Omnichannel - The Truth About Being a Full-Time Digital Entrepreneur | Adam Kan

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

Send us a textThe Reality of Being a Full-Time Digital Entrepreneur | Adam KanBeing a full-time digital entrepreneur isn’t as glamorous as social media makes it seem.But what does the day-to-day really look like? How do you stay disciplined, build something sustainable, and uncover what truly matters to you?Join us for a candid conversation with Adam Kan as we strip away the fluff and dive into the real challenges and rewards of this journey.Whether you’re considering the digital entrepreneur lifestyle or seeking inspiration on balancing work and life, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Rethink your strategies, redefine success on your terms, and learn how to create a fulfilling career without sacrificing your well-being.🔗 Follow Adam on social media:https://www.facebook.com/adamwar.kanhttps://www.instagram.com/theadamkan/Get a FREE Copy of the High Converting Online Events Book: https://book.dominikalegrand.com/

know okay what's happening are there specific activities that make me lose energy so for me i i prefer having my calls around the end of afternoon or maybe even evening because once i do a call in the morning i feel like shit i don't want to work anymore i'm done like i did my talking nothing else matters i never really realized i thought i had a good business but i was the business so without me there was nothing um so if i get sick or if i get hit by a car tomorrow then there is no show anymore nothing is gonna happen the future of marketing is going omni channel before we go into the interview there is something i want to talk to you about if you are in business you may have realized in order for you to sell anything, you need to build relationships first.

The past five years, what I have found the easiest way to build relationships is through online events. And I actually have written a book about it, High Converting Online Events. How to create, promote and monetize your online event. Also put the exact framework behind how to create promote and monetize your online event also put the exact framework behind how to make that happen if you want to build your business using the power of online events you can grab a copy i'm going to put a link in the description of this episode you can go ahead and grab it and let's go today so welcome to the Omni Channel podcast, Adam. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.

So I'm just hearing that you're moving. Where are you moving? We used to move pretty close to the city center, but then we moved a little further from the city center because we thought, oh yeah, we need the space, we need the peace. But then we realized it's very nice having a very big house,

very fancy neighborhood, but you also realize that there is nothing here. So what we created for ourselves, living in this nice golden cage, like, when people come over, they're like, wow. Like, it's an amazing house. But at one point, or very soon, actually, I think it only took us a few months like oh this house now it's just a house so we didn't really like that anymore we're gonna move back i'm gonna downsize a little bit and move back close to the city center so we can actually walk to places do some stuff have

some coffees like right here there's there's nothing there really is nothing at all. You have to drive every single time. Listen, I can appreciate nature for sure. But if you work from home, which we both do, and I think part of our conversation is going to be around working from home as a digital entrepreneur slash the travels, the glamour, like what's really the behind the scenes. So as someone who works from home, I can completely relate. If there isn't much to do around you, I mean, you're home all the time. So what do you do?

It's not like you have an office where you go and commute every day and you like experience people, you know, like places. But if you live somewhere that's like more secluded in, you know, not in a center, that can be be very lonely. So I understand the move. Yeah, I would say generally speaking, I'm fine not leaving the house. I will not leave the house for months. I would say I'm already a little weird like that.

But even for me, it's a lot. So we'll just be stuck. Especially if you work from home. it's just so you have like at least eight hours of work i'm guessing for most people then everything else around the house as well so you'll be out a day for like maybe 30 minutes there's no socializing there's nothing else of course there are a lot of benefits but having some kind of variation, I think, is definitely necessary. Personally, I prefer just having both. Every time I cut phases, so I'll have a phase where I'll just work outside every single day in a coffee shop, a co-working space, or a while where I'm just several months nowhere,

just focus on work at home. And I think that keeps me sane. And I think keeping your sanity is very important i think a lot of people go crazy um i had this friend actually we used to work together for a publishing company and great guy but he could not stand it he could not stand working from home being alone all the time because that that's reality usually like you're alone all the time and if you go to this place like bali or any other place with a lot of expats and digital nomads that's fun but then you need to find the balance between how much fun we're gonna have and when are we actually gonna do the work i think that's quite hard for most people yeah first of all like i'm still at the point when you said you're fine with not leaving your

house for months like that to me is like what the fuck anyway how is that working out for you because i don't think i can not just leave and go outside and do travel yeah i think i've always been very very introverted and i'm totally fine just working and especially if i have a certain goal then nothing else matters if i have a certain goal then that's just it and right now it's just work baby family and that's everything about those few things it's at home there's nothing else um and every few months i'll know it's like oh okay i would like to be social right now. And when I notice that, then I'll do it.

But I'll meet someone like once or twice every three, four or five months. And then I'm charged for the next three, four or five months. Wow. That's how my brain works. That's crazy. So let's talk a little bit about what you do so that the listeners can put everything into perspective. Because we're going to talk about behind the scenes, lifestyle, balance. So can you don't even know because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. Mainly because I feel like I'm doing a lot of different things. Yeah.

I'll do my own closing, but I'll also hire people or I'll like help other companies find people as well. But while I do that, I'm also like writing my own copy. I'll write copy for other people. I'll do my own DM setting, train people for DM setting. So basically anything you can think of, whether it's social media or anything funnel related or like a CMO, I'll touch a little bit of everything. So a lot of moving parts.

And I think that's where I'm a little stuck. What's my title now? So I just usually tell people, I'm not sure. It's probably easier to just tell people I do a little bit of everything. And if they're not in an online marketing space, I just tell them I sell drugs because it's easier to explain. Oh, my God.

I want to see their faces when you say that. No, but I can relate. And to be honest with you, going to networking events and just be like, so introduce yourself. And I'm trying so hard to explain, so I do this, and then I send emails, and I do this, and for this client, that's what I do. And then there is no title, I think. That is all-encompassing of all this work.

Yeah, yeah. I think generally speaking, i'll try to stick around something with marketing like yeah i'll help companies with their marketing and increase just try to be as boring as possible yeah yeah what i say is i help grow businesses online because that's kind of like what i do is if it's online then probably something around growing those things and that helps yeah when it's in similar then probably something around growing those things. And that helps. Yeah, when it's in similar circles, they'll understand.

Like we talk about copywriting or media buying or whatever. They're like, oh, okay, yeah, makes sense. But for everyone else, it's just like, so what? Like copyright as in with the movies? I know. They don't know. Basically, I think the language is you know different and um i'm so crazy because i find myself explaining like what a webinar is you know like you know like there's like webinars like okay they don't okay those online events

you know sometimes they so i really really try to explain it but i'm like i just need to stop over explaining and if they're curious they would ask more questions but if they don't care it's just a polite question they're just like okay I did not sign up for all this shit you know I'm just like I was trying to be polite you know I don't really care about what you do you know but just

so I think that's what I'm getting a lot I think it makes your life a lot easier by just keeping it very very simple and if they're like you said'll ask, they'll figure it out. And otherwise, it's just, yeah, just stuff online. Yeah, right? I think I had to learn that. I had to learn it.

That was a process. So we did talk about the Bali lifestyle. There is a lot of talks about, you know, freedom, like work from anywhere. And, you know, I think there's such a glamorized self-spitch around this, like freedom, blah, blah, blah. So we know that's not quite how it is. We have experienced it and you have experienced it. And can you tell us what was your experience with the travel lifestyle, the nomad lifestyle?

Yeah, I think I traveled for about five or six years. I don't even remember how many flights. Probably hundreds of flights. And it was great. At the time, it was great. Especially once you start out and you'll start making some money and you'll feel awesome looking at all the stuff. But it doesn't take a lot of churches to realize that most churches look quite similar. And the same goes for temples.

Oh, my God. And with a lot of things, it's very, very nice meeting a lot of people. But at the same time, making true friendships is very hard because after a few months you're gone, or they are gone. They don't really know what they want to do. Maybe you don't really know what you want to do. So when you're younger, when you're starting out, it makes a lot of sense to me.

But after a while, you start missing the stability. And I think all the things that you don't have seem very nice. So for most people, traveling seems very nice because you don't have seem very nice so for most people traveling seems very nice because you don't do it that often it's very special but after a while places don't excite you as much anymore

that feeling of flying or going somewhere it's just another trip just like with the house I have it's a gigantic house, it's beautiful, but now it's just another house. And it becomes very normal. And then the stuff that you don't have

is what normal non-digital nomads have and stability, the peace, having your own office. Right now I'm looking at three giant monitors which are a little unnecessary, but they're great. Stuff like that you can't really have.

But I can probably do three times as much at home than I can outside with just my laptop. And then suddenly I'm starting to think like, oh, I want to grow something and I want to build up something. And that becomes very hard while you're traveling and meeting people all the time. Yeah, no, I can definitely relate on that. And I think I've gotten to a point where, you know those marketing messages when they say, oh, freedom, you can get freedom, common freedom. And I'm like, okay, I guess I have freedom now. And then the financial freedom, I think I have financial freedom too.

So I check, check, okay, now what? I think there comes a point where you're like okay i can can be anywhere i can travel anywhere but like you said productivity is not going to be the same especially for me i mean just maintaining quality work you know most of my clients are on retainers so i'm just the ability to focus maintain work, be there for clients and plus explore, plus travel. I think it's just so hard. I feel so guilty every time I'm traveling because I'm trying to just balance, you know, their work with my travels. And it's, there is no stop.

You know, there isn't like, hey, I'm going to take two weeks off, like, bye. Their business doesn't stop hey i'm gonna take two weeks off like bye there isn't it they their business doesn't stop because i'm going somewhere so that's one of my difficulties yeah there are a lot of pros and cons to it and i i've come to say for my friends who have a nine to five and what they never seem to understand is like when you are done at five you are done like you don't you don't think about it like You can do whatever you want. But when I wake up at 2, 3, 4, like 4 a.m., I'm like, oh shit, I still have things to do.

The show must go on, the business won't stop, and I can't just take off suddenly. I need to really, really schedule that ahead. And even when you take time off, stuff is still going on. the businesses that you work with don't stop and then it becomes very hard to just let go of that and just truly enjoy and i think that's a very hard balance for most people to find yeah definitely i think for i mean for you it's uh you have a baby now so it's it's you really have to learn how to prioritize better.

Do you think that having a baby helped you to be more productive or? Yes and no, I would say yes and no. I think the hours I work are definitely very, very focused because I know that every minute that I'm not productive, that I'm not focused, also means I need to work more and it takes away from time being with my family. That's a price that's too big to pay. So definitely that. But also with the baby, of course, like I would lie if I wouldn't tell you

that it's quite hard at times. But I'm planning to sleep thesepless nights days where i feel like shit and i'll just sit behind the laptop like uh i don't know if i have the energy to do this so those days i'm not very productive but it does really make prioritize things i think especially with fun and social activities that i really have to sit down and think like this person that i could meet is it worth it or can i sleep more or work more right yeah meet, is it worth it? Or can I sleep more or work more, right? Yeah, exactly. Like, is it worth it?

Would I rather be with my baby? Would I rather work more? Would I rather fix this? So we really start to prioritize things. And I think for me, the last year or so, it has been we would love friends and people that I might know or maybe aren't that close with.

And then I'm really thinking, is it worth it to maintain this? Or would I rather do something else? And then it becomes very clear which people you truly want to continue being friends with or you think are actual friendships. Or what I know is a lot is that people just want something from me. How do you think your friends are reacting to this new version of you that is like, cheers, guys, I'm having much more fun without you, with the baby? I think it really depends.

Friends that I've had for years, they understand and they will probably come to visit us instead of, like, asking us to go somewhere else. Whereas more like acquaintances, they're like, oh, shit, we're not good enough, but it has nothing to do with that to me. It's just like, if I had to pick, and you want to come over for coffee here,

and I can still watch my child, then I would be more than happy to do that. But if you want me to take like half a day out to do something I probably don't want to do it wow yeah I'm just very retouched that way I grew up in the Netherlands so I'm like yep not doesn't feel like something I want to do. Maybe once in every few months, like if it's a little bit longer, then I'm fine. But right now, I feel like being at home, seeing her grow up, because right now, like every single day is different. Like she'll grow up a lot every single day.

Like the things she does today are very different than what she's going to do next week and everything is going so quick that i don't want to miss out that's so interesting you say that to me because all my mom friends they like complain they're like get me out of here i want to just get out of home i can't be doing like basically like so happy to catch a break from their babies. I mean, of course, there are moments like that. But most things like, for example, before I would also still love to go out and go into nature, but it's more enjoyable for me to just do it with my family. So it was never like, oh, I've got this extra burden. It was just like, oh, I've got an extra bird and it was just like, oh, I've got an extra buddy to just bring with me.

And I think the older she'll get, the more we'll see and experience together and like, oh, there's a lot of really cool stuff that becomes more enjoyable. Because there are times when it's very tough and where you go like, oh, I want to catch a break. But there are very

small little moments where you're like, oh shit, this was totally worth it. Like I wouldn't want to catch a break um but there are very small little moments where like oh shit like this was totally worth it uh like i wouldn't i wanted to miss this and with those moments i feel like it's perfect and there's nothing else that i would rather do how do you find yourself to stay disciplined you know i think for me one of the biggest challenges to focus you know i have clients and projects and podcasts and like i'm there's so many things i'm doing um especially you you said as well like you you're doubling with instagram you're copywriting like there's just so much you do um so especially now that you have a baby but how do you find yourself to get the discipline do you have like a to-do list or what's your go-to

yes so there are a few things i do i've got my habit tracker with non-negotiables i've got a to-do list so i use like the three to three methods so like first three most important tasks and second priority or wherever i need to call and then the third list of three things is what i need to maintain maintain or some kind of maintenance around the house to keep it peaceful for example it could be putting the dishes away or like keeping my office kind of clean or as clean as it can be stuff like that Then preparing the night before helps a lot and never focusing on too many things at once. So I'll know, like, I might have a dozen things to do, but it doesn't mean a dozen things are important right now.

So the list of priorities is very important. So I'll start my day with the most important. So if I have three or four hours of deep work, of focused work, then I need to be very clear when what needs to happen. my day but most important so if i have three or four hours of deep deep work focus work that i need to be very clear when what needs to happen and within those hours nothing else matters like if it takes me very little like if it's just 30 seconds okay fine just get rid of it then come back if not i'll just dump it i'll dump it in Trello or Todoist. Then I call this later. But just don't be in my head right now.

All I need to focus on is one task. And that might be reviewing something, sending back feedback to a funnel builder, or writing copy. Like, cool, I need three emails. I'm scheduling 25 minutes for this. That's it. And I'll set a timer on one of my giant monitors.

It's in my face all the time. And I think that pressure prevents a lot of stress because the pressure makes me work faster and better so i don't have to stress later what what kind of habit tracker do you use because you said you're using habit tracker um before i had very simple habit trackers it was just non-negotiables like what do i do after i wake up and i'll stretch what do i do after i stretch walk the dog what do i do after that make breakfast after that so it's it's very um very organized just know like every single step needs to be done um when i just started that it was very, very tight. I knew exactly 5.07, I'm out the door. 5.15, I'm back, I'm starting to make my coffee,

I'll start stretching. I knew exactly every minute. Now it's a little more peaceful, but still the routine and task needs to be done. Because I do believe to detach myself from the ideal outcome and just to do what I need to do in order to get there. So I don't really know when exactly it will happen, but I know that it will happen as long as I keep showing up

and doing my non-negotiables. So I think that's very important. And right now I've divided up my habit tracker into several categories, whether it's financial, whether it's family, whether it's family, whether it's health, because it was very easy for me to forget about my health or to forget about even like family and relationships. And right now it's in my habits, frankly, every week I need to call my parents at least once. Because otherwise I'll forget. It'll be months and like, yeah, I haven't

spoken to my mother in four months and like, okay, let me call her every week. So having those categories helped me not just in the business, but also everything around it. You're like insanely disciplined compared to myself, I feel like. Just like, oh, it's time to call the parents.

No, it really depends. And I think the habit tracker actually helped me with that because i also allow myself to have bad days it's not just green there are red days so if a ticket then it's green and if not then it's red and if i don't feel well if i notice my energy isn't there or something happens baby related that could mess up a day and i just don't beat myself up for it i just tell myself it's fine it's just one day and i just let it go so there are plenty of days where i'm not super disciplined days where it's not perfect and that's okay like i'm just aiming for 80 i'm aiming for one percent growth every day and just keep going over the years it'll add up and so far since since 2016 every goal I've had was pretty much around the timeline that I wanted to so that was really really nice

do you because you said oh I have bad days sometimes you know i allow myself but i could imagine that because you have your routine in a way that gives you peace of mind as well so almost like you feel like i'm in control of my life you know things are happening because and so how much do you allow yourself to not show up for yourself and how much do you i mean is it something was this something that you used to beat yourself up if you were like shit i've been slacking for three days um i don't really have a specific number or percentage i just know that it's it's relatively little so maybe it's a few days in a month and i'm perfectly fine with that um but it can never be that bad if you have non-negotiables, in my opinion, because the non-negotiables can be done in one or two hours.

So I know, like, cool, no matter what, I've done the basics. I still made sure that I moved at least 1%. I just did a little bit. So it can never be that bad. And I personally feel like if I beat myself up up then i'll take away from the next day and whether i would much rather just restart and start again and have a good day then take away from tomorrow um because if i feel bad or if i keep working too too much um it'll take a lot of energy today and i might fix something but the next day i won't have the same energy so it's it's not as productive

and it'll cost me much more how is your energy management because you said you are very introverted i'm also introverted and i noticed that my energy like i really have to pay attention how i manage my energy because i don't have an abundance of energy yeah um and I don't even have a baby just yet so I'm sleeping nine hours you know I'm fine yeah I think knowing your energy and what I always recommend people is like have some kind of tracking like know okay what's happening are there specific activities that make me lose energy so for me i i prefer having my calls around the end of afternoon or maybe even evening because once i do a call in the morning i feel like shit i don't want to work anymore i'm done like i i did my talking nothing else matters um so i'll know that

and i'll switch up my my calendar um but if there are any other activities where I have to go out and see a lot of people, I try to move that. And also to really understand what gives me energy and what takes away energy. And to give that kind of like a point system of like, cool, how many points does this work? Or should it take? And is it worth my time? And can I like maybe delegate it or maybe can I just get rid of it fully so I'll try to optimize it that way but overall I do think it changes like energy changes like after a while of doing stuff

like maybe in a few months from now you crave a different routine or variation and once you know it's that I'll just sit down with myself okay what happened what changed and is there anything else i can do to make it work again because it it really isn't just time energy is a big big part of that i'm still like amazed how you are measuring yourself you like introspective on how you are performing i think your performance is important to you i mean just based on the amount of information you acquired

yeah well i never really thought of myself as a incredibly productive person in fact i would probably tell myself that i'm a naturally very lazy person and that's why i want to be productive and efficient so i don't have to do as much so i always try to find a better way to do it just with energy as well cool if i have more energy now then i only have to do it for 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes or if i may if i make more money then i can outsource the stuff i hate so now life becomes more enjoyable and that was always a really big goal for me um so i think that was a big part of it like naturally being lazy and the need to do less of stuff i dislike and

only do the stuff i like okay that reframes in my head a little bit because now i'm like i don't know i'm like he knows he wakes up he does his no negotiables and i'm like shit like i feel so lazy compared to you because i don't have that i do have a couple though i walk the stairs every day once a day because i'm living on the fourth floor and i don't take the elevator just walk the fucking stairs and my partner would be like why i'll see you up there like whatever you go and then he knows and there are days when i feel like you know i'm go out twice and i'm like okay i'm gonna walk the stairs again i'm gonna do it twice and then and somehow i end up like getting something that i have to rush home like last time I got like a Slack message from a client. I'm like, okay, I'll take the elevator.

And my partner is like smiling. And I'm like, why are you smiling? And he's like, well, he didn't walk the stairs twice. And I'm like, shit. Like even he's like. Let me go back. Yeah. And I went back.

And I went from the fourth to the eighth floor. Because that's also fourth floor. And I came back and I discovered how dodgy like the top of the like those parts of the building like shit like tiles are broken I'm like oh my god like I feel like I arrived to a different you know building anyway that's something I discovered just because I walk up the fucking stairs so I do have those I go to my pole dance every single monday for three years every single monday i haven't i mean unless i'm like dying from something like i literally don't want to infect people or travel i always go that's like non-negotiable i always go monday

it's hard it's difficult it's painful but i always. So I do have some of those to make me sane because I also think, and you can also back me up, but if I put myself to like a non-negotiable, whether it's an exercise, whether it's a, I tend to follow through forever until I change that habit to something else. Like I used to, I read this book, The One Thing, and it had a habit tracker because apparently it takes 66 days to build a new habit.

So I printed the thing. I was asking every single day when I was, and at the time I was doing meditations and I ended up going for over a year. Every single morning I was waking up meditating and then I did a whole year exercising every single day and i and now that became a part of me so i'm like i don't i know if i put any type of no negotiable i always do it because i cannot not do it i just don't feel good if i don't so i think it only becomes easier which is really nice yeah it's like brushing your teeth. Like, it just becomes who you are, you know? And then, so I'm, I understand it's not like you're forcing yourself to do those things

because it's just like who you are. Like, you have to do those things. You're non-negotiables. I think finding a better reframing of the way you think whether it's because for a lot of people i think it's it always feels like a must i must do this i must do that um and when you must do something it just sucks like even if you started out loving it it just becomes a chore and we don't really want to do it compared to like oh but i i want to this. I really want to do this because of X, Y, Z. I want to do it.

And like you said, it becomes part of you. And then suddenly you don't think about it and it just happens every day. And before you know it, like, oh shit, now I'm here. And then once you're there, then there's always a different goal. I think humans are always looking for some kind of work. I do think we're made to work, to always have some kind of challenge.

Exactly. I think the most you could do is maybe one or two years off, and then you'll notice how boring life becomes without a challenge. Yeah. To your point, for me, the way I reframe it is, if I'm saying I'm going to do something, I will always do it because my integrity with my own words, like if I'm saying I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this.

Like if I'm saying I'm going to do this, I'm going to be there. Like you can bet on that. That's like Bible. And to me, if I said, even though it was silly at the time, like I'm going to walk the stairs, like, okay okay for one day it's fun and then it becomes like fuck like i really don't feel like today is like i don't feel like walking the stairs like but i don't want to be a person who doesn't say it doesn't do what they say and that to me that that makes me walk the fucking stairs even though i don't want to

like sometimes i carry heavy shit and I still walk the stairs you know like a whole pack of water like I don't care I'm thinking to myself like glutes glutes like I'm trying to like as I'm going up like focus on your glutes you know mind body whatever I don't like to do that so

it's for me it's like not even like liking the task it's like who I am as a person and I can't face myself if I'm not because i said the stupid fucking thing once i want to walk the stairs so i can't a lot of people could learn from that like asking yourself where you want to be and the things i do does it align with where i want to be and then the answer becomes very clear it's just a yes or no like does it align yes no okay cool I should do it or I should not do it yeah to me it's a it's building of confidence because if you say you're gonna achieve like I don't know 100 100k in six months that's your goal and if you become a person who

when you say something you know you're gonna do it and it starts with it starts with the stairs so for example if i'm saying like like whatever financial goals that i'm putting in front of myself and i don't have a relationship with myself that is like i trust that you're gonna do it because remember you did the stairs remember you did that remember you did meditation for a whole year remember it's been three years you've been going to training. So whenever I'm putting anything out there, I believe that I'm going to do it because I have evidence that I did it before. So I know that it's not just like in the air.

Like my mind doesn't go like, no, you won't. No, you won't. Remember, because you haven't done this and that. So for me, it's a way to build self-trust and self-confidence and i really like that i love that actually that's really nice i think it it does stack up with your confidence you'll know like everything before made it happen so why not this exactly it's that because you are the type of person who when you say you're gonna do it you're gonna do it because i have so much evidence even if it was not fun you know so that's why i do these things it's stupid it's silly but um it helps in other areas i think but also think like a lot of people

have this at least in my opinion a bit of a weird belief that everything has to be fun. I'm like, I see no reason why. I see no reason why everything has to be fun. I think it's much better to deal with the fact that a lot of things will not be fun because most things will be out of your control. It's not up to you. There will be a lot of times where you have to do stuff that's not fun. And I would much rather know that I'm capable to deal with it very easily than praying that hopefully everything will be fun for the rest of my life i think and i i mean you look like you are exercising you know so i think

if you ever studied exercising going to the gym then you very quickly realize it's not fun at all. I mean, I mean, there's only so much fun. But then when you go to a spinning class, like, this is fucking hell. Like, this is not fun. Like, really, really, it's painful. Like, I'm sweating, I want to pass out. Like, how is this is fun. Like, my body is screaming at me, what are you doing? You know? So I think if you go to the gym, and you go back, and you go go back and you go back and you go back, this is not fun, this is not fun, this is still hard. But then I know the long term is going to be, I'm going to be healthier, I'm going to have more energy.

I know those things in my mind. Even though the process is not fun, I know why I'm doing it. So I think for you, just to the point, not everything is fun. But so long as you can put things like i'm doing it for this purpose like that's where i'm going even though the road might not be easy but i think for me that exercise really put that perspective into like putting myself into uncomfortable physically uncomfortable situations because i know that the payoff is gonna be confidence energy like there's so many things i think that helps yeah it's it's always worth it

like at the end of the day it's always worth it um and for me generally speaking i always have a long-term vision so if i need to go through some not fun stuff today, then that's part of it. But it would be so much worse never to get there. Like that would hurt so much more than it would hurt today by doing it. And that thought alone will always push me. What are some of your long-term visions? I'm curious. I think I've actually switched up a lot in the last, yeah, two years or so, actually. A little bit before the pregnancy and during and, of course, now with the baby.

Whereas before, I really, really wanted everything to be very, very big. And right now, it's more about peace. Because like I said, at first, wanted the house i wanted everything and now it's like oh but that's just the house just another building doesn't change that much because i'm much more peaceful with that and also with everything materialistic or the things i do it's like no matter how I travel, like from A to B, it doesn't matter whether it's in the most expensive car or in my old car, and it's like the same thing. So right now it really is about time,

more about how I can automate stuff and becoming a better leader or a better manager and to help other people be part of the company, whereas before I would like hold very, very tight to everything because I wanted it to be up to my 100% standard, even though 80% or 90% would still be really good. Because once I'm able to do that, then I can probably have more time with my family.

I think that became much more nicer to me. And also to have my money to, as much as possible to be more more passive so like we're building a house that we're paying off in cash like just once 100 just so i have peace of mind so i don't have to worry and i feel like all the all the little things that i could worry about to get rid of that and then to just try to let go as much as possible and have belief in building a company that can sustain itself. Whereas before I never really realized I thought I had a good business, but I was the business.

So without me, there was nothing. Um, so if I get sick or if I get hit by a car tomorrow, then there is no show anymore. Nothing is going to happen. I think that was a pretty hard realization. And also, because for a very long time,

I knew I was part of the top 1% freelance income. I did very, very good as a freelancer. But as a business owner, I did very, very bad. Because it wasn't running a business. I do think even a mediocre business could be so much more profitable than me being a top 1% freelancer. That was a pretty painful realization. And also talking to a buddy of mine,

he has been running a really good business for maybe 15 years now or something and as a freelancer i feel awesome as a freelancer i feel like oh shit like i'm crushing it like i have really good money i can do whatever i want i always have all the options um whatever it is that i want to buy i can buy whatever it is i want to do i can do um but i cannot buy back my time and i cannot have the peace of mind I could have with a business that runs by itself. And I think working on that will be very important for me

in the next two to three years already. And the years after, it's more going to be about playing defensive because I've always played offensive, like, cool, I'm going to make more, I'm going to make more. But right now, even if you give me another 100 to 300 grand, it's like, okay, it doesn't change anything. My life is not going to change.

I'm not going to buy more. I'm not going to do more. So nothing of that will make me happier. Whereas playing more defensive and keeping my money makes more sense now. Because I have much more to lose. Because before, I truly had nothing to lose. So I would be fine reinvesting all my money in whatever and half the time it wouldn't work out.

But I knew that it just doesn't matter anyway. Like worst case, I'll go back to how I used to live. I can drink water, I can eat bread, I don't need anything fancy. Right now, I have a lot to lose. So it's more about wealth preservation than just making more money. Because there's only that much more money that would really make a difference. Whereas if I just keep doing what I'm doing

and preserve what I have and play defensive, it will build itself. It really will be about long-term wealth and in more passive ways and expanding the portfolio. Because everything I do right now, it's very, very active. I always need to be on top of it. I started investing last year and suddenly I look at it and the numbers aren't even that awesome.

It's not life-changing money, but I look at it and I'm like, shit, I did nothing for this. All I did was buy 100 shares, buy 100 shares and I just let it go. And then I come back and I'm like, oh, it's pretty nice making three grand. I'm like, yeah, that was pretty awesome. And it took me a few seconds. And stuff like that gives me so much more peace of mind like there are no must-have calls there are no clients that will complain about anything um so that that will definitely be the biggest goal that i'll be

working on and just reinvesting the money and trying not to waste it on stupid stuff anymore. But that already kind of stopped after 2021 or so. Wow. You know, when you were talking about the fact that if you got hit by a bus, you have no business, I felt so called out. I think especially like two things things having like more of a personal brand like knowing you and being the association with adam the copywriter you know like almost like building your own reputation and brand it becomes this pressure on you to to be able to

work and you are the only one the only only brain, you know? So I definitely felt like, shit, I also need to think of ways to get out of my business. And I think the other parts of it, and you mentioned that 80% good, not 100%, you know, up to your standards. I think I'm still struggling to let

go because I'm thinking, oh, no one can do it as good as I do. My standards are so fucking high. I care so much. Like, you know, I think those type of like internal monologues that like how I'm going to find someone who can do it, you know, as good as I do it. Well, of course, you'll need to pay for talent.

That's just a must. But at the same time, time if the quality is let's say 20% less than yours but now you can focus on other areas then it makes a lot more sense for example I used to do a lot of email I still do email but not as much but a 20% difference in email won't make a huge difference

but now if you give me the same time back and I can focus on Instagram, I can give you double the amount of email subscribers. Then a 20% definitely doesn't make sense because I will make so much more revenue compared to losing the 20% quality. And now I'm looking at a much bigger macro game, so to say, and I can scale the business much more.

Then it goes back to prioritizing what is really important. Do I want to look at other possibilities to double the revenue, or do I want to focus on a smaller part and maybe add an additional 20% onto the smaller part, which doesn't make sense. And I think as a business owner or as a CMO, you have to look at the bigger picture. And the smaller things, it's never really like, oh, I'm paying a copywriter 5K. I'm buying back myself all this time, buying myself a lot of energy. And now I can focus on making 50K or maybe 500k that makes a huge huge

difference yeah no I get what you mean um what I wanted to comment on as well is you mentioned peace of mind so peace of mind is to you having the financials or the options or what how do you define peace because you said I just want peace um I would say for most of my childhood and early years in in business it always felt like war like it was always fighting always um trying to hustle and just push harder and harder and harder and when and harder. And when you're younger, that's perfectly fine. When you're hungry, that's perfectly fine. I've had so many sleepless nights and so many things where I'm like, shit, I don't know how I was able to do that.

Stuff like that, at one point, you don't have the energy. You don't have the same willpower anymore um and just knowing that whether i still make the same 12 to 16 hours a day or not is an option i'll still do it sometimes because i want to because i truly am excited about the projects i'm working on um but also knowing that if i decide this afternoon that I'm not going to do anything, I'm going to sit in the living room with my child, that it's perfectly fine.

That, to me, is a lot of peace of mind. Financials, I think I pretty much let go of that in 2021 because at that point I started having enough money to take care of my family, take care of myself, do whatever I want. So money really became a want. So money, money really became a game. So it's just about setting a high score. But I wouldn't spend that much more because I don't really have interest in materialistic stuff. So then it really comes back

to the other things in life, which are time and energy and family. And maybe it sounds a little stupid stupid but it really is about building a legacy and like building something much bigger than myself right now i just want to build something which my children can look at like oh shit he did something awesome and we want to be part of that like i want my children to like be part of that like when they're six years old i'm going to sit them down like read this book like when they're six years old, I'm going to sit them down, like read this book. Like when they're 12 years old, I'm expecting them to just write full sales. Open their own companies. Yeah,

yeah, exactly. And I think in order to do that, like I want to be an example to them and give them a lot of options. And if they decide that they want to do something else, it's perfectly fine as well. But to at least show them that like possibilities are there and that no matter what like you can build whatever you want you can achieve whatever you want because for most of my life that wasn't my mindset not not until I

started creating something that gave me the peace and took away a lot of those beliefs and ideally i would want them to just never have to unlearn that so it took me years to unlearn that and i just want them to grow up like thinking like oh why would someone ever think about it like that like endless options everyone endless options yeah just endless options whatever it is as long as you keep doing it like it's gonna be fine um yeah yeah just just that i think that to me is peace of mind just the options like you said it really was always about options to me and experiences and not even about doing the things or buying the things, just knowing that I can. Like knowing that I can walk out, take out my Amex and buy any car I want.

I won't do it, but just knowing that like, oh, now suddenly the car doesn't matter anymore because it was so easy. I can just walk out. And the options to be able to do that or to do anything, if I want to quit today and take off a few years, I can. Like if clients suck, okay, just here's a refund like it doesn't matter um and that is a lot of peace of mind i love that for you i love that and i can

second you on the i can buy whatever i want but i don't want it anymore i think i can relate to that like when you get to the point where this silly thing, like I wanted to buy cats, you know, these like ragdoll cats and they're cute. And I remember when I started my business five years ago, like it's like a thousand dollar cat. You know, it's not a cheap cat, but I want four of those. I know it's a furry cat too but by the time i got there like within a couple of months and i'm like okay now i can buy the cats remember i wanted to buy the cats and i'm like i don't want the cats anymore i think that's kind of how i am like it's good that you know that you can but at the same time by the time you get there like i'm over it

like yeah i mean it's cute but it's it's a lot of fur you know like if i want to travel like who's gonna feed them you know it's just and it's just not like the cats but like i i feel you on the having the option but then not even using the options like just like it's good to know yeah and of course there there's another side like you said like once you have it then shit now i gotta take care of it now it's gonna take away from me it's not gonna give me more but that um yeah that sucks i think once you can very easily afford things it doesn't mean that much anymore i think that's um that's something i used to not realize because in high school a lot of my friends they were like children of lawyers and doctors and like really high paying jobs.

And it was always weird to me that they never felt anything for it because that was just a standard to them. So it didn't mean anything. And to me, it was like, oh, shit, like you have a boat. Like that's like next level shit. But to them, like, yeah, but have a boat like that's like next level shit but then I was like yeah but just about I don't care um I think that's a really really good place to be where it just doesn't matter and also it cannot corrupt you like don't care like I don't have to take on clients I don't have to do stuff I don't want because it means nothing and i think if nothing can like bribe you or like buy your a piece of your soul

then you're truly free because there is no price to it like my peace of mind is priceless yeah i get it i get it so it's it's the ability to choose on who to work with, which projects and what, you know, I think because I had never been a very much realistic person, you know, for me, things are just things like a phone is a phone. It doesn't give me anything, you know. What gives me something is overcoming myself is being courageous is creating things that are meaningful to others as well you know just going beyond my abilities and learning and i think that to me is more a kind of feeling of accomplishment than just things you, house as a house. Like you said, I'm the same way. I'm okay in a shoebox. I can adapt to my environment very easily.

I also learned that when I was studying in France, I had like this 16 square meter, tiny, tiny apartment that I was living. I was so happy. I didn't care. I mean, I can leave basically anywhere, right? So it wasn't expensive at all and i know that i can adapt to wherever i am i don't have high needs yeah i think being able to like kind of internally be very happy with what you have instead of having the need to like need external things to make you happy because those things will not mean anything after

a while like it takes you a few days um like everything that I ever bought that was very expensive it takes me like maybe a week after a week that thing is just a thing and then you can chase the next thing and the next thing and the next thing but at one point there isn't that much more and then okay what what are you going to do now like you've never been you've never learned to like just be happy from from yourself and the things you do and constantly needing something it's a very empty very empty road um and i see this a lot and also with people that i i coach and it's like especially younger guys because they feel like they need it but there's only so much stuff you can buy so much stuff and there's you can accumulate everything but it's gonna take away from you it's gonna take away so much from

you until a point where you have nothing left and it's so hard to come back from that point um that's a very sad point to be but yeah i know but i think and we can maybe end here um soon because it's already like in an hour we passed an hour already but um i think there is this societal thing that you if you own certain thing is to drive if you if you drive a certain car that you made it you know that especially in asia i think flexing with stuff is a big thing people judge you because of what you drive and you know your your clothes and everything um and that i think there's this mass not Maslow, like hedonic treadmill. I think hedonic treadmill, hedonic treadmill. When basically like everything becomes like, like you get used to everything you buy, you know. Like it's new for two weeks and then it's like, whatever, you know.

So novelty wears off very fast. I think money, I felt it really well. Like I felt like my first client client yes a thousand dollars yes and then oh two thousand three thousand four five you know and i'm going up up up and i'm like huh i used to desire a 3k client you know like that was my thing like i you that's what i want like if only i was landing a 5k client like i own like that became like and now it's like once you achieve that you're like huh now it's 10 now it's 15 now it's 20 and it's like it's never enough in that sense so i i kind of learned to be like oh that's cute that i used to want that and now it's like it's nothing i don't

feel different you know i don't feel any funny how it all works but yeah at one point it really is just like oh nice and then you go on to the next thing honestly I'm like checking my bank account yeah there's money there it's piling up great what and then and then what you know it's like my life is still the kind of the same you know it's not it's not major you know that I do think is very very nice is never having to worry if something breaks down I get a new thing I get it fixed and it's just it's not a big problem of my life whereas for Mark I think it's it's a huge stress factor and if you have it then it's just like oh well gotta write a couple more emails for that or gotta fix some Instagram stuff and I'll

I'll pay that'll pay for for it. It's not me. I don't pay in stress. I don't pay in headaches. I just pay in the numbers on my phone and that's it. And that's a really good place to be. Yeah. I think whoever is listening, you might have gotten to like the realization that financial goals and like all of those superficial goals,

like they're good to have but ultimately i mean we all have our why's of why we're doing that and it's not to impress people or to like show to my mom and dad like look at me now i think my high school classmates look at me now like don't it's just silly right so it it really has to be a personal choice of building your legacy, trying to create something of impact that is transcending you, whether it's for your family, whether it's for yourself, just to be more than you were yesterday. If you die, who knows when,

and then you kind of made a difference in humanity. I think you start to zoom out and you realize like those matter too so i think those are pretty important awesome awesome i love that uh any piece of advice for entrepreneurs hmm any last piece of advice try to really just detach yourself from the outcome and impressing others because others usually

don't care about you people don't care about you like they might like you but they don't care as much like they would forget you in a month so if there's anyone to impress it's the person you see in the mirror it's the only person um the only people

that really matter it's your family it's your true friends and yourself and anything else is just a bonus um just take care of those things and you'll live a much much happier life like impressing other people will only make you unhappier. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you for this conversation. I had so much fun. Awesome, thank you. How can people find you?

Tell us the listeners. Ideally, not at home. I like to be private. But Facebook is fine. Just Adam Workhan, you'll find me on Facebook. So we're going to put your personal address into the description so they can knock on your door and disturb you in peace. Uh-huh, okay.

I think that would be the worst thing to me, that people would be like, no, I just wanted to drink coffee. But I think Facebook is the only place where I can respond. Okay. If you try to text me anywhere else, I won't respond. But Facebook, I'll check it out once every month. I'll just put your Facebook down in the description of this episode. Thank you so much for being here.