Five years ago young A. Mullan had a dream to earn a comfortable living online, travel at will, and have the freedom to do whatever he wanted, where he wanted, with who he wanted.

The first two-and-a-half years consisted of two failed business ventures, and a whole lotta shoving my thumbs waaaaay up my butthole, taking no action.

Roughly two-and-a-half years from today I began taking action.

Fourteen months ago I hit the point where I could travel at will, so long as I was taking advantage of favourable exchange rates (looking at you, Thailand).

Eight months ago I was able to move to a city (Vancouver, BC, Canada) an earlier version of me believed I’d never be able to comfortably live in.

As of six months ago, I’ve been able to take my business on the road, keep my home in Vancouver, and have a goddamn ball of a time travelling, hanging with friends all over the map, and exploring the innards of my mind.

All the while, my business keeps growing, and increasingly more of the “pieces” I want in my life are falling into place.

Looking back, it’s easy to say it could have all happened much, much quicker.

But the thing about progress and achieving your missions is you NEED to struggle, suffer, and be challenged along the way.

Which is how you come to appreciate what you earn, and how you can help others avoid the same pitfalls.

Moving on…

Below are 13 reasons why it took me five years to get from sleeping on my parents futon and slinging lattes at Starbucks to doing whatever I want, where I want, with who I want.

May these help you shortcut your learning curve, help you understand what NOT to do, and do the damn thing…

1. I threw in the towel when I didn’t see fast ROI (time + muney).

2. All I had was a financial goal—there was no overarching mission to help guide my thoughts, actions, or decisions.

3. Drinking bottles of vodka and slinging lattes at Starbucks was the path of least resistance, even thought it meant NOT working for what I wanted. And so I took it.

4. Aside from craving locational freedom, I had no clue what I wanted my life to look like.

5. I didn’t bother to learn the ins and outs of copywriting, persuasion, or gain an understanding of human psychology.

6. I operated with the “if I build it they will come” mentality (don’t do this).

7. I consumed excessive amounts of content—and flipped none of it into action steps.

8. The Briefcase of Fear I carried around after I *gave up* on my first attempt at online business took 2.5 years to leave behind (and I made little effort to do so).

9. I didn’t drink nearly enough espresso.

10. I lacked a borderline delusional level of self-belief that I COULD create the life I wanted.

11. I wasn’t ready to lead. Not myself, and certainly not others.

12. My head was in the clouds majority of the time while refusing to stick my hands into the dirt.

13. I didn’t take myself seriously, and buried/forgot about my longest-held dreams/desires.

The above is a mixture of mistakes you can avoid, and lessons you can use to simply be better than I was.

Use them well.

And, if you want to dive deeper into each of these, unfutz your head, and start building a location-independent lifestyle with no boss to answer to, then click the link below to slap your name onto the Coffee Cartel pre-sale list where you’ll gain access to the launch special 24 hours before anyone else on this here email list does:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq9cT1xH5Q4

(Note: clicking the link above will automatically add your name to the Coffee Cartel pre-sale list, take you to a clip from Rick & Morty, the greatest animated show of all time, and allow you to gain access to the Coffee Cartel launch special 24 hours before anyone else on this list or my social media channels does)

_A. Mullan