf is up with that mentality?

I still remember the first course I ever invested in. It was a blogging course by Wander in Two, with an entire module on blogging for SEO. It only cost $300, but I was freaking out at 'how expensive' it was. But so worth it because the strategies, knowledge and techniques still serve me to this day.

And just for perspective, I got waaay more value out of that $300 course (which I did in 3 weeks) than I did from a $1000 Uni course that took half a year and a whole lotta useless textbook reading to complete. I mean… talk about priorities!

Since then... I've invested in A LOT of paid courses and Covid-19 gave me a pretty good excuse to spend this time learning new skills and training my mindset. And not once have I ever 'regretted' paying for a course.

Never let school stand in the way of your education.
— Jim Kwik

There's also something to be said for investing in paid courses over Free Courses (or Youtube Videos and Googling everything). When you actually put money in the game, you are putting energy in the game and you have more motivation to make your investment back, to come up with an action plan and actually implement what you learn.

The problem with free stuff is that we don't value it, because we didn't pay for it. So there's no money or value involved, and there's not a whole lotta motivation or much to lose if you don't implement your knowledge either.

I'm currently going through a few of the courses by Melyssa Griffin - and my only regret is not having invested in her courses earlier! I've learned so much from her already about business, marketing, content creation and more importantly - mindset.

Here's a link to her website (not affiliated - just LOVE and support her work)
Melyssa Griffin

3. Find your weaknesses and outsource

As an ENFP (and Enneagram 7, followed by 3 & 4) - I have some serious issues when it comes to asking for help and giving up some extent of control. Some would say I'm independent to a fault, which is true. I like to do everything and feel the pride in having done it all myself.

But that's not exactly smart, as doing it all costs me a lot of time and stress. Plus, if I dislike doing something (or am not good at it), then it takes me twice as long. Whereas, if I outsourced my weakness, I could focus on doing the things I like (and am good at).

So I'm still working on setting aside my pride and rewiring my mindset from: outsourcing means you're lazy and incapable → to outsourcing means you know how to work smart and prioritise your time.

Plus, it feels really good to be able to help others to help me, to help my clients, who can then help their community - all through the exchange of money :)

Currently, I have someone helping me manage my emails and I can’t even tell you how amazing this feels already! It’s like someone just lifted a boulder from my shoulders - I’m so grateful!

4. Set up good systems and processes from the start

Oh cannot stress this one enough! I definitely learnt this the hard way, arrogantly thinking I didn’t need it because I will just remember everything.

But that pile of 'things to remember' escalates pretty quickly as you take on more tasks, so if you don't have good systems in place, shit's gonna start hitting the fan.

Now, I cannot imagine NOT having a checklist for most of my processes or having good systems in place, like email templates, scheduling tools and batch working. It saves me a ridiculous amount of time, energy and stress.

Plus, it's been especially handy to have these systems when outsourcing a task to someone else. They have a checklist, template and video of the process to follow - which helps me rest assured that it'll be done well.

More importantly, is that I only have to do all this once. I put in the hard yards to come up with a good system or process, and then I just have to update them from time to time.

A great example of this is email. I have loads of email templates for on-boarding clients, which I simply have to change the name and other important details. This would take me 2 mins to send an email from template, compared to the 30mins it would take me to craft up an email from scratch (because I tend to over think things).

Now that I have someone helping me with emails, they can just use the templates I created - instead of trying to impersonate me and my style of writing from scratch every single time. This saves ultimately saves them time.

Another great example is batch working!! Instead of constantly shifting from content creating to client design work and then engaging on social media multiple times a day - why not spend 3 days creating all the content you need for the month? Dedicate 2-3 days for client work a week. And schedule all your social media posts for the month in just 2 days? Genius!

Plus, it's much more efficient to batch work because you're already in the zone and it saves you having to 'get back into flow' every time you shift tasks. I like to divide my batch work into: content creation, client work, marketing, learning & online course, emails & general admin.

Thinking of creating a blog or website? Get access to my resource library of website checklists, design guides and more!

5. Re-wire and train your mindset for success

A wee while ago, I started to realise that my biggest block wasn't even lack of money, skills or strategies. It was my mindset!

Without an abundant mindset, you don't see opportunities - you see limitations.

This year, I've really started to drill down on my beliefs and thoughts about myself and my work. I came to realise that my self-beliefs didn't exactly match my actions.

Meaning that, while I was putting myself out there and trying to get clients - half of me didn't really believe that I was deserving of such projects.

Or pricing myself at $2500 for a full web design project (which is low for the web design industry), but a part of me didn't really believe that my work was worth that much (mostly because it comes so easy to me).

I forget that what comes easy to me, doesn't come easy to others. I forget that while I wouldn't pay that much for a website (because I can DIY it), others would pay premium because they can’t DIY. It's all just perspective.

But can you see how everything stems from your mindset? If you don't believe you're deserving or that you have to price yourself cheap to get work, then you will get stuck in this vicious cycle.

Where do our beliefs come from? Well, our thoughts. Essentially, what you think everyday forms your beliefs. This belief then, creates feelings and emotions, which motivate you to take action (or lack of action), which ultimately creates the results that make up your reality.

Your thoughts create your beliefs, which create feelings that motivate action. Those actions create results, which then change your reality. So the real power lies in your thoughts. Your thoughts can change your reality.
— Emily Peilan

So if you want to change your reality to a more positive one, then you have to start at the core - with your thoughts.

You have to ditch the scarcity mindset in favour of a more abundant mindset, if you want to turn this negative vicious cycle into a positive feedback loop.

6. Face your finances and deal with your money blocks.

Money is a pretty icky subject for a lot of people to talk about - almost taboo even. But the more openly I've talked about money with others, the more comfortable I've become around it.

How often do you look at your expenses and income every month? Do you know where your money is going to and coming from? Or do you prefer not to know, avoid reviewing your monthly transactions (coz it hurts too much) and just guestimate that you're still doin ok?

Not judging at all... because that was me up until March this year! I read this SUPER interesting book called Profit First, which made me look at income in a completely different light.

I now split my income into various 'pots' and it helps keep me responsible for future me by setting aside appropriate money for other things.

For example: 20% —> tax || 10% —> NZ student loan || 20% —> business expenses || 10% —> rainy day funds || and that leaves... 40% —> which is what I pay myself.

Money dates (inspired by Freya’s article here) is something I've started to do twice a month on the 10th and 25th. This is when I sit down with my bank account transactions and sort them into various categories so that I can physically see where my money is going and coming from.

This often helps me get rid of unnecessary costs like Amazon Prime subscription, for example. It keeps me accountable of how I'm spending my money and I think it's important to deal with these things.

Even though I have a degree in Business... I never got taught personal finance or how to manage your finances if you start your own business. Like WTH? Personal finance should be taught to everyone!

And lastly... money blocks. Gosh, I never knew how many limiting beliefs I had about money until I did a little digging.

Beliefs like: if you want to have a lot of money, then you're a greedy bitch. Money makes people bad. Money is the root of all evil. Money is a limited resource, so by having lots of it, you're stealing from the poor… etc.

On the contrary, money is simply a medium of exchange. In a way, money is energy, and energy is neither good nor bad. Money simply accentuates the person you already are.

If you have a scarcity mindset about money, then you see money as a limitation. But if you have an abundant mindset about money, then you see money as endless opportunities.

I am still in the process of working through my money blocks, but I've learnt so much this year already and I'm excited to keep slashing away at all these limiting beliefs! It's so freeing!

7. Rest & Play are just as important as Focus & Work

I think rest and play come more naturally to some than others. Whereas focus and work almost forms my whole identity these days. I get SO caught up in ALL the things I have yet to learn and ALL the things I have yet to do.

It consumes me and I let it. Why? Because I'm so passionate about living a life on MY terms and creating financial and locational freedom for myself, that I have almost endless energy to work on things that move me closer to this freedom.

I say almost, because I'm still human - not a machine. It's humbling to realise that sometimes.

While I love to travel and enjoy life, I'm a teeny bit of a workaholic at heart. And I think this stems from my childhood, where I only felt seen and important and liked when I worked really hard and won an award or got an A in my exams.

I let my successes and achievements define me - and that mentality still kinda sticks with me. If I slack off for a day because I'm exhausted, then I feel guilty and then beat myself up internally for being so lazy and unmotivated. Why can’t I be better, smarter, more productive, more efficient?

So mean to myself, I know.

But... I'm working on seeing rest and play as an important and essential part in my long term plan of achieving my dream lifestyle. Because if I burn out, then I can't do anything. Slow and steady wins the race.

So if I feel like taking the afternoon off and going to the lake with some friends or reading my new book, then so be it. Go enjoy life Emz, that's what it's for.

If anything, it actually helps reset my brain. I find I am better able to source inspiration and creativity after periods of rest and play.

It's ironic how, I'm working so hard to attain freedom... that I sometimes forget to give myself the freedom to enjoy life right now.

Forever a work in progress, but better slow progress than none at all.

Tell me, have you started your own business or perhaps thinking about it? Can you relate to any of these points above? If so, let me know which ones in the comments below!

Or feel free to reach out to me in my dms - @emilypeilan