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Online Guru to W-2

Never lose sight of the Target

Zac Small's avatar
Zac Small
Jan 15, 2023
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This past week, I completed week #1 at my new manual labor job, the first since leaving the U.S. Navy in 2014 and my first W-2 work in years.

In this piece, I’ll be breaking down where I’m now, the decision to head back to the workforce, and how I balance it with the family and online side.


Working in Sunshine > Working Online

In 2022 I restructured my business, changed how I operated online, and emphasized my “real world” life and the inner working of the Fraternity of Excellence. With my focus taken off the content creation and expansion/marketing of things, the numbers slowed down, and so did the income.

The job title is Project Manager for a local landscaping company.

I used to think “Landscaping Company” meant mowing lawns, but that’s not what this is; this company does commercial, state, and residential work, with their expertise being all things outside the home. From paving/bricklaying driveways and custom outdoor kitchens to retainer walls, mowing, cutting down trees, clearing rivers, and bridge work. It’s pretty cool as I’m learning a lot, and this week alone, we were digging trenches, grading lawns, we laid eight pallets of sod, clearing 1.5 miles of a river from logs, winching stumps, cutting trees, clearing brush, etc.

Before this position, I didn’t know how to do many things I’m doing now, as I’d never worked landscaping or construction before.

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