Dec 2020 | Freedom at last ($3K MRR) ❤️
What a year. 2020 was like a movie. And it closed with a happy ending as well. Me quitting my job and going full time on Cyberleads. I'm free. But, to be honest, it doesn't feel real yet. I still feel like I'm on holidays, and any day soon I'll have to join a zoom meeting to talk about upcoming company goals. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I don't feel much different. I was expecting a huge, scorching fire to ignite inside of me. But there is none yet. I'm a little scared, but I am not terrified. I'm pretty excited, but not electrified. I'm very happy, but not jumping up and down celebrating. I am calm. I know I have a long road in front of me, and that I didn't just cross at the finish line. Actually, this is where the real journey begins. This wonderful position I'm in has to be maintained and improved. I promised myself yesterday, while exiting the office building for the last time, that I'll never, ever, ever go back to work in an office again in my life. I'll give it my all. And if I put the work in, like I know I can, I'm sure I'll make it. I've promised myself. However, I still want to be playful. I don't want to start playing safe and scared now that Cyberleads turned from a side business into a business. Like Naval says: "The optimal zone for performance is “slightly hungry.”" While running Cyberleads as a side project, I was exactly like that. Yes, I wanted it to grow. But I wasn't afraid to lose it either. And that's what made me dangerous. I tried many things with an open mind. I shared my secrets and numbers openly. My emotions transparently. I made myself vulnerable. I made friends. I wasn't building a business in the traditional sense, I was playing and having fun. Losing wasn't even an option. I want to keep that mentality. Ironically, in order to do that, I have to detach myself from Cyberleads and it's success. I have to accept that Cyberleads may crash and burn. And even if that happens, understand that I'll be ok. At the end of the day, I'm not my business and I'm not my revenue. I am much more than that. And I don't want an easy life either. I'm ready for whatever comes my way. Yes. Things have been going great. But that doesn't mean dark times won't come. They will. Like they always do. Just trust the process and focus on the inputs. And don't crumble under the pressure of having zero constraints. Do the shit you know you have to do and I promise you you'll achieve and maintain all of your dreams and goals. And I'm not talking about numbers. Getting to $100k/year, $200k/year or $300k/year. I feel that will come some day. Inevitably. Whether it's this year or next year. Whether it's with this business or the next business. What I'm really talking about when I say dreams and goals is changing my lifestyle. I always thought that I wanted to become a millionaire. I felt like it's the perfect balance between money and freedom. You're not the billionaire that has all the money in the world but has to manage 2,000 people. And you're not the monk that is completely free of all desires but is making nothing. Last month, as a joke, I played a little mental game with myself. "Ok, let's say you were a millionaire. Starting from... tomorrow! What would you do? What would your everyday life look like?" I wrote down some things on a piece of paper. I put a lot of thought into it and it took some time to finalize. Surprisingly, in the end, most of my answers didn't need a lot of money. They needed a lot of freedom. When it comes to expenses, it took a lot of creativity to surpass $3k/mo. And I would be perfectly fine spending less than that. I realized that what I truly want is "fuck you freedom" - not "fuck you money". Sometimes they go hand in hand, other times no. And the best thing? I have "fuck you freedom" already. "Fuck you freedom" enables me to design my ideal lifestyle. I don't have to wait another day for that, or place another arbitrary goal to chase before doing it. $100k per year! $300k per year! $1M per year! Fuck that. Those goals never end. For me, $5k/mo was end game. Now it seems like nothing. I have no more excuses. Yes, I'll work hard to grow my business. But that does not mean I have to wait another day before I start living the way I want to live. It's not a trade off. Now that I'm thinking about it, I am already living my dreams. This may sound obvious and stupid, but it took a lot of time and courage to rationalize and admit. Because, if that's true, then what? Am I supposed to be the happiest person on earth right now? And what's my excuse if I'm not? It's scary. But at the same time, I've never felt more excited in my life. ------------------- 2020 BY THE NUMBERS ------------------- Ok, now the boring stuff. Although this year had many ups and downs, this is what it looked from afar: Q1: Found a good B2B product, Cyberleads Q2: Found a good distribution channel, Twitter Q3: Doubled down and surpassed my salary in revenue Q4: Doubled down even more, nearly tripled my salary in revenue, incorporated, quit my job and went full time. December was a record breaking month. Nearly $3k in MRR, and over $6k in monthly revenue. Insane. I arrived here in Italy, exactly one year ago, as a inexperienced boy, ready to start working as a junior engineer. I was making $50/mo in side income. Twelve months later, I left the office building as a self-employed man, making over $6k/mo from my own business. A lot can happen in a year, after all. If you feel stuck, don't get discouraged. Just remember that progress is not linear. It compounds. And also, if you can, get the fuck out of your home town. Even better, your home country. You need new stimuli.
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