It is easy to come up with excuses for days as to why things are not working out in your favor, especially as it relates to making more money. You have goals to achieve and a certain life you want to live. The power lies within you to move from your comfort zone by tapping into your creative self instead of your critical self.

Here are 3 ways to move from a critical you to a creative you:

 

1.  Embrace your expertise beyond your 9 to 5.

You have attained your degree—whether it is in music or marketing. Your current job may or may not be in your desired field, but nevertheless, you are applying your expertise each and every day.

Your current job may not meet the ideal standard of pay for the life you aspire to live, but it can teach and develop soft and hard skills you can monetize outside of the workplace. Those skills include customer service, certifications, Microsoft Office, teamwork, problem solving, organization, time management, communication, and so much more.  When you start doing more of what you love, those transferable skills will help you be the most efficient and effective as a side-hustler or entrepreneur.

Ask yourself and write down your areas of expertise. If you can’t think of any, consider those qualities about yourself that people compliment you on every day. What about those unique qualities that got you hired? While your company is currently making more money on your skills than you are, what will it take for you to monetize them for your freedom’s sake?

2. Learn new things, develop new skills

It’s easy to get comfortable where you are in life, especially when you are used to doing certain things so well.  But being an expert at one or two things does not exempt you from being a student of life.

I know some of you are saying, “Student? Been there, done that, and never going back.” However, being a student of life has little to do with formal education, but more to do with self-education. Consider your interests that are separate from what you do on a day to day basis. You can learn:

• How to speak and write a new language
• How to play an instrument
• How to create designs on Photoshop, and/or even
• How to file your own taxes

There are many free resources in this digital age, which offers you little room for excuses. As you learn new things and develop new skills, you can use them to earn more money to live your desired life.

Here are resources that will help you:

• Coursera, a digital educational platform that offers massive online courses (MOOCs) for free. The business collaborates with colleges and universities to offer courses ranging from accounting to engineering to marketing.
• Podcasts – an on-demand digital radio platform that allows you to subscribe to series of episodes from a wide array of topics. They are available for free on your iPhone and Android, which you can listen to while you’re on the move or simply chilling at home. Are you using them currently to learn about things that interest you?
• Periscope – a Twitter owned live-stream broadcast app, which allows you to connect with experts, brands, and companies in a personal way.
• Youtube – Do I need to explain? From learning how to fix broken screens to learning how to braid hair. Opportunities are endless.

3. Simplify your life.

As you grow older, you reminisce on the days when life was easier to navigate. You know, those days when you were only required to attend school and get good grades. When life was simpler, you wanted to grow up fast. As you began to experience life more, you desire to be a kid again. The simpler life you once lived can be lived again. It has nothing to do with returning to the age, but rather to the experience. It’s time to remove those things that complicate your life, and not add value to your dreams. 

Every responsibility you did not have then, you do not have to have now. You have the power to cut back on those things you think you need in order to live a prosperous life. The difference between then and now is that you have to pay for 100% of the things you want as an adult. Most expenses you have today, you do not need. Now, as you are older, you must understand the basic principle of a need vs. a want in order to simply live your life.  Are you ready to experience freedom you once had as a child? Are there clothes you can sell? What bills can you live without?