Nienke Nina (00:02.606)
Just hairs, I just wanna make sure that this thing is this color, no.
This is the color. All right. Let me see.
Nienke Nina (00:22.926)
Hello everyone. Welcome to a brand new episode of the Digital Nomads Daily Podcast. Today's episode is about something I'm really passionate about. It's been a big, big, big topic in my, actually last 365 days, if it's not forever. And that is all about building your freedom business, building your freedom business in a way that it's aligned with how you actually want to show up.
And why I'm passionate about this is that one, of course, I'm, you know, like I just said, like I've been through this myself, throughout my whole freelance career or my whole freelance journey. But it's also a conversations that I tend to have a lot with people, with friends, with other entrepreneurs. We talk a lot about it on the podcast, because one of the things that is so true is that if you were, if your business is giving you a lot of stress, if your business is.
Not giving you that feeling of like, yes, this is what you want to do. This is freedom. If your business is not a joyful experience for you, it's just, you know, then why are you doing it? Like really? And of course there's this like moment of uncomfortness and stepping stones and all of that is part of it. But if like the consistent actions.
tasks, efforts, projects, everything that consistent part of that's constantly not working for you. It's really time to sort of like ask yourself like, well, what's going on and to perhaps even realign how you're showing up in your business. All right. So this episode is really helpful for, those of you who are wanting to build a freedom business, working on your side hustle. Maybe you already have a business, but you have another project.
Maybe you are working remotely in a, in an employment, in a steady contract, but you're actually, you know, want to start your site also do your thing, but you're not really sure how to make that transition. Or if you're running your business specifically, if you're running your business, your, whether that's a freelance journey or what, or, or like a product, or maybe you're coaching or whatever that is, this is really helpful for you. If you're currently feeling sensations of.
Nienke Nina (02:46.19)
chaos, you're not happy, you don't really find freedom, you're always feeling you're never done enough, you're not in love, you're not enough, you're falling behind constantly. Everything had to be done yesterday and you're just like, wow, I don't know what you're doing. So then that episode is definitely for you. So let's start with something very important and that is basically that you have everything inside, like within you, like really you have everything within you.
What you don't realize and what you probably don't know is that when you started your business, it looks also sexy and easy online, but something that we have covered already so many times on this podcast in real life, it's challenging. It's really, really challenging and that's okay. But a lot of people don't talk about it. It was my inspiration for this podcast as well because I'm like, I just...
I don't always need to hear how great everyone is doing. Like I love positivity, you know, guys, I'm super bubbly and stuff, but I also want to hear when things are not great. And I also want to talk about when things are vulnerable and hurtful and not okay. Because when we talk about these things, we free up space because we don't have to live and retell these stories in our internal system, but we can actually like.
take it out, let go, accept and let go, and then have new space for new things, more fun things and positive things. So that's why I record this episode. That's why I really want to have a dedicated episode to this because it's super important. All right, so you have everything within you. So yes, you need to learn new skills. And yes, there is new mindsets and out with the old habits and in with the new habits and all of that.
But whatever it is that you want to create or whatever it is that you want to feel, like you already have that somewhat within you, you just need to like put it to the surface. And that's why it's so important to understand what are the things that are not giving you that feeling of excitement? What are the things that you rather want to let go of? And what are the things that...
Nienke Nina (05:03.886)
You just cannot do anymore. The things that frustrate you to the bone and back. And you know, like it, it's just, you can't do it anymore. So as a freelancer, you might think, or some, someone is starting your business. You might think that, yeah, but I need to suffer a little bit because I just started my business and all of this. And of course, like I already said, there's always this growth journey and all of that, but your business itself.
Right? Your freedom business, the foundation of that business, that doesn't equal suffering. That's not freedom. Right? And for me and a lot of other people in this space, like it's, it's ridiculous. Like these days, how many conversations I have, but it's just true. It's like a lot of people have this image still, which is coming from our conditioning.
from how we grew up or where, or maybe the people around us that we somewhat need to suffer. And that's not really true. But the suffering is usually coming from misalignment. And that's why it's so important to understand what things are working, what things are coming with ease and with flow, and what are the things that are just not working at all, and then which of those things.
are not really working, but you can make it work, right? So those are sort of the three categories. And then what you want to do is think about the stuff that is really working for you, that you feel good about, that keeps you in flow, to either do more of that or just to really like cap on that in terms of like, okay, maybe there is more skills to add to it or maybe more experience so you can make it bigger.
But maybe it's actually perfect the way it is right now. You don't want to make it bigger. And I know you're like, yeah, but Nina, it's fake and lots of questions and all of that. But the truth is, is that this is what entrepreneurship is. It's asking yourself a whole lot of questions. It's constant problem solving. It's constant tackling challenges. And that is, that's not for everyone. And that's also a really challenging journey, especially if you're in solo entrepreneurship.
Nienke Nina (07:22.51)
And you are the one that needs to cheer yourself up. So you're your own cheerleader, but you're also your own general because you need to get work done on time. And you're also your own bestie because obviously you want to go out and do fun stuff, especially if you're a nomad in an amazing place. Like you don't want to be grouped behind your laptop. Right? So there's a lot of discipline around and that you need in order to do this and to handle all these different sensations and emotions of life.
So a process that I have been following in the past months and it started in the summer. So last summer, this is exactly a year ago when there was this drastic change was that where I was really, really thinking, okay, I have all these skillsets. There's all these different projects that are going on right now, but what are the projects that are actually giving me a lot of joy that I find fun that are.
come with flow that I feel like I'm completely my element. And this was not a one session on a paper and just be like, yeah, I'm going to write this down and that's it. This has been a process for months. And the first thing that I started doing was to kind of map out the big income streams or projects that were like very, very present. Because within that there's always like smaller things, right? But we first want to start a bit big. So helicopter view.
So I did that and then I realized that the majority of how I was helping my clients was actually not in alignment with what for me freedom means. And that was a big one. I was like, my God, how, like what I've been doing. Like I've created a business and a way of working.
that is not in alignment with how I want to show up, I guess crazy. So of course, because I was still working with clients, I couldn't also just change overnight. As this process didn't happen overnight, the outcome or the insights didn't came overnight, but also I'm working with people who are also paying me, I couldn't change this overnight. So before I made any changes, what I really did was figuring out, okay,
Nienke Nina (09:46.862)
Am I going to make these changes? If that was going to be that some clients, they might not even like that. They might want to walk away from working with me. Like, can I, like, am I ready for that? And this was one of my, my business besties. She actually said to me, like, are you willing to walk away? And the way she said it, I was like, yeah. She's like, Nina, I'm going to ask again. It's like, are you willing to walk?
away, like she's not going to pay you anymore. You're not going to work with this person anymore. Are you willing to walk away? And I was like, I think I am now. And that, that took really long because I knew that there was just like misalignment. And, this was for a few specific projects that we had this question around going. And it was very funny because some of these projects were, were really connected to how I thought I wanted to build my business.
last year. Okay, so I would say like last year and then eight months later, I started to get a lot of clarity. I stopped working with on some projects and with some people, but that was just really because of that, right? Like I just felt like I need to create space. So that means that I need to free up some space and need to take some things out and take a risk.
And that risk was very scary because I was like, yeah, I don't know if this is going to work. I don't know if I'm, I can really do it is. And then all the limiting beliefs started to come in. So it was very strange experience because I knew the way I was showing up, the way I was delivering my surface, the way I was helping my clients was not working for me. When I finally had all the courage to make that decision, my limiting beliefs started to come in.
And I felt super uncomfortable and vulnerable and I wasn't even sure if this is what I wanted to do. So then I, I really had to sit with myself for another few weeks to go through those motions because I knew that my mind and my body were pushing me back into no, what have you done? You should continue doing what you're doing because that's safe and that worked and, and all of that. But I was like, no.
Nienke Nina (12:06.414)
I am in a growth zone. It was almost like I could like observe this sort of like scenery from the outside and as an outsider and just really see that happen. And then I, yeah, no. And then I decided to stay in this super uncomfortable, painful growth zone. I felt so secure in days and confidence and other moments of that same.
like so like insecure, crying, I didn't know what I was doing. And just like really like crazy, yeah, like it felt like crazy moments, like a crazy roller coaster. Wait, Risha, I need to say something to a friend of mine quickly. What's up?
Nienke Nina (13:41.614)
Alright.
Nienke Nina (13:46.318)
So going through all these motions, I also had a lot of conversations with a lot of freedom entrepreneurs. And these are digital nomads. These are like, yeah, nomadic entrepreneurs. And then I started to realize that I was also asking my friends.
Sort of similar questions. Like, you know, the way you're, you're working with this on this project, like, is that actually in alignment? And what is, and if someone would share, I don't know, an experience that would be a bit focused on like, when there was like frustrations or communication issues or whatever that, or challenges, whatever that is, I would ask like a bit like different type of questions now, because I was like, okay, this is interesting because to me, it sounds like there's also some.
some misalignment and I just wanted to have more conversations about this. And I wanted to have more conversations about this because I knew that that was happening for me and I felt so insecure sometimes and I wanted to connect with other people's vulnerabilities because that would give me the confirmation of like, hey, it's fine, you're okay, everyone is going through this stuff, like, good girl.
So, and that was intentional, but a bit subconscious, but very intentional. And that's when I started to realize that, yeah, so many people have this. And then it was one comment that was like, bomb, this makes so much sense. So I had a conversation with an entrepreneur friend and we were talking about what channels to be online.
So this is part of your business, right? So this is not per se part of working with clients, but where you want to show up. And she's also in content and in marketing. Our work is actually quite similar. So that is nice sometimes to talk about also a bit like business things and, and, and how you structure your offers and all of that and how you deal with client challenges and new opportunities and yada yada.
Nienke Nina (15:56.11)
So anyway, so we talked about this and then I was thinking about starting a new podcast at the time. And so aside from the Digital Nomads Daily Podcast where I talk with digital nomads, I share about my own digital nomad journey, but also about freedom entrepreneurship like today, I really wanted to think about like, yeah, there's this other topic that I'm leaning towards, but I don't know if that's gonna fit in the Digital Nomads Daily Podcast.
And then we started to have this conversation and then she said, like, yeah, I recently also was thinking about like Instagram and that really made me think like, why am I actually on Instagram for my business? Like, it's just a habit. It's just a habit because I started it and I already invested time and energy in it. And that's, and that's why I'm still there, but I'm actually not really enjoying it. And I was like, that's it. That's the alignment. It's, it's so obvious that.
the way we run our business, the way we show up online on our marketing channels, right? The way we make decisions is so often because of a habit or subconscious thought or strategy that we somewhere picked up. But this moment of like, wait, why am I actually doing this? We don't ask this question to ourselves enough. So let me say this again.
Why am I doing this? Like, why am I really doing this? Like, this is the question we don't ask ourselves enough. And I realized that when I started thinking about my podcast, I went to my new podcast, I went in already. I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. And I was already thinking about cover. And I, I realized that I went so far in already.
And the same thing I had with a client project, like we were working on one thing and before I knew it, we were spiraling going into other things. And then I had an auto conversations. Whoa. Wait, why, why am I working on this specific task right now? It's not in a contract. I'm actually like, we have never properly agreed unless like on me doing this. And that's not on the client. That's totally on me because I just have this tendency of like.
Nienke Nina (18:14.51)
go being a go -getter entrepreneurial, bum, bum, bum, let's go, but not who pause. I mean, like, wait, why am I really doing this? So I found this so groundbreaking because I realized that look at reflect after all the reflections that I had, right. That are, what I realized was that now that I was in the depth of, in the depths of like understanding of, okay, these are the projects I want to work on. But then there was still a little bit of misalignment. I wanted to ask myself.
Why am I doing it the way I'm doing it right now? So when this happened, when this question popped up, I started answering it for everything. So I realized like, why am I drinking coffee? Every day I was drinking coffee and there's nothing wrong with that, but I was just drinking coffee out of habit. So I stopped drinking coffee for three weeks because I was like, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if I'm actually going to be tired. I would just see what happens. I don't really know why I'm doing it.
And also what started to happen is that I would have conversations where extra tasks or things would be through conversations just added to my workload. And then I would be like, even in calls, like, well, okay, wait, why would I even do that? Right? So I would put it in a different tense. And then it helped me to understand that I can say no, I can set boundaries.
And I can be very clear on what I wanna do and if that's in alignment. So I am still in this process, like I'm still figuring it out. But what I wanna share with you as a last sort of thing is that...
You can ask this question to yourself. And I think that you should ask this question to yourself, right? This question of why are you even doing this? But also the question, is this in alignment? Like if it is a very strong struggle constantly, it's probably there's something not right because when things are in alignment, they flow and they just flow so well. And that's a good thing. So sometimes we are like, whoa, this was...
Nienke Nina (20:25.326)
so easy, almost too easy, what's happening? It usually means alignment. So I started to also realize in this whole process, I wanted to focus on positive thinking and the things that really flow and do more of that flow. And now I'm doing that. Things are super easy. My lights are more light. And I also have less negative chit chat in my head because I'm not constantly subconsciously telling myself,
you're not enough. You didn't do enough today. you're behind. you didn't do this task. why did you say it that way? Like I was such a strong judge to myself. I still am, but I notice it now. And that comes very strongly from from that question. Why are you doing what you're doing? Like why are you offering this surface? So what I would love to invite you to is ask these questions to yourself and you can ask this question about your or these questions about your
personal life, about your business, about your site projects, perhaps even about your relationships. But because this episode is so focused on the site projects and, you know, a bit of a peek in how I've, you know, I'm changing the way I'm working, which is super important for freedom. Ask yourself that question for your business or for your project, because you might figure out that there are some things that you're currently doing that are just out of habit.
You don't know why you're doing it and actually it's not really working for you. And that is the good stuff. Those are the golden goodies to freedom. Those are the ones that will show you where you can make those changes to actually create a freedom business and to actually live your freedom lifestyle. All right. All right, guys, that was it for today. I hope that you enjoyed this episode and I'm really curious.
what this has meant for you. And if you want, you can always share your insights or your thoughts with us on Instagram. I really love that. I know that many of you guys do that. And I think it's so much fun because obviously like when the episodes are out, we also wanna, yeah, are we like me and my team, like we really wanna know like, okay, what's happening with you guys? How are you doing? And if you have very specific questions about...
Nienke Nina (22:48.142)
the Digital Nomad lifestyle, about travel, about online entrepreneurship, or if there's a person that you want us to have on the podcast, let us know. If you follow us on Instagram, which is at Digital Nomads Daily, you can just slide in our DM or drop comment, and then we will figure it out because this is why I started this podcast. I want to know what's happening behind the scenes. I'm not so interested in all the sexy photos on Instagram. Of course, I love to post.
nice photos with big smiles as well. But what this podcast is for and really is about is to show you that, you know, we're all human. We all go through these vulnerable moments and that's totally okay. So, yeah, I'm excited to have more of these chats and to share more about online entrepreneurship and building your freedom business. So, yeah. All right, guys. Happy nomading and...
Happy nomadding.