Simon: On my birthday I turned my life around

On his 31. birthday Simon thought: “I’ve always wanted to travel. But instead I’m working 70 hours a week. I don’t want to wait to live my dream until I’m 60.” So he turned his life around. And his career – unexpectedly.

You changed your life on your 31. birthday – what happened?

Why did you quit? You liked your job as a restaurant manager…?

I wasn’t unhappy with my life. I had a great job, I was successful and making good money. But there has always been this strong desire to travel the world. But there has always been a reason to put it off. And in the months before my 31. birthday this desire – this voice at the back of my head – became louder and louder. I thought: “I have to do it now. I don’t want to wait to live my dream until I’m 60.”

Talking about the comfort zone: Your scariest moment?

Your 3 biggest learnings as an online entrepreneur

1. Have full confidence in yourself. You can accomplish anything. If you can imagine it you can achieve it.
2. Take action. Sometimes there’s no right way. A lot of people are overthinking their dreams and never take the first step.
   3. Embrace your fears. Like on a sky dive. The flight up is super scary. But the second you jump you realize that it’s amazing. I was so scared to do my first “facebook live”. I worried about how I’d look on camera. Or that I might forget my text. But I had the courage to do it. And: It went well. I learned that it’s all about getting practice. The more I do it the more confident I get in front of the camera.

Why was your first step as an online entrepreneur a failure?

Are you living your dream now?

Yes. I still can’t believe this myself. How much my life has changed since I quit my job. How much I have learned since I started working in social media marketing. I didn’t know much about this before I left Canada. But I wanted to do it and tried to learn as much as possible about it. It worked – after only a few months I was earing much more than I had ever expected. The best thing about it: I can work from anywhere in the world. And I can combine my travel passion with my job. So yes, I am living my dream.

What’s your life motto?

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. A trick that helps me a lot with procrastination is the 5-second-rule. If you can do something in five seconds, do it now. Then you don’t have to stress out about putting it on your to-do list.

Simon’s book and video recommendations

Gary Vaynerschuk: “Crushing it. How great entrepreneurs build their business and influence” English and German version available)

Napoleon Hill: “Think and grow rich”

Congratulations Simon for having the courage to break out of your comfort zone: New country, new (unexpected) job, new life! Keep on living your dream!

We are so proud of Simon. He is working as a succesful business coach and is living in Bali. Simon on Instagram.