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That was an extract from a conversation I was having with a new student enrolling for classes at ClearPhrases writing academy.
 Top of my list of the things that I hate most include traffic jams, conning people and activities that can make me broke. Considering the fact that the student`s dreams were like a mirage, I got concerned he may end up in a broke or worse, he was probably broke.  I asked him several questions concerning what he was doing and I realized that there were actually one or two loopholes in his endeavors. This is where all the resources in his entrepreneurial toolbox were oozing to.

You too can learn a thing or two from what we talked about below. It will keep you from chasing a success mirage

1. Know the position of north and the location of an oasis.

"If you don’t know exactly where you are going, you will keep going in circles or worse end up in snake caves."

When you are stuck in the desert, there are two things you need to know, one of them is the position of the north direction and probably the location of an oasis. However if you don’t know exactly where you are going, you will keep going in circles or worse end up in snake caves.

 When you decide to plunge into online entrepreneurship, you should have clear goals on what you want to benefit the society with.  Yeah! Online entrepreneurship is not about you, but what you can offer to the visitors on your site. After defining your goals you have to come up with a product or service, know its clients and go for them.

2. Don’t give a damn to the echoes

"Unless you stop listening to the echoes of discouragers and bullies and stick to your master plan, you will only be chasing a mirage."

A friend of mine quitted his job the other day too soon and dived into freelance online business only to be shocked it was tougher than he anticipated. He almost drowned. I thought he was a smart guy and couldn’t do something without a plan, only to realize he was drugged by social influence. He was bullied by his workmates echoing on how online businesses are making people a lot of money. He was hit hard with questions like ‘if online entrepreneurs earn that much then why are you still doing two jobs?’ ‘Why not just quit and stop wasting opportunities?’

At first he had a plan to transition slowly from regular employment to freelance writing, which would cushion him from the hard times. Now because he listened to what other people thought, he decided to grab the bull by its horns and he was dropped down hard. The moral of that story is that, to succeed in what you are doing, create a nice plan and stick to it. Regardless of how you are close to a person, there is no way he or she can create a master plan for your life. Every person has different opinion and if you have to listen to all of them, you will never get to your dream destination. So unless you stop listening to the echoes of discouragers and bullies and stick to your master plan, you will only be chasing a mirage.

3. Don’t lose track of time

"Don’t be a down-for-whatever person, and whatever you do, don’t lose pieces of time.

Of course no one knows about tomorrow, but the fun part is knowing what you will do in the next minute when you get there. A typical day of my life as a freelancer starts with getting out of bed, saying a prayer, picking up my diary and account for every minute of the day. This enables me to budget my time and know when to end that chat on social media and get back to the money.  

Having a daily schedule will keep you off boredom as long as you stick to it. Don’t be a down-for-whatever person and create a blueprint of your activities of the day. This will enable you keep track of what you did and know where you lose a lot of time, which prevent you from achieving your goals. It might seem four minutes just thirty minutes, it’s a small piece of time considering we have a 24 hours in a day. But loosing even five minutes every day accounts for a lot in the long run. Therefore for whatever you do, don’t lose pieces of time.

4. Have an effective command station

"is your work station on the bed where you can fall asleep and wake up at wee hours only to realize you left your computer running with an unfinished work?"

So you have decided to work from home, good for you. But not so fast, how does your work station where you will be making money from look like? Is it on the bed where you can fall asleep and wake up at wee hours only to realize you left your computer running with an unfinished work? Or is it like a command station equipped with the necessary resources to churn money? Regardless of the room you are having, you can set a secluded space with no distractions where you can be working from, with basics like a chair and a table.  

To make considerable cash from home, you need to have an office setting equipped with a computer of course, a phone and very fast internet. You should ensure less distraction from visitors and other members while you are working. You can also tell your visitors you won’t be available within a given time, which will give you an ample time to carry on with your business. However if you work from a place where you can fall asleep when the assignments gets tough, or, where any tom, dick and harry distract your attention, you will never realize a decent income as a freelancer. Yeap! That’s a hard fact.

Parting shot

"There is no finish line in success and if you loosen your grip at the top you will definitely hit a rock bottom."

Fall, Learn, Succeed. Repeat

In one sentence this means that there is no finish line in success. You will also realize that there is nothing like the top, when you get there you will find out that there are more heights to reach. It is a process to succeed and you will not stay at the top for long before meeting new challenges. The most important lesson is to learn from your mistakes, never give up, keep your eyes on the prize and you will keep succeeding. You will also come to a realization that more success come along with more responsibilities. Therefore if you loosen your grip at the top you will definitely hit a rock bottom