Malan Darras - How to Accomplish Your Dreams, Even With a Full Time Job

H o w T o A c c o m p lis h Y o u rH o w T o A c c o m p lis h Y o u rD re a m s , E ve n W ith a F u ll T im eD re a m s , E ve n W ith a F u ll T im eJo b (T h e S e c o n d M o rn in g )Jo b (T h e S e c o n d M o rn in g )Filed Under: Work on July 24, 2014 by Malan Darras - Get new posts in your inbox here

One of the hardest parts about following your passion or chasing a dream is that inmost cases, your dream doesnt make money right away.

So unless you live at home with your parents or are willing to pull your next mealfrom a garbage can you have to balance your time between your dream and a fulltime job.

Youre not alone, a lot of A-list celebrities spent their early years working a day jobwhile they built their careers.

Brad Pitt used to dress up as a chicken for El Pollo Loco.Madonna worked at Dunkin Donuts.Johnny Depp sold ballpoint pens over the phone.

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Kanye West worked as a sales assistant at The Gap.

We all have to start somewhere.

I D id I t T o oI D id I t T o o

When I started doing online marketing I was working 9-5 at marketing/adagencies, playing in multiple bands (another passion that made no money) andworking on campaigns at night. The balancing act wore me down it was almosttoo much to take. I asked myself several times Is this worth it?

Finally, after a lot of trial and error, experimentation and failure, I figured out a wayto balance chasing my dream and a full time job.

Within a year I was able to confidently quit my job, break free from the 9-5 grindforever and make more money than Id ever made in my life.

And now, because Im your friend, Ill show you how to do it too.

T w o M a jo r P ro b le m sT w o M a jo r P ro b le m s

While balancing your time between what you want to do and what you have to do,you run into two major problems.

1. Lack of Time2. Lack or Energy

A full time job takes up 8 hours of your day and 80% of your energy. So when youfinally sit down to work on your big idea you have a limited amount of time andenergy to put into it.

You cant add more hours to the day, so youve got to focus on energy.

D o cu m e n t in g E n e rg y L e v e lsD o cu m e n t in g E n e rg y L e v e ls


I looked at my schedule and saw that I had a few hours every day that were muchmore high energy than any other time.

Highest Energy: 9:30am NoonLowest Energy: 3pm 10pm

I had a big surge of productive energy in the mornings, but hit a downward spiralafter lunch that continued for the rest of the day. By the time I got home to workon my own project I was out of gas.

So my thought was If I can recreate that high energy time in the evening, I canget more of my own work done.

To get started, I documented the process that led up to that high energy momentin the morning.

What I documented looked something like this:

1. Sleep2. Wake Up3. Take a shower / Clean up4. Drink a smoothie5. Drive to work6. Get a cup of coffee7. Start work

I took out drive to work and had a system I could recreate in the evening.

That evening, instead of just sitting down at the computer right away I wentthrough the process.


1. I had a quick nap2. I took another shower3. I drank another smoothie4. I made coffee5. I started working

It worked.

My energy level spiked again. It felt like a full reset on my mind and body. I wasmore alert, my brain functioned better, I could concentrate more and I was able towork much more effectively than ever before.

According to recent studies, even short naps are very good for your brain:

A study by Dr Olaf Lahl at the Institute of Experimental Psychologyrevealed that even an ultra short episode of sleep is sufficient topromote declarative memory performance.

even an ultra short period of sleep is sufficient to enhance memoryprocessing. We suggest that the mere onset of sleep may initiate activeprocesses of consolidation which once triggered remain effective even ifsleep is terminated shortly thereafter.

Source: Journal of Sleep Research

M y R e s u ltsM y R e s u lts

I used the Second Morning concept for a full year. By the end of that year I was


able to quit my job and do online marketing full time.

Within 90 days I was making (way) more money than I ever had at a full time job.

Instead of wasting my best hours on client work or company meetings, I dedicatedall that time to pursuing my dream. And when I focused my energy on my ownprojects the money started pouring in, like waves from the ocean.

I quickly paid off all my debts and fired all of my freelance web design clients. Iwas making more every day than they were paying me for 3 months of work. Igave them all full refunds and recommendations for new web designers. I politelyasked them to never contact me again.

I wanted all responsibilities to other people gone from my life forever. I was finallyindependent. I could finally do my own thing.

I was finally Free.

If youre struggling to find the energy you need to go after your dream I suggestyou give this a try. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to create The SecondMorning and set yourself free.

T h e S e co n d M o rn in g :T h e S e co n d M o rn in g :1. Document your morning. Were all different. My morning routine at the

time was showering, getting dressed and making coffee. For you it may bewake up, eat oatmeal and go for a jog. Just think of what you do and write itall down or put it into a spreadsheet.

2. Pick 2-4 of the big winners. Dont worry about things like Drive to workor Company meeting. Think of the 2-4 power moves that you do to giveyourself an energy spike and add them to the list.

3. Create a Second Morning after work. When you get home from work start over from scratch. Get in bed, close your eyes for a few minutes, take a10-20 minute nap if you can (I used a sleep mask and earplugs) and Wakeup fresh again. Do everything you did earlier in the day and reset yourself.

4. Get to work. Now is your chance. If you do it right youll feel refreshed,renewed and ready to put in 3-5 hours of work before you go to bed. Mostpeople waste their precious hours of free-time on TV and social media (seeWhy It Works below). You can no longer afford to be one of them.

5. Have fun. Remember, this is an experiment and you may feel strange for the


first day or two. But try to stick with it and check your results after a week ortwo. Are you getting more done? Are you having more fun? Keep going.

Thats the process that I followed. Thats what worked for me. You can do a totalreset on your body by taking a quick nap and having a shower. It made me feelreborn, renewed and ready to get things done.

W h y It W o rk sW h y It W o rk s

There are only 24 hours in a day and most of that is taken up doing things youhave to do leaving very little time for the things you want to do.

Sleep: 8 hoursWork: 8 hoursDriving / Errands: 3 hoursYour time: 5 hours

If you work a full-time job you have a maximum of 5 hours a day to work on yourdream. Even less if you have a family or relationship you have to attend to.

Most people waste those precious hours watching TV (Netflix, Youtube too),drinking in bars and arguing politics on Facebook.

How we waste our time:

TV: The average American watches more than five hours of live televisionevery day. (source: nydailynews)

Social Media: Americans aged 18-64 who use social networks say theyspend an average of 3.2 hours per day (source: marketingcharts)

Second Morning allows you to put those wasted hours to work for you. As a result,you appear to be super-human compared to the average person. People will startasking How do you get so much done?

The time is there. You just have to prioritize it correctly.

A b o u t re la t io n s h ip s :A b o u t re la t io n s h ip s :

When I started re-creating my morning at 5:30 PM my girlfriend thought I wascrazy. She hated it and told me I was wasting my time.


If youre in a relationship or have a family at home they may not understand whatyoure doing. All they know is youre definitely not sitting on the couch with themwatching TV anymore and theyll want to know why.

I have found that if you explain what youre doing very kindly and tell them thatwhat youre doing is important to you and your future, you can reduce complaintsdrastically. A lot of times people just need to know why.

C o n c lu s io nC o n c lu s io nIf youre having a hard time finding time to work on your affiliate marketingcampaigns try this. When you get home from work have a nap, take a shower andstart your day over from scratch.

Stick with it for a few days, preferably a week or more. Then see how it feels. Ifyou feel good about it keep going. I did it for well over a year.

Splitting your time between what you want to do in the future and what you haveto do right now is hard. But remember, Ive been there and done it, so you cantoo. Give this a try and let me know how it goes.

Create a Second Morning.

Sources:

1. Nap Study: An ultra short episode of sleep is sufficient to promote declarative memoryperformance

2. Average American watches 5 hours of TV per day from nydailynews.com

3. Social Networking Eats Up 3+ Hours Per Day For The Average American User viamarketingcharts.com

Resources:

SleepGenius: Great app for putting you to sleep, there is something magical about it

Sleep Mask + Earplugs: Use a sleep mask and earplugs to block out sun and mutenoise to fall asleep fast

SelfControl: An app to block time-wasting sites while youre working. I use it daily toblock FB and Twitter while I work.


A b o u t A b o u t M a lan D a rra sM a lan D a rra sThis article was written by Malan Darras and posted at MalanDarras.com. To get postslike this delivered twice a week, for free in your inbox Click here to automaticallysubscribe.

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Malan Darras - How to Accomplish Your Dreams, Even With a Full Time Job

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