"I want to work from home!" I screamed.
In my head.
I glanced around my apartment. My roommate had already left for class - so she wouldn't have heard me anyway. Still, there was no need for her to hear all of my random thoughts. So I had become skilled in keeping them to myself.
I was a junior at Indiana University and had recently decided that I disliked my major. This was clearly the wrong time to come to that realization. Yet, it was true. I had no desire to seek an internship or a job within my chosen field of study. I had spent the past few months trying to decide on a different path and to be honest, nothing seemed very thrilling. In the end - they were all just jobs. Having worked from the age of 15, I knew that working a 9 - 5 job for someone else wasn't what I wanted to do.
With a cup of coffee in hand, I grabbed my laptop and shuffled my pajama clad self to the balcony of our second floor apartment. My coal-black cocker spaniel followed behind and plopped down beside my chair. It was a beautiful Spring morning that brought warm gusts of wind. I had always enjoyed this time of year and the freedom that the winds seemed to bring.
"Brinkley, wouldn't it be nice if I could earn an income from my computer?" I mumbled as I propped my feet up and opened the laptop.
As I browsed a few of my favorite blogs and sipped on coffee, I envisioned doing just that for life. A cloudy picture of waking in the morning to a relaxing day of coffee and working began to float through my thoughts.
The years marched on and I clung to that thought. It remained on the back burner of my plans - but it was there. Graduation came and so did marriage. Before I knew it, I was pregnant with my first child and making arrangements for child care once I returned to work.
Yet once again I found myself daydreaming. It was another beautiful Spring day. I could see the trees just outside of my office window move with the breeze. The sun shimmered into my cold, quiet and lonely office.
"I want to work from home." I whispered.
"I want to be home with my children."
This time I said it out loud. Quietly. But out loud.
I logged onto my current blog. I tapped out a few thoughts and logged off.
Suddenly, the moments from that day on the balcony came flooding back. Why had I never acted on that dream? Others were doing it - why did I allow it to remain just out of reach?
I logged back onto my blog.
"It starts now!" I told myself.
I had once earned a few bucks from blogging - and then never tried to earn more. Those few dollars were thrilling. Yet, I had let go of it for a steady paycheck at my 9 - 5 job.
It took quite a few years to get the hang of earning any money online. I dug and researched how others were doing it. Made note of everything and avenues that looked like scams... and carried on.
Nothing happened overnight - but when my position was downsized and I lost my full-time job in 2008, I was able to begin relying on what I had taught myself over the years.
Today, there is nothing that could pull me into work outside of my home. I am with my kids as they wake, eat lunch, play outside and enjoy dinner. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I wish I hadn't needed to spend so much time figuring everything out - but it has paid off. There are many ways to earn a living online -
The Bloggy Guide to Monetizing Your Blog details the methods that I have used.
The first to leave a comment below correctly telling me where Brinkley got his name will receive a copy of the Bloggy Guide to Monetizing Your Blog!
