I had just made $150 in two days, online, from total strangers.  How was this possible, you ask? Two words: passive income. For the last couple of years, I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Smart Passive Income,” detailing the what, how and why of passive income. People would come on the show and tell success stories about how they make money in their sleep. Little did I know that these podcasts were actually conditioning my mind to see new opportunities and think in ways that would help me create my own passive income.

I became very attached to the idea of disconnecting the money you make from the direct labor-hours you work (e.g. a job with an hourly wage). I wanted to put a lot of time and effort into something valuable, and have it provide money for me after I was finished working on it. I noticed that lots of people loved to talk about passive income, but very few people were actually putting in the work to actually create it.

IDEA

One day as I was walking back to my apartment, eating a burrito and listening to a podcast, an idea popped into my head. I immediately wrote it down. Here it is: Everyone needs motivation. How do people get motivated? Usually, they go see a motivational speaker (costing hundreds of dollars) with the effects lasting for about a week. If people could watch a different highly motivational video every single morning for a year, their lives would be completely transformed. I knew this would be true, but I still needed to do some research to find out if this was actually a project worth starting.

RESEARCH

The next day, full of energy about my idea, I called dozens of people I knew. I received very valuable feedback from all of them, which helped mold and shape my idea to be the best that it could be. I asked people if they would actually pay for the service, and some said yes, they completely would. There was a need for this service. Time to build!

PERSISTENCE

I originally had some glamorous picture in my mind of what creating an internet-based business would be like, which was quickly shattered. Doing something in real life is rarely like the picture in your head before you do it. It was hard to create, taking far more time and energy than I originally thought. I had to learn all about different web technologies and buy lots of resources, but persisting in the face of uncertainty and lack of knowledge is what kept me working long hours to create the service. I was also gaining valuable skills and experience while putting this business together.

I tried to work on Year Of Motivation during the semester when I had classes, but I never seemed to make much progress, as I could only work one hour here, and half an hour there. Luckily, I had a month off for winter break, so I essentially locked myself in my room for a week and a half and created Year Of Motivation. I didn’t write one line of code the entire time. Online business is so accessible now, and will only continue to be more and more accessible as time goes on.

LAUNCH

After I finally launched, I let my network know about the service. As people started going to the site and learning about how Year Of Motivation sustainably solves their problem with motivation, they started buying it. It felt great to know that I created lots of value for people who bought the service, and that I was profiting from the value I created. It was a win-win. That’s entrepreneurship in a nutshell, and it’s something I feel very passionate about.

Since launching, many people have emailed me and thanked me for changing their lives with this product. Also, since I believe in this product so much, I have a 30-day money-back guarantee for everyone, no questions asked. If you don’t feel motivated every single morning, go to Year Of Motivation and check it out.