Entrepreneurial Challenges

Alex Beadon 0:03
So you want to scale your online business while purposely prioritizing your most joyful, free and luxurious life. This Podcast is your weekly dose of connection and self reflection. As you set strategic intentions along the way, it’s time to prime your mind embrace your pace and take consistent action towards creating what you truly want from your online business without sacrificing the small moments all around you that are so worth treasuring. So take a deep breath, relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong on purpose. You’re listening to Episode 28 of season two of on purpose with Alex Beadon. In this episode, I’m going to be just very real with you about what’s going on in my life right now. At the moment, I’m doing a lot of traveling and as you know, I can work from anywhere in the world, which is such a blessing, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. And that’s what I’m being real with you about in today’s episode. So if you are someone who has idealized this lifestyle, and you really want to know the truth about what it’s really like, this is the episode for you. I’m Alex feeding your favorite lawn strategist and your guide to the online business world. I’ve had an online business selling digital products since 2011. And I’ve been helping online businesses scale through launching since 2016. I’ve been featured in both Forbes and entrepreneur and I’ve worked with clients ranging from solopreneurs to multi million dollar small businesses. Here at Team Beadon. We pride ourselves on being the industry leading destination for all things launch strategy, our 12 month program together we launch teaches our signature rinse and repeat launch strategy that has helped course creators and membership owners from all over the world have their best launches yet. Our goal is to give you have the tools to create a wildly profitable online business while prioritizing your most joyful life so that you can truly experience time freedom, location, freedom and financial freedom. If you are a course creator or a membership site owner, if you are someone who educates and shares your skill and zone of genius with the world. If you’re looking to make more impact through the work that you do and bring more students into your online space, then you must sign up for the waitlist of the ultimate launch bootcamp. It is coming very soon on September 11. Make sure that you don’t miss out, you can sign up for free at ultimate launch bootcamp.com. I hope to see you there. Without further ado, let’s jump into today’s episode. Hello, and welcome to today’s episode. Today I am on the go. I’m coming to you from my parents house here in England and the West Midlands. And today is actually a really special day because we are about to go on an eight day seven night canal cruise to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. And so yeah, the house is alive with energy, everyone’s packing and there’s the hustle bustle of everyone getting ready to go. And here I am recording this podcast episode for you guys. Making sure to get it done. So today I wanted to talk to you guys about something that’s very relevant in my life right now. And that is traveling. while I work. One of the best parts of doing what I do and being able to be a course creator and sell my digital products is that I can work from anywhere. As long as I have my laptop and a great Wi Fi connection. I’m good to go. And I’ve spent a lot of time traveling, you know whether it’s going to Colombia for three weeks, we’ve also traveled to France and worked from there. We’ve traveled to Canada like you name it, we’ve done it, we’ve traveled a lot worked from tons of different Airbnbs and hotels. And today, I wanted to just speak to that a little bit to kind of give you some insight into what it’s actually like because I think that it’s something that people really glamorize. And something that’s obviously you know, it is an ideal lifestyle to be able to work from anywhere. So I understand why it’s glamorized. But I also just wanted to speak to like the realities of it. And just give some advice, because like I said, I’ve been doing this for a long time. And there’s a few things that I think really make a difference when you’re traveling. So first things first is I always try to plan my launches, ahead of time knowing far in advance, like when my travel times are and I try not to coincide my launches with my travel times just because I know that during my launch, I need to be focused, I need to be in a good routine. And being at home allows me to do that. Even when I’m here visiting my family, even though I have my own room and I have like my own little working space. It can still be extremely distracting and you have to expect that when you’re traveling. There are going to be distractions. I would probably say the best time that we’ve ever been able to do it is when we traveled to countries that we don’t really know anyone there and we’re literally just going there to work and explore during our non work hours. And, you know, those, to me are the best, the best experiences that I have traveling and working because you really are able to do both things. So for example, our Colombia trip, you know, we went to three different cities in Colombia. But we really did a good job of differentiating between work time and play time, there weren’t really any distractions, because we were pretty, you know, straightforward on again, when we’d be working, and when we’d be playing. And we were in Airbnbs, we had like, a house that felt like our own. That, to me is like my favorite way to travel and work. But when you start mixing in family and friends, which a lot of people do, like I know, for me, that’s one of the main reasons I travel, my family is sprinkled all over the world. You know, we just went to Canada. So as of right now, we’ve been traveling for the last two and a half weeks, almost three weeks, actually, today might be three weeks anyway, we’ve been traveling for a while. And we spent a weekend in Canada. And then we were now here in England. And on both occasions, you know, family was involved, we went to Canada for a wedding. We are now here in England for another wedding later on this month, but also because my mom’s 60th Birthday canal cruise. And then later next month, we’re actually planning to go to Poland to visit next mum, because she lives in Poland. So there are always those times when you are surrounded by family. And it’s just to take note of the fact that when family members are around and when friends are around, it is going to be more difficult by nature. Even if you set the intention from the beginning, like hey, I’m coming to work, it is still much more difficult on there are going to be more distractions. And that’s okay, I think I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I realize like, you know, my family sprinkled all over the world, I do want to come and spend time with my mom and dad. And if I am here for a long period of time, that does mean that I am going to be working. And it’s okay, if there are distractions, it’s not the end of the world. And, you know, that is just one of the side effects of working and being able to travel now, of course, you know, you can do things like set boundaries. And you know, I know with my mom and dad have done a good job of being like, okay, between these hours, like don’t disturb, like, I’ll put a sign on the door. Sometimes it is ignored, but we’ll, that’s a story for another day. But for the most part, they’re really good at like, abiding by the boundaries and understanding that us being here, it doesn’t mean that we’re on vacation, you know, work is work, and things still need to get done. And projects need to move forward. And I think communication is very important, I think as well communicating with your team. I know for me, and Laura, you know, we’ve been doing this for such a long time that she really has a good understanding of what it’s like when I travel. And I know for her one of the most important things is simply communication and keeping the team updated with what’s going on, you know, if a project was due on a certain date, or if a task was due, and it didn’t get finished, you know, letting them know, like, that’s a super simple little thing to be like, Hey, this is taking me longer than expected or hey, you know, I know recently the other day, we had family come and visit us one day earlier than I was expecting them. So they came on, I was expecting them the Saturday they came on the Friday. And I ended up spending the entire Friday with them, obviously, because these are family members that I don’t get to see all the time. You know, it’s my mom’s sister and Mike my first cousins, which I rarely ever get to see them, like maybe I see them once a year. So it’s important to be able to take that time and I really enjoy having that flexibility. But of course, you know, being able to communicate that to my team and be like, hey, this happened, just giving you a heads up that this didn’t get done. I think that in my experience has been one of the most important things. In terms of other kind of random things that might get in the way, I would say Wi Fi is definitely something to check into. So whenever I’m booking an Airbnb, I’m always searching through the reviews, looking for any thing that they have to say about Wi Fi, I find that’s a really good way to figure it out. Now, of course, there’s always going to be a hiccup I remember in Colombia, we were staying at an Airbnb and the Wi Fi just went down for like 24 hours, there’s nothing that you can do about that, of course, there are going to be things that are outside of your control, especially when traveling. So again, giving yourself that little bit of buffer and being kind of compassionate with yourself and knowing if you’re going to be traveling you need to understand that you’re not going to have a perfect work schedule. And that’s okay. Right. So just kind of like bearing that in mind as you go through traveling and working. I know for me if I’m being totally honest, there are definitely times when I’m like oh my goodness, like I’ve planned this trip. And I’m feeling a little bit of anxiety about it because I have a lot of work to do. And sometimes it just feels like very overwhelming. You know, I know people look at me and they’re like, Wow, you’re traveling and I’m so excited for you and it is like Jen genuinely such a positive experience. But it does also come with that little bit of anxiety of just that feeling of like, I’m not going to be in as much of a flow with my work as I normally am. I know that When I’m traveling, you know, Laura describes it as like a stop, start, stop, start, because you never know like when I’m going to be in office, and when I’m not going to be in office, again, communication is key there. I think planning your trips far in advance, communicating those times to your team, we have a team calendar where, you know, we put into place so that everyone knows when people are in office and when people are outside of office, and then preparing as much as possible and looking at your tasks and asking yourself like, What can I get done in advance? How can I make sure that I am as prepared as possible to either take time off, if that’s what you’re planning to do, or prepared as possible to work while you’re away, but also know that not everything might get done. And again, that’s okay. So for example, right now, I’m about to go on an eight day canal cruise and my mom and dad, my sister and her husband. And like, literally in an hour, we’re supposed to leave the house. And I’m really hoping to take that time off as much as possible. And I know that in order to do that, I need to be in communication with Laura let her know, like, Hey, this is where I ended up my work day. Here’s the podcast episode for next week, here’s what I’m thinking in terms of XYZ. And just communicating as much as possible about what’s still required, like I can’t just, you know, clock out of work and not give her a heads up. I think this is like very basic stuff that even if you’re going on holiday at a nine to five job, the difference is that obviously it’s your business. And, you know, I do want to make sure that I’m there and then I’m on call, I’ll have my phone, if Lauren needs anything, and just making sure that I’m communicating. Other than that traveling, is really easy. Like, it’s really easy in terms of the fact that like, I just bring my laptop, and pretty much all of my work is online. So I could pretty much use any laptop and access all of the work that I need to access, you know, all of the tools that we use are things that I sign into, and everything is kind of stored in the cloud. And so that does really make a huge difference in terms of the ease of everything, you know, I’m not necessarily missing any tools from home, I make sure to travel with my tripod, and my microphone, I actually have a microphone here in England, so that I don’t have to travel with a microphone. But you know, just making sure that you have the equipment that you need, I think is also really helpful. And yeah, like, really, it’s just as amazing and beautiful as it kind of is frustrating just in terms of like, I like my work to feel like I’m in a flow. And I really do get into a good flow when I’m at home and when I have that work schedule. But also, you know, I’m a multi dimensional human being, and I like having these different dynamics in my life. And that’s why I’ve set up my business this way. You know, as much as I’m, you know, a little bit stressed and anxious about taking the next eight days off, because I really, I’m trying to take the next days, the next eight days completely off as much as I possibly can, which is not something that I regularly do, like I’m pretty good at juggling work and vacation. And I ended up like mixing them a lot of the time. So this is the first time that I’m really going to try to disconnect, we’ll see how it goes, I’ll have to keep you updated. I think it really is just about communication, expecting the unexpected. Knowing that this is part of why I built this business, so that I could do things like this, and like I said, is as anxious and as stressful as it can cause me to be, I am constantly reminding myself like, this is why you’ve set up your business, you know, so that you get to sign off and enjoy your family time and be present. And that’s, you know, part of what this podcast is part of what my message is all about. It’s like we’re building these businesses. And yes, it’s fun to build these businesses. And it’s fun to be strategic. And I love bringing in new clients, and I love seeing their transformation. But also, we want to have these multi-dimensional lives where, you know, we’re building value. And we’re building wealth, not just monetary wealth in our business, but also wealth in our relationships. And in order to do that it requires spending time with the people that we love. And so I’m really excited to be here in England, I love being around my family. There’s just nothing quite like spending this quality time together, especially because we don’t all live in the same place. So it is a really, really special time for us to be together and to really soak it up. So I’m really looking forward to this weekend. I know this is a super short episode was just a little off opportunity for me to check in with you guys and just let you know like what’s going on. There’s a lot of travel happening, I think as well. Another big thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is like forgiving yourself if things don’t go to plan. So you know, the last few weeks the podcast absolutely has not gone to plan. Like I’ve been meaning to record this for, again, maybe the last week and a half, two weeks and it just didn’t get done. There’s been like I said a lot going on. We’ve been traveling between countries, we’ve had weddings, there’s a lot of personal stuff and it’s just like it is what it is and knowing that your community is going to be welcoming and warm and that they know that you’re always doing your best and no one wants you to kill yourself in order to get that piece of content out. You know, just kind of being like I’m always doing my best and you know, we’ve had however many episodes Only seven episodes in a row every single week, which I think is wonderful. And you know, this episode might come out a week later. And that’s totally fine. It’s not the end of the world. So just giving yourself a little bit of grace, I think goes a really long way. And yeah, I’m really looking forward to the next seven or eight days, I’ll have to let you know what my big takeaways are, I have a feeling that switching off and like really disconnecting is going to allow me to like, connect intuitively even more to the business, which is a huge topic that we covered in last week’s episode with Nikki Novo episode 27. If you haven’t checked it out already, definitely go and take a listen, I felt so inspired after that episode with her. And it’s really just caused me to reflect on you know, my own connecting to my intuition within my business. So I’m looking forward to that. I think, even in the off moments, I will, of course still be on like, my business is my creative joy. And I love what I do. So of course, I won’t be like completely disconnecting and not thinking about it at all. And that does feel like an impossibility. But yeah, another just random little thing that I have to mention is that I will always remember the last I think I think it was like July 26 or July 27, the confirmation that aliens exist, like how crazy how crazy that we have UFOs on this planet that are from another planet that have technology that we do not have access to that we have no idea what it is how it works. It’s just phenomenal. And if you haven’t heard about it, definitely look into it. But basically, like it’s gone through Congress, and like these whistleblowers have come out and basically said, like, you know, we need to talk about this and share it with the public. And people need to know that this is happening. And I’m very intrigued by the entire story. And, of course, I think everyone has always known that aliens exist. But the fact that you know, they have come to this planet, and apparently are here regularly. The more I learn about it, the more intrigued I am. And it’s just a very interesting time in human history. And I’m kind of shocked because I feel like not many people are speaking about it. But anyway, I’d love to hear from you guys. So if you got this far into the episode, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram and let me know what did you think of this episode? Have you done a lot of traveling while you work? Is this a lifestyle that you’re trying to create for yourself? It definitely comes with pros and cons. But like I said, I’d love to hear from you. And also even just, you know, answering the question for me, have you been following the Alien UFO story. I’d love to hear from you guys. And I’m very excited for the next few weeks together, we are about to bring back the ultimate launch bootcamp. If you want to learn more about that you can go to ultimate launch bootcamp.com to sign up for free to our waitlist, but it’s going to be happening September 11, which is a Monday, all the way through September 15, which is the Friday and I’m really excited for this round of the ultimate launch bootcamp. I feel like I am more present. And just like I feel like recently because I’m the one doing all of my content again, it’s like I just feel so much more connected to this community and to everything that we’re doing and it feels really, really good. If you are someone who wants to launch your online course, if you are an educator, and you’re ready to take what you’re already doing and scale it to the next level, if you want to bring in more students and make more impact with the work that you do in the world, then the ultimate launch bootcamp is for you. Don’t miss it. Make sure you’re on the waitlist. And I can’t wait to talk to you guys again next time. I’ll see you next week. Bye.