Let’s start this by saying: 39 is not old…
I hear it all the time, I’m too old to start over…
Age is just a number…
Fuck it…
“This time you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.” There… that’s better.
To those readers who have surpassed the age of 39, I eagerly anticipate reaching the same milestone. I imagine that you may silently nod in agreement with my sentiments here, perhaps even finding inspiration to pursue that long-held aspiration that you haven’t had the courage to bring to life yet.
Alternatively, you may view my perspective as that of a youthful and naive 39-year-old. Regardless, I am deeply grateful for your presence here.
For those readers who have yet to reach the age of 39, I understand that the prospect of reaching this age may seem far away and unrelatable. But you are here for your own reasons and you’ll get to this age soon enough. I’d venture to guess you’re curious about your future and wondering how you can harness your ambitions now to get you to wherever you want to go, so welcome…
Gigging For Gold officially launched late in December of 2022 on my 39th birthday. At the end of this year, I turn 40.
The average life expectancy in the United States is 79. So technically, another Sagittarius has just hit her peak bloom. Apparently, that means, I’m due for a mid-life crisis soon. I’m open to suggestions…
However, I plan on living past 100 and being mentally, physically, and emotionally able to spring into action at a moment’s notice until I take my last breath. For this to happen I take (relatively) good care of my health on a daily basis because longevity and vibrancy are a priority for me. I make decisions today, that will hopefully have a positive impact on my future self.
And starting again with another business is no different.
The establishment of a robust and sustainable foundation was and is paramount for the long and healthy success of Gigging For Gold, given its potential to profoundly influence present and future entrepreneurs. Such is my deepest conviction.
On Wanting Something Different, Giving Myself Permission, And The Desire To Wake Up On A Pillow Of No Regrets
It’s OK to want something different. From 2012 to 2022, I dedicated myself wholeheartedly to a routine in my self-employed business ventures. Day in and day out, week after week, month after month, and year after year, I provided one-on-one client services in the marketing industry through my boutique agency, Monkey Fist Co.
I take immense pride in this decade-long stretch of unwavering consistency, during which I poured my heart and soul into every facet of my work. In the course of my tireless effort, I not only built a thriving business for myself but also had the privilege of collaborating with over 50 other brands, empowering them to achieve their maximum potential as well.
Admittedly, the sheer amount of creativity and consistency that I demanded of myself was akin to self-imposed insanity. I worked remotely as a freelance contractor from the very outset of Monkey Fist Co., remaining self-employed and taking on contract work from all corners of the globe for a decade. Happily, all of that experience led me to want something different in my life and to help as many people as possible which ultimately prompted me to start something new – enter Gigging For Gold.
For two years before launching this brand, my mind had been consumed by the idea, and eventually, I granted myself the liberty to bring it to fruition. I gave myself permission. I was ready to set it free and see what happened.
I waited because personal circumstances and the question of what my next best move should be made it clear that the timing was not right and it would have to wait.
Finally, after I made some enhanced life moves, my fervent yearning for a fresh avenue of creative expression demanded action. To ignore this impulse would ultimately result in regret – a notion that runs counter to my unwavering commitment to living a life free of remorse. As a result, I knew that I had to take another chance on myself – the wait was over – it was go time. It is worth noting that Monkey Fist Co. has not been shuttered but merely awaits a new season, as I focus my efforts on Gigging For Gold.
Along with the not-the-right-time-in-my-life statement an obstacle that blocked my launching was the uncertainty of the target audience for this venture. I grappled with the question of what stage of their journey an individual would need to be in to discover and benefit from whatever I was about to say.
I arrived at a resolution by choosing to speak directly to my former self and provide answers to the very questions that I had obsessively sought answers to. I was certain that my knowledge and expertise could propel someone else further, faster.
The Four Things I Feared The Most
1. Loss of my past identity
Identities are interesting things to adopt. They help us categorize each other in society by taking on roles, activities, and responsibilities. They also hinder us by lending to conformity and putting limits on our ceilings.
The prospect of ‘losing’ my prior identity loomed large in my mind.
If I wasn’t known for marketing what would I be known for? Would everyone in my industry think I failed so I just had to go do something new? Who would I be without my other company/title/role? Would my colleagues and network think I was faking it the whole time if I went on another path?
While my trepidations were not unfounded, I knew I had to confront and overcome them as they were largely based on what I perceived others might think. The real question was for myself: Who Am I Now?
This entailed learning how to speak to myself in a more positive way, refining my elevator pitch of now ‘what I did’, and coming to terms with moving on from my former self. My intention in starting over again was not to reinvent myself, but rather to evolve into a new and improved version of myself.
2. Is the world moving too fast for me to keep up?
The fear of being left behind in an ever-evolving world plagued me – particularly with the emergence of popular teen-oriented apps. Would the content that I had worked so hard to create be useful and impactful, or would it be mindlessly scrolled past without a second thought? Would my absence from certain platforms render me irrelevant or uncool, and therefore unworthy of anyone’s attention? These were the questions that raced through my mind, especially considering that part of my mission is to help younger entrepreneurs.
Despite these concerns, I refused to be deterred. After all, Monkey Fist Co. had achieved six-figure success without a presence on Twitter, an email list, a YouTube channel, or a TikTok account. Therefore, my fear of being rendered obsolete by new technologies was entirely unfounded.
To address this anxiety, I revisited the classics and focused my efforts there. I began by leveraging my expertise to create a stunning website as the brand’s primary hub and then built out one piece at a time.
I remained focused on the task at hand and didn’t fall prey to the pitfalls of distraction and comparison. I made the conscious decision to turn off social media for two months while laying the groundwork for this new venture. Ultimately, this strategy is paying off handsomely.
3. My physical appearance
I will be the first to tell you you are beautiful just as you are.
And I do also admit to creating on those apps previously mentioned using a filter from time to time. Although my body is in the process of starting to age gracefully as I continue to lap the sun, I’m working on fully accepting that it is a privilege to grow older. I do have those moments where I look in the mirror and see the silver hairs and beginning of not-so-tight-as-it-once-was-skin, and get a whiff of self-doubt. This is most true for me when considering the current king of content: video.
I would be neglectful if I did not address this personal conflict that I, like many individuals, encounter with respect to societal beauty standards. Any time I catch myself with this inner turmoil I remember the simplicity of stoicism where instead of just accepting what happens, they urge us to actually enjoy was is happening – whatever it is. Nietzsche, coined the expression to perfectly capture this idea: amor fati (a love of fate).
In his book The Daily Stoic author Ryan Holiday says “To wish for what has happened to happen is a clever way to avoid disappointment because nothing is contrary to your desires. But to actually feel gratitude for what happens? To love it? That’s a recipe for happiness and joy”.
In my younger years, I looked forward to aging as a means of being taken more seriously. Now that I am here, I am learning to harness the power of my age and experience, rather than allowing it to fearfully hold me down as gravity does to our bodies.
4. The time that it would take to make an income
Finally, I fretted about the time it would take to generate an income and wondered if I had the drive to “hustle” once again.
As a solo entrepreneur with no external financial support – be it from family, partners, business loans, or funding – the only safety net available was the one I had built for myself. For this reason, I ensured that it was robust and secure.
I had to ask myself – literally ask myself in the mirror a few times – if I was willing to make the necessary time investment. My resounding internal response was “Yes.” I recognized the significance of this pursuit and how lucky I was to have a say in my future and was determined to approach it with the knowledge and expertise gained from prior experience. I think this time, I’ll just do it a little differently because remember, we are starting from experience, not from scratch.
I only needed to replace my fear with fascination, embrace the journey and remember I wasn’t sacrificing anything I was investing…
“I only needed to replace my fear with fascination, embrace the journey and remember I wasn’t sacrificing anything I was investing.”
Sonja Thorsvik
What I Lacked In Skillful Rigor I Made Up For It With Passion
If I was going to embark on a new venture, it had to be significant enough to ignite my passion and curiosity. It had to challenge me in ways I had not yet experienced, both intellectually and socially.
One such challenge presented itself in the form of podcasting. Although I had long been a devoted consumer of the medium, I had zero experience as a creator. For months, I meticulously studied my favorite hosts, deconstructing their cadence, style, episode length, trailers, music, and interview questions. But that was only the beginning. I had to learn new software, acquire new equipment, master the art of scriptwriting, come to terms with how my voice sounded on the air, integrate ad sponsor breaks, create intros and outros, determine what topics to explore, and muster the courage to actually hit “record.”
I also had to figure out where to host the show, design cover art, syndicate it to appear on the major networks, analyze audience metrics, develop a schedule, transcribe voice-to-text, create show notes and time stamps, and record episodes around the blaring noise of city trash collectors outside my brand new apartment. Let alone: figure out how to actually get people to listen! And I haven’t even started to interview people yet…
Despite these immense challenges, I found the process of podcasting both intimidating and thrilling. I reveled in the opportunity to create something entirely new, and in the process, to form new neural and human connections.
Of course, podcasting is but one facet of my expanding enterprise vision. I also am learning to navigate the worlds of newsletters, trending reports, affiliate marketing, course creation, e-commerce, and live workshops, among other new challenges. But my passion for fulfilling my visions and feeding my appetite for self-expression is unwavering, so I remain committed to tackling each obstacle with a smile.
In the words of an old adage, “How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.”
I Wanted A More Pragmatic Inventory
Is it unconventional to harbor aspirations of being known for one’s entire range of intellectual capacities, as opposed to just a single facet of it? I believe not. While I have certainly made a name for myself in the marketing industry, I have an abiding interest in diverse fields beyond that.
Neuroscience and the science of longevity, for instance, hold a particular fascination for me. Thus, my aim is to create a comprehensive inventory of content that reflects my varied interests. I endeavor not only to share relevant and engaging information with my audience but also to provide statistical evidence that bolsters the topics I discuss, thus reinforcing their value and importance. Which I believe any entrepreneur would find important.
Those who know me intimately, as well as the occasional strangers with whom I strike up conversations within the wild jungle of human events, would likely attest to the fact that my discussions seldom revolve around marketing. The conversations naturally flow to various other topics, and as someone who repeatedly tells you that ‘you are your brand,’ this new inventory of work needed to reflect that statement.
My New Mission
My primary objective with Gigging for Gold is to rectify a common misconception. Regrettably, many people interested in starting their own business are under the impression that freelancing entrepreneurs are raking in enormous amounts of money. I spend hours per day consuming information in various places where individuals express despondency and feelings of inadequacy for failing to reach the coveted six-figure mark, which seems to be the widely accepted benchmark for success. Hence the tagline of this company.
However, the facts tell a different story. In reality, a mere 6% of self-employed female entrepreneurs ever attain the six-figure milestone, while the number for men is only slightly higher at 11%. It is crucial to bear this in mind when feeling disillusioned or overwhelmed by the apparent success of others.
Although it is true that social media platforms frequently feature interviews with people discussing their financial success, whether it be through their rental income, bank account balance, or even the sale of photos of their feet, these cases represent the exception rather than the norm. Trust me on this – they are not indicative of the majority.
My vision for the future is one in which the current minuscule success margin for self-employed individuals is entirely upended and is replaced by a 100% success rate. This is not merely a pipe dream, but a belief rooted in the conviction that a decent income can have a positive momentum not only for oneself but for society as a whole.
Indeed, when we are no longer in a state of constant survival mode and can cover our living expenses and business costs while doing something we actually love and created, we attain a newfound sense of abundance. The scarcity mindset that once dominated our thoughts is replaced by one of plenty. We can save for the future, establish safety nets, contribute to charitable causes, and assist others in need.
And so, my dear supporter, whether we are fortunate enough to have met or we are only ever connected through writings or my voice, I thank you from the bottom of my 39-year-old heart for letting me help you make your next best move.
Reminding you that at any age, we can start again…
To your Wealth, Your Health, And Your Happiness,
Sonja
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