Oh man, this is a hard one for me to write today…
I don’t know exactly how to do it, so let me just come out and say it:
I’m quitting our M.O.N.E.Y. podcast 🙁
(Or as I like to put it – “retiring” from the podcast :))
There are many reasons for this which we’ll get to in a moment, but first I wanna say two quick things:
#1. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who listens to it!!!!
I cannot express the love and gratitude I have for y’all – many of whom I don’t even know and who came from Paula’s tribe, but I can’t thank you enough and just want you to know that I’m beyond appreciative for all the support and encouragement since our launch. It’s one thing to stop a project that’s failed miserably, but a whole other when things are going strong and everyone’s so encouraging. So please – know that deep down I love and appreciate every one of you who have supported us this year, and know that it’s been a helluva awesome experience!
#2. The show will go on – so don’t go anywhere 🙂
Paula is VERY much still as excited – if not more so – to continue on with the show (after all – one less entrepreneur in the mix means more control and freedom, haha…) and she plans to continue running it as-is, just minus one bumbling cohort trying to even out her smarts 😉
You’ll still be able to find the show at themoneyshow.co, as well as on iTunes and Stitcher and all that good stuff, and it will still be focused on reaching financial independence through entrepreneurship/hustling/ investing/killing off debt, and everything else we’ve been talking about throughout the year.
If you’ve been a fan of the show, PLEASE keep checking it out and give M.O.N.E.Y. 2.0 a shot! Paula’s working really hard behind the scenes, and already lined up some great new guests and ideas for it, some of which I was holding her back on. And it won’t be the last time you hear from me either (quite literally) as I have already promised to come back as a special guest as a condition of me leaving the show 😉 Which, btw, she’s been more than understanding and incredible about – which says a lot about her as a person and businesswoman. So please – give it a shot with her as the new captain and hopefully you’ll still like it just as much!
Okay… So why retire now? When everything’s going well?
If you have some time, you can listen to our full show on it which we just released today –> Jay’s last show – but the short answer is that my heart just isn’t into it anymore 🙁 And I also started getting super anxious and pulled away from projects – and personal time – I DO very much care for (like this blog!).
The one thing I told myself going into this was that I had to be really excited and passionate about it as it takes so much time and energy to do (way more than I thought – wow! I give you podcasters mad cred!), so once that started slipping away I knew I had to do something about it. I LOVE what the show’s about and the awesome community we’ve built around it (the best part!), but at the end of the day the cons started outweighing the pros and I eventually had to make sure that *I* was taken care of first 🙁
In fact, I joked with Paula that it was very much like breaking up with a long-term girlfriend, only one that everyone likes and then hates you for breaking up with her! Haha…
It’s easy to break up with someone that people hate and talk about behind your back, but a whole other when they thought you two were perfect together and were going to marry 😉 So in that regard I kinda wish it would have failed only to make the decision easier, but of course I’m that people are enjoying it so much and cannot believe we just crossed 200,000 downloads last week!! Crazy! And I’m gonna miss you so much Paula!!
So, new territory I’m crossing here for sure, but hopefully one that I made the right decision on and will look back later feeling glad I did so… Though Paula will have to bring me on once she crosses a MILLION listeners and see just how I feel about it then, haha…
Actually, we go over it on the show, but one thing that really helps me with decisions like this is trying to envision the *perfect outcome* with a project, and then seeing if I still feel the same way about it afterwards.
For example, if M.O.N.E.Y. did hit millions of viewers and was making tons of money, would I have wished I stayed aboard? And if so, does it mean I should then keep with it and just work on overcoming these issues in order to eventually reach that major goal? Well, of course you know what the answer is to all this or else you wouldn’t be reading this right now ;), but if it had changed things I would have certainly stuck around and figured out how to make it work. This podcast has always been a passion project of mine over a business one, so when that core fails it’s hard to overcome…
Good Quitting vs Bad Quitting
Throughout this process of figuring out what the right move was here, I made a list of pros and cons which later turned into “good reasons” to quit something and “bad reasons” to quit something,” you know – since we like to turn all our life’s events into lessons as bloggers 🙂
I also thought it may help some of you going through tough decisions as well, since we can easily second guess ourselves and get so stuck in our own heads.
So below are the lists, along with some personal examples of how it affected my decision w/ the M.O.N.E.Y. show here. And again, this is something we get wayyy more into on my last episode too if you want to feel the emotions behind it which to me makes it the best one yet! Or at least our rawest!
Hope it helps…
Good reasons to quit/retire:
- Your heart’s not into it anymore / it no longer excites you — While not the #1 factor for everyone, it’s a substantial one for me as once my interest wanes, so does my work ethic and motivation. It doesn’t mean I have to enjoy all the parts to it since every gig has their annoying sides, but I DO have to immerse myself fully into it – whatever it is – or else it’ll end up a half-assed project… And really, who wants a half-assed project?
- It doesn’t line up with your goals anymore — For me, “fun” was the main point of doing M.O.N.E.Y., but the goals differ depending on the project or job you’re shooting for. Some are strictly money based, while others are to help advance a career or brand or even merely for prestige. It doesn’t really matter what they are, just so long as you’re inching closer to them over time. One of my favorite quotes sums it up perfectly,
“It’s always better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb, than half way up one you don’t.”
- Your project fails! — While having heart and being aligned goal-wise is great, sometimes they just plain fail at the end. And I’ve had way more do that than the opposite over the years! 🙂 As have most people who put things on the line… The trick is being able to tell when to call it a day and when to keep pouring in the energy (more on this below in the “bad reasons” section).
- You found a better/more efficient use of your time – Sometimes you can really succeed with one area, but then find another where you could do even better and thus decide to swap your attention to. While I’m losing great marketing and potential income from the show, I’m also freeing up a TON of time to better focus on those projects I still do love very much, as well as freeing up some more for myself and my loved ones too. I struggle a lot with the work/life balancing act, so anytime you can give yourself more hours in the day it’s hard to not call it a win!
- It’s physically/emotionally harming 🙁 — This is probably the hardest one to do something about – whether you’re successful at what you’re doing or not. I can’t even imagine how grueling some people have it, especially those in toxic environments!, but I do know that we’ve got to put our bodies and mind first any chance we get. The anxiety the podcast brought me was low on the grand scale of things, but I could easily see it creep higher and higher the bigger the show got. Maybe that’s an issue with me or a lack of confidence or something, but whatever the reason it was real and it wasn’t getting better. My heart really goes out to all those stuck in much worse – and complicated – positions out there as this stuff is no joke!
Bad reasons to quit:
- Being lazy / don’t want to do the hard work – This is probably the worst reason to quit, and probably one of the most common 🙂 Lord knows it was my falling over the years! I’ve since learned, fortunately, that nothing worth fighting for comes easy, so gone are the days stopping at the first obstacle that may come its way…
- Not letting enough time go by to see whether it’s going to take off or not — This is another biggie that plagues entrepreneurs, or really anyone seeking to accomplish something big. You never know when you can be right around the corner from a breakthrough, or if you’re setting yourself up for many more years of the same! And while every project/goal/person is different, I typically give myself a “1 year minimum” on any project I start just to make sure I see it through enough to tell whether it not only stands a chance, but that I’m also enjoying it too. The podcast was technically only live for a little under four months, but Paula and I worked on it for 7-8 months before hand which helped me to make the decision that much easier. Since most of what anyone sees – whether in podcasts or blogs or anything really – is only the finished product. Tons of time and energy go on behind the scenes leading up to that point, which gives you plenty of time to let it soak in and see if it’s something worth still pursuing or not. And after almost 12 months of working on it, I sadly realized it was not 🙁
- Wanting to get successful super quick — Okay I lied, THIS is probably the main reason most projects/businesses/financial plans fail, haha.. Everyone wants to hurry up and be successful these days! Especially in the online world! And I have the perfect quote for this one too 😉
“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
- Moving to a shinier thing just because it’s shinier — This is pretty much a result of following all three areas above: not wanting to put in the time and the hard work, mixed in with trying to hit a home run at your first time at bat. It’s often hard to tell *which* ideas to follow and which not since you never really know until it’s put out into the world, but implementing rules such as the “must work on it for a year” one, as well as testing them out before jumping “all in” can certainly help determine its fate. Another thing that really helps – for all you business lovers – is the “lean canvas” idea. Check it out later if you’re wondering (or stuck) on what to do about your own future or current product/service.
And that pretty much sums it up 🙂
A bunch of things to think about before quitting a project, and hopefully gives you more insight as to my thoughts on retiring from the podcast as well…
It’s been an incredible learning experience over all, and one I’m always going to be proud of!, but my time has come and now we await the next journey ahead of us… while making sure to enjoy the nice silence in the mean time 🙂
And again, I just have to thank you all SO SO MUCH from the bottom of my heart for all the encouragement you’ve given me!!!
It was hard to put myself out there in launching it (audio is SO much more raw than print), and it’s been even harder to admit it’s not working now and to move on from it as well. So thank you so much for all the support – I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it all. Just know that I do! And please continue to support Paula too as the show goes on – she’s amazing!
Thank you everyone!! Will see ya back here on Wed. for more of the good financial word… Hope your projects are going really well and that you have clarity too!
XOXO,
PS: Just for good times, here were some of my favorite shows we did… I’m gonna miss you Paula!
- Episode #21: Making Money as a Voiceover Actor, with Carrie Olsen
- Episode #20: From Debt to Financial Independence, with J.D. Roth
- Episode #16: From Side Hustling to Growing a Million Dollar Company
- Episode #8: Why Jay Wants You to Track Your Net Worth
- Episode #7: Mad Fientist Reveals the Science of Financial Independence
- Episode #4: The Ultimate Beginner Guide to Real Estate Investing
