Hey family, how are you? I hope you are doing awesome!
I wanted to share something that was on my mind this past weekend and if you have been paying attention to your inbox, you may have already read it. Feel free to soak it in again and to share this post on if it has inspired you too. Enjoy!
As we are heading back from picking up the rest of what I had in storage in Ohio, I started thinking about how I got to Ohio, all the things I did in my short stint there and what brought me to New Jersey.
Those moments and many before them were on a shoestring budget to say the least, even before I was a single mom…
I didn’t come from a wealthy family and while I almost hit the low end of the middle class a few times in my 36 years of living, I was usually in the lower class and currently am as I write this.
That meant I had to have grit and I had to figure out how to be smart with my money, something I wasn’t taught 100% growing up either and something I struggled with in my 20’s, especially when I got married to a reckless spender.
But even when I was married to a reckless spender, I started doing things to find ways to be able to save and pay for the things that were important for my growth and wellbeing.
What were those things? And how did I do it?
Health, wellness, mindset mastery, spiritual oneness, fitness, spending time with family and working on my terms were my big goals.
– Buying more healthy all natural and mostly organic foods were a big part of my health quest. I took up couponing, shopping sales, buying in season, learned to forage for wild edibles and hitting up farmers markets. I also rarely ate out, cooked mostly from scratch and if I did go out to eat, you best believe I had coupons, a certificate or some other deal. 😉
I didn’t have access to an affordable gym, I worked out at home with DVDs, utilized shows on TV and/or via online training, played outside with my daughter, took hikes in nature, etc. And even when I did have gym access, I still utilized all those other opportunities to take care of myself. There are fast weight loss pills that can ease the process to reach your body goal. Fitness doesn’t have to break the bank and can be completely free. 😉
I also wanted to visit my family more, so I made ways to cut the cost. For instance, we drove as it was cheaper than flying, used our vehicle even though it was older, higher mileage, etc. instead of renting one and stayed with family when we could vs. getting a hotel room, etc.
– When we visited family, I’d offer to cook for everyone, which everyone enjoyed and enabled me to feed my whole family for a several weeks stay, which was about the same price as two dinners out would have cost at a decent restaurant.
Heck, we would even pack lunches, snacks, fill up water bottles, etc. for the road! We also found free places to check out to sightsee and would have off the grid adventures too. 🙂
– I also cut costs of living by buying things from yard/garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, clearance racks, discounts, etc. Rarely did I ever pay full cost and I often saved 75%+ off of retail. I also did my best to only get what I needed.
I even got nice pieces of furniture for free from places lke Craigslist.com or that were on the side of the road to be thrown out. I didn’t have a truck or big SUV, but you’d be surprised what one can haul off when determined and armed with some basic rope in a car. 😉
– If I needed extra cash, I would clean out and declutter what we weren’t using and sell things on Craigslist, eBay or have my own yard sale. I’d even sometimes hit up the thrift store on its dollar days to find items to resell. I even found things to resell at some of the places I shopped listed in the cut the costs section above.
When I freelanced, I’d always let my clients know I was available for extra work. At one time, I was working an online job, freelancing graphic design plus copywriting and also doing internet marketing just to make it all happen while being a stay at home mom with no helping hands.
– I couldn’t afford a ton of courses or books to study to increase my skills, mindset or spiritual awareness, so Google became my best friend. I researched a lot to learn and increase my knowledge in skill in whatever area I needed at that time. When I could buy a course or book, I did invest in myself and since I had done so much research, I always knew what to save up for.
When I client asked if I knew how to do something and I didn’t, I’d be honest, but also tell them to give me a few hours to research it to see if it was something I could learn and help them with. 9 times out of 10, with a little extra diligence and a willingness to learn and grow, I was able to help them out and if not I’d find them someone that could. 🙂
My clients appreciated this and considered me there go to helper for more than what my skill set was originally, because I had a willingness to grow, learn and help.
– If I needed to cut the fat in my bills and expenses more, (a lot of the above hints to most of the ways I did this on a regular basis), I also did things like live without a cellphone for a year, which included not having a home phone and using my internet connection with google voice for inbound and outbound calls… If I had an emergency while out and about I used pay phones. I cancelled satellite or cable subscriptions (still cord free, Halleluyah!), read Geico reviews and comparison shopped every 6 months or year for auto insurance, health insurance, etc., found ways to save on energy and water bills and more.
Even when I moved from Florida to North Carolina, NC to Ohio, or OH to New Jersey, it was often with no guarantee of what would happen next, little funds to my name, no guarantee of my next payday and a car packed to the brim!
There was never a perfect scenario and dare I say, if I waited for one, I wouldn’t be here today writing you.
The point with the above is, when there is a will, there is always a way!
Some call me an optimist, but the reality is I am more of a realist. I see patterns and do my best to learn from my mistakes and others’ mistakes as well. People have called me lucky, blessed and thought I was crazy or some kind of modern day shaman for being able to create things seemingly out of nothing.
And maybe I’m a bit of all of those, but what makes all those things possible isn’t chance… It’s determination, a spirit to not quit and a willingness to find a solution and persevere… Because there is always another option if you are willing to find it. 😉
Also, having some stubbornness to not being willing to lay down and take whatever nonsense is coming at you, doesn’t hurt either. 🙂
So why am I writing this to you today?
It’s because we get a lot of emails from various regions of the world and while there are plenty of go-getters, (maybe you are one of them???) there are also sadly quite a bit of people that when life hands them a challenge (whether health, financial, spiritual, and/or relationship) they never make it through the detour to the other end.
Heck, some of them make the challenge a lot harder than it has to be, literally wallowing in negativity and misery. (Don’t do that last part BTW, It just makes it worse.)
So how do you invest in your growth?
Are you a go getter? Is there something you have been allowing to stop you from living your dreams, doing more for your health, fitness, wellness, relationships or having a business or career that you know is your calling and passion in life?
I think if we are all honest, we all have areas to improve upon! However, that’s the great thing about being a human being right?! You have options and in an instant you can choose to improve and grow in any area you choose, if that isn’t awesome, I don’t know what is!
All you have to have is a spit-fire will, mixed with determination, perseverance and a bit of patience too.
Without any of those, Enter Shaolin would not exist, getting to train with Sifu Larry and learn Sifu Phu’s system and have the opportunity to share it with you and the world would have never happened.
So I write you to encourage you in any stage of your life that there are solutions and there are options for whatever it is you are seeking to better your life. It’s waiting for you, you just have to refuse to quit and go get it!
And know, we are here to encourage you all the way!
Whether you just need an ear to listen, someone to bounce ideas off of, get some advice (relationships, career, wellness, martial arts), help creating an action plan and heck if you need help financially, whether budgeting, figuring out ways to make extra income, etc…. In all cases we got you family!
We even have an affiliate program to help reward you when you share Enter Shaolin with others, which you can find here: www.entershaolin.com/affiliate.
And we have sales from time to time to help make sure Enter Shaolin can fit any budget and even had crazy deals on the Abbot lifetime membership.
So if you have been thinking about upgrading or joining Enter Shaolin, now is a great time. Just know that just like how the word Kung Fu relates to the mastery of any skill, not just Martial Arts… We are here to help you master your Martial Arts journey and life whether you are just getting started or are in the refining process and beyond.
Dare I say, you won’t find another online school like this… Where the distance is only on a map, because we are here for you in ways you often won’t find even locally.
One of our family members sums up what being a part of our family is like perfectly here:
The shear volume of information and training is second to none. Not just Wing Chun, but tai chi, qigong, chin na and ngo dac na. There’s so much available in the members area it can be a little daunting at first. However, it’s broken down so clearly that anyone can take advantage of what they offer. Trust me when I’m say it can change your entire life!!
The team at Enter Shaolin, as people, are solid gold! I get more personalized attention as a member than I could possibly imagine. More than if I joined a physical kung fu school near me and paid hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month to train. I personally have three Wing Chun schools nearby and I’ve looked into all of them. I’m positive E.S. was the the best choice!” ~ Brian Nelson
So whatever you have been waiting to do in life, know there is no more perfect time than to start living your dreams and passion right now.
We look forward to serving you on your Kung Fu journey for life!
Since we didn’t do a review week in October (seriously, where did that month go?), we figured there was no time like, right now! This is a great time for you to review and check out anything you may have missed. play catchup and we will do our best not to have the next one be over a month long. As you can see we have covered a lot, each post we send out offers you great training and often motivation, inspiration and some laughs too. 😉
Enjoy!
Now on to your review…
- Enter Shaolin Update | On The Move, Webinar Replay and Pittsburgh Seminar Registration
- Enter Shaolin Update | Our Podcast Is Back Plus Limited Swag and Seminar Registration
- Enter Shaolin Update | Moving, Seminar Footage and Remembrance
- Enter Shaolin Update | 11 Ways to Find A Training Partner
- Enter Shaolin Update | What’s Your Opinion?
- Enter Shaolin Update | You Have To Be A C.O.P. If You Want To Know Your F.O.E.
- Enter Shaolin Update| Mpower Summit 2018, Webinar Replay and Swag
Blessings & Happy Training,
Sije Jamie Pelaez
& The Enter Shaolin Family
1-844-9-KUNGFU
P.S. If I can create things from seemingly nothing including my dream business that gives me the opportunity to train in the system that enhances any martial arts style and changes lives… Then you too can do what fulfills you to create more health, happiness and wellness in your life. In short, you got this!
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