Taking Control After Retirement

I HAD TOO MANY TALENTS TO LET GO TO WASTE!

After making the decision to retire most of us don't have enough income to make ends meet. Like myself. I have worked all these years just to retire to a nothing income every month that is now being threatened to be taken away by the government, for outstanding student loans. During the course of my years of working, most of my income was from jobs that paid me in cash or in other words freelance work from being self-employed and not knowing that I needed to have a strategy to save and invest. I exhausted my 401k trying to survive throughout my career life. It was a seesaw of dysfunction. I can't talk about this without being transparent about my own. I am now 67 years old and for the life of me, I cannot find a job that I am not overqualified for, too old for or don't have the right credentials for. In the last 6 months I have been turned down for at least 23 jobs that I felt I qualified for. My nerves were bad; I was stressing out and staying up late every night worrying about things I had no control over. Just to wake up the next day and start all over again. I said to myself, "Enough is Enough". That's when I decided to sit down look at all of my passions and my skills, determine which ones would work best for me to create my own opportunities and then take it from there. Here are my do's and don'ts list. This was very important in order for me to stay focused and on track to accomplish my goals.

1. I decided "NOT COPY THINGS" just because someone else was doing it.

2. I decided to focus on what was important to me.

3. I decided to start my own small online gift shop with handmade one-0f-akind lifestyle essential items.

4. I decided to make the brand recognizable by its style and brand colors.

5. I decided how much money I wanted to make a month in income from my products.

6. I decided to set my income amount to something that could be reached.

7. I decided to be very selective about where I wanted my products to be exposed to on social media platforms.

8. I decided to "NOT WASTE MY TIME" paying for vendor events that don't fit my esthetic.

9. I decided to sign myself up with a company to distribute a check to me that would take out my taxes and continue to add money to my social security.

10. And lastly "NOT LET ANYONE WHO ISN'T IN MY SHOES" tell me to stop.

These were the top 10 things that I had to focus on. I've been at this officially for a year or two because it takes time for the development process. I finally made my first official sale on some products a week ago, where I hosted a popup shop and sold out of my handmade mini note cards. I made my first $250 on those cards alone. My first milestone and it felt good. That's when I knew I could do this. I want to encourage someone out there. If you are struggling to make ends meet, and you are tired of the worry. Just know that you are not alone. If you have a passion, I will suggest that you go for it. Follow me as I share my journey to inspire you to move forward. You have to go for it and start Taking Control After Retirement.