How To Start Anything in 2025: Motivation, Mindset & My Big Mistake

Struggling with how to get started? If you want to know How To Start Anything in 2025 and need the motivation to start, then this is how to change your life in 2025! Whether you want to know how to start a successful YouTube channel, start writing a book, or how to start a business, Productivity is key! After starting my own small business and learning different ways to make money online as a digital nomad to support my RV life, plus the other passion projects I’ve created throughout my traveling adventures, “over time”. Trust me when I say I know from experience it all takes “time” to start, much less finish!

But as a small biz owner, I’ve discovered how to start doing anything, especially learning how to start anything new requires Self-development and Self-improvement. However, I did NOT know how to start a small business or even what to start. The First Thing To Do, The Next Thing To Do, much less How To Keep Up With It, and The Commitment involved! In fact, my first business was a FAIL! But, that HUGE business mistake or idea, should I say, led me to my next BIG business idea, which was ReSelling, which then led me to quitting my job and the next online business idea, etc…

Either way, my WARNING is that it’s time to START! So I’m leading the way for how to start 2025 successfully to have the best year, help you build discipline, be productive, change your life, become your best self, and exit your lazy era!

PS I made you a video as a follow-up to this post — you can watch it below

How To Start ANYTHING…

How do you start something when you have no idea what you’re doing or you’re not really sure which way to go? How do you actually get started? How do you make a move and get started?

I’m going to tell you I got some of the most valuable advice the other day — I was perusing YouTube, watching a video kind of like this one, and someone was talking about some of their tips and tricks for how to be productive. I was thinking, how can I apply this to my life? So, I ended up creating three websites in three days!

It was just that creativity that got sparked in me that caused me, that entrepreneur inside me, to just burst out with all of those ideas and actually get something done!

I want to tell you what that “thing” was, and it’s actually kind of simple — I almost do it, and you might do it, not really thinking that you’re doing it already!

Before I forget, please, please, please SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel and drop a comment below this video (or blog post) to let me know if you have any questions, because that helps me make the next videos, blog posts, etc…

If we haven’t officially met I’m Blogging Brandi an ex corporate Kool-Aid Drinker a born to be Creator, blogger, vlogger, digital Nomad, and entrepreneur — you can usually find me in my RV but also you’ll find me at the condo in an Airbnb, a hotel wherever I might be because I like to make money online and be able to do it from anywhere!

The way that I’ve been able to do that was by actually starting something!

Getting Started

Whether you want to start a business or you want to start RV life, adopting dogs, or you want to start anything, if that sounds like you, if that resonates with you, if that’s getting you excited… keep on reading!

My First Business FAILED

TBH, my first business failed! It’s kind of funny that I’m sharing this with you because my first business was a failure. I started out with one of those Vape liquid businesses where you smoke those little pens and you put the oil in it — but it was a fail! I don’t even smoke the pens. I don’t do those things; it wasn’t something that I cared about, and it wasn’t even my audience. I got a really hard lesson in business really quick, about how to sell and what not to sell, and what you’re banned from selling on certain platforms or running advertisements on.

It taught me a lot, but had I not gotten started, had I not spent hours and days and weeks creating a website the first time around, I wouldn’t have learned what was going to work and what wasn’t going to work! So every step that I was taking, I was learning a little bit more about the business that I created and the product that I was selling, and the website that I was making.

BIG Business Mistake = $3,000 Learning Lesson

For instance, one of the things that I learned if I was going to sell this product and I was talking about “smoking,” the people that were buying those Vape pens they don’t want to “smoke” they want to “vape” — I think they were trying to get away from that “Smoking” stigma. It took me talking to this guy, I think I was trying to get my business or products featured on a website, and I was thinking: how can I sell this, because on Google it was banned, Facebook it was banned, everywhere online I tried to sell it as banned!

BUT I didn’t know all this till AFTER I created the logo, got the business name, designed all the boxes, ordered $3,000 in product, and had it shipped over to me from overseas.

OMG, let’s just say it was a $3,000 business mistake that I made, but it was a huge learning lesson.

I’m okay with that because eventually, I stopped selling the product due to all these rules and regulations. Plus, morally, I just didn’t want to sell the product; part of it was a failure, part of it was a mistake, part of it was a learning lesson…

However, it was a stepping stone for the next business so it actually led me into my next business idea which was reselling and that helped me quit my job — which I talked about in a prior video about how I quit my job and went through my whole resignation process — but while I was doing that I was actually starting this business on the side.

Getting Caught By My Boss

My boss kind of found out about my little business venture in a weird way! The security team or somebody from up above reached out to my boss, and he was like, “Hey, do you think maybe when you were working from home, one of those days you went to a website you weren’t supposed to go to or clicked something accidentally?”

What’s more comical is the thing that he was talking about that got me in trouble… I was reselling products online. I was selling on eBay and Amazon. I was flipping these items, that I was buying at Goodwill, Target, Thrift Stores etc… which led me to what I do now and selling the next thing, and the next thing, but I got in trouble = because I started something!

And that actually led me to quit my job eventually!

But at the time, I made something up to get away from the subject. And, just to be clear, the program was actually just a program that recalculated your prices for you automatically on eBay or Amazon — something that I was testing, I don’t even remember the name of it — maybe Terapeak???

Side note: I actually had to look this up… Yes, Terapeak still exists, but it’s been integrated into eBay Seller Hub as “Product Research”. In 2017, eBay acquired Terapeak, and in 2021, they made Terapeak Product Research free to all Seller Hub users. The tool provides valuable insights into market trends, pricing, and demand on the eBay marketplace.

Starting One Business Led To The Next Idea

Starting this one business led me to start this other business, which then allowed me to make the money that I needed to quit my job.

I had this little reselling business started on Amazon and eBay. I didn’t even have a website. I didn’t have social media. I didn’t have a YouTube channel. I wasn’t even thinking about YouTube. I had no plans to be on YouTube or to become “Blogging Brandi” — that wasn’t even my name. I didn’t have a name! My business kind of had a name, it was called “Ambay Exchange,” but I didn’t have a name; I wasn’t a personal brand online until years after my business began.

If you’ve ever watched my story you’ll kind of know what led me to become “Blogging Brandi” and traveling and RVing, etc… what led me down this path of where I’m at now and why I’m even talking to you!

If I hadn’t gotten started:

(1) I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble at my job, and
(2) I might not have started a business!

Getting In Trouble or “Caught” aka called into the Boss’s office was a signal to me, “hey, your time is coming, your time is lived and short — IT’S TIME TO GO!”

Reselling Allowed Me to Quit My Job

Either way… if I hadn’t started it wouldn’t have led me to the next business and the next money making idea, etc…! But reselling is actually how I made a ton of money.

I went from reselling things I was buying at Goodwill to buying pallets online.

I was getting these huge pallets of merchandise delivered to my condo in Atlanta. I wish that I had footage back in the day of this truck coming and dropping off this huge pallet of merchandise. Because I was also worried about people stealing it by the time I ran upstairs at my condo to take the merchandise up and then came back downstairs, so I started buying wagons/carts to haul it around, or I would have people there to help me, and let them know, “Hey, this is delivery day.”

I got kind of wild with the reselling, and I got kind of burned out on it. Then, I wanted to travel, and some things happened while I was traveling that led me to feel burned out. I even tried to hire people to help run my business.

Patience, Persistence & Passive Income…

I tried to keep a hands-off approach to a lot of my business. A lot of people say passive income, but even if it’s passive income, you still have to set it up in the beginning. It doesn’t matter what you start; everything takes a second to get started.

Think about if you started a new job, that new job that new process takes a second to figure out, but once you’re in, it’s almost like you have a little checklist, you go in from 9 to 5 and you know this is what I do every day. I wake up at 5am. I get off at whatever time, I live for the weekend, then I go back Monday through Friday and do it all again, or whatever your schedule is. I used to have that “checklist mindset” when I worked in corporate America. — I actually call these types of “systematic” people “Checklisters” now.

I didn’t have the same mindset now that I did back then.

After becoming an entrepreneur, we kind of laugh about this (my boyfriend and Myself). We talk about some of the people that we speak to and interact with — people that are in the beginning stages of starting their business, they have all these questions! The same questions I forget I use to ask!

That’s why I say if you have questions, please please please drop them in the comments below because that lets me know what to make other content about.

How To Make The First Move?

I just wanted to make this post because I have a lot of people say:

How do I start?
How do I make the first move?

The first move is made by you, making a move — ANY MOVE!

This advice that I had received the other day, which I’ve kind of told you in a way already, was to just start: if you want to start a website, maybe you start by buying the domain name or maybe you purchase the hosting plan (I use GoDaddy)

For instance: If I was going to buy a domain name, maybe I would come up with a name that I wanted to buy — one of the websites that I put together was called Fancy Financials. So on all of the social media platforms online, I wanted to have a similar variation of that name.

I did a little bit of research, and I kind of wanted something just to do with money, and I created this entire website because people ask me all these questions about: saving money, making money, credit scores, finance, etc… plus if you don’t know, I have a degree in finance!

My Sara Blakely Moment

I quit my job in finance, working for BAC (Bank of America Merrill Lynch). I used to do accounting, Investments, and financial planning for people. I started out working with people like you, doing small Investment Financial Planning for individuals, then moved on to investing millions and BILLIONS of dollars for these HUGE institutional investors.

And then one day… I was said, This isn’t my story = I’ll call it a Sara Blakely moment!

If you don’t know who Sara Blakely is… she’s a BILLIONAIRE and the founder of Spanx!

I shared a little interview she did talking about how she got started…

You’ve always been an entrepreneur, and so what gave you the initial idea to start the company that everyone knows as Spanx — how did you get started?

Well, you know everybody always talks about the moment that I cut the feet out of my pantyhose to solve an undergarment issue that didn’t exist, as the way that Spanx started. But actually, I’m going to back up a little bit in my story and talk about a part that isn’t written about very much, which is how Spanx started when I was selling fax machines door to door. Anybody who does door-to-door sales knows — it was really intense!

I was doing that for seven years (in Clearwater, Florida), and I was getting business cards ripped up in my face! I was being escorted out of buildings, and it was just a really difficult time in my life. One day, I pulled off the side of the road, and I thought I was in the wrong movie, like cut, call the producer, call the director, this is not my life, this is not my story!

I went home that day, and I wrote down what I thought I was good at, and the only thing in the good column was sales, and I said to myself, “Okay, why am I good at sales? What is it about sales that I love?” I loved offering something to someone that maybe helped them, made their life easier, or better, or was something that they needed! I decided in that moment that I want to sell something that I love and that I’m passionate about.

Well you know I’m selling fax machines and so that wasn’t something I was passionate about and in that moment I wrote down in my journal I’m going to invent a product that I can sell to millions of people that will make them feel good and then I literally specifically said out loud to the universe I said please give me the idea!

It was two years later that I was going to a party in Atlanta (I was 27 at the time) that I cut the feed out of control top panty hose to wear under white pants to solve an issue that I didn’t want to see the panty lines or the thong and everything else going on under the pants and when I got home that night I thought this this could be the idea!

Guys, how many of you enjoy selling? vs how many how many of you did not enjoy selling?

That was ME! I said to myself: I’m done, I’m out! — I mentioned in a prior video about how I quit my job, and I just was ready, I was checked out!

I never thought that I would be using my degree in finance for filming and making videos! It was 8 years ago that I decided to take a leap of faith and quit my job to start a business.

But it took me 6 months to prepare for my departure, and RV living wasn’t even on my radar back then.

Before I Started Blogging

So before I started RVing, Blogging, and filming videos, I was using my finance degree. I lived in Buckhead (across from the Spanx headquarters) and would walk to work across the street every day!

And, so if you don’t know my story before I ended up in an RV, over 8 years ago, I put in my resignation, and I sent my boss an email, and I said peace out, I’m not working there anymore…

YES, over 8 years ago, I took a leap of faith, and I said, “Hey, I want out of this place.”

BUT RV living wasn’t on my radar. All I cared about at the time was:

starting a business
making my own schedule
building an empire, and
making productive use of my time

Because the job that I had wasn’t fulfilling. I just remember going into my job and having this painted smile on my face. In my mind, saying “hey yeah, I’m here to do a job, okay, bye!” But in the back of my head, I hated my job. All I cared about was starting a business! I was so CHECK OUT!

Taking A Leap Of Faith = Terrified 😳

I can’t tell you how scared I was to jump into not only becoming an entrepreneur but also an RVer.

In the beginning, when you’re trying to start something, it STARTS by starting — scared or solo, no matter what your situation!

Because by the time you buy that domain, or you get that hosting plan, then you’re already creating your website, you’re already playing around with the themes, you’re already creating your logo or you’re already setting up your social media accounts.

By taking the first step, it kind of makes you a little bit more productive and confident to take the next step and the next step…

What happened with my businesses is I took the first step, and so I would create one website, and then it was like okay, well this one isn’t going to work, or it’s not doing it for me, but I would learn something. Then I would create another website, or I would instead of using a website platform like Shopify or Etsy, I learned how to create my own website on GoDaddy using WordPress.

But everything that I tested, tried, failed or succeeded at led me to learning what I know now, and I wouldn’t call myself a website developer, but I would say I’m pretty good at it — I’ve learned a lot!

I would not have been able to put together my Fancy Financials money website that I put together had I not started a website to begin with the first time around.

Struggling With Getting Started?

If you’re struggling with getting started or making a move, you’re procrastinating, and thinking: “Okay, what should I do? What’s the next step?” — You can write out notes all day long BUT… it starts with TAKING ACTION… one step in any direction!

For instance: I had notes about this blog post and the video that I wanted to make, but I was like, you know what, I’m usually really good if I just start, then I don’t need all the notes. They’re good to have and they keep me on track, but honestly, I’ve learned over the years by being myself and just really talking to you as a human being, as if we’re sitting here having breakfast or a coffee, it feels more natural and it feels more like me! Plus, it leads to more natural conversations and people being real with me or booking calls and taking courses that I’ve created or leaving comments down below or liking my videos and subscribing to my YouTube Channel and tapping that little bell icon so they’re notified each and every time I publish a new video!

>> READ: How I Started A Very Much Loved Business Blog (& You Can Too!)

Comment Below

On that note, please drop a comment below and let me know how this resonated with you: what are you struggling with starting? What’s your game plan? Are you planning 10 years out, five years out?

because I will tell you I don’t plan like that…

Or what did you not accomplish in all the years prior that you had planned to do because you were procrastinating — saying “I’ll start one day.”

Stop Procrastinating Over Perfection

I can’t tell you how many people I talk to, and I’m like, “Well, did you start that thing?” Did you do that thing that you wanted to do? — And I’ll get a reply “no one day when I get $10,000 then I’ll do it!” or “One day I will but I’m still trying to think of a business name, etc…”

FYI, did you know, you can actually build an entire website (I have one built right now, it’s about travel). I’ve started the website, but I haven’t named it yet! I have a few ideas of what I want to name it. But, I just haven’t decided on the name yet! – You can build a website without even having a name.

For instance:

I wanted to make a website about travel beacuse people would ask me questions: how can you afford to travel, travel guides to the places that I’ve travel and how do you save money when you travel and how do you plan your travels etc… so I knew to start making content about those things which I already had in my arsenal of things.

Another example:

If you want to be a blogger or to start a blog, maybe you’re not ready to start the website. But what you can do is open a document (I use Google Docs, Google Drive Workspace) it can be on your computer, notes your phone, just start making notes about what you are going to blog about, what you want to start online, all your ideas – that helps me and then I can just copy and paste those things into whatever the next thing is.

Honestly, sometimes I’ll just start writing and by the time I’m done — it could be a blog post, or a video — I’ll think oh, I only had two things that I wanted to say but then 20 minutes later I have an entire chapter of a book written or an entire blog post written or an entire three series video written.

Just START, that’s what you have to do, you have to just start, you have to start something, start somewhere. Write out the ideas and plan that you have.

You can see that when I talked about quitting my job, I had a list of things to do before I quit.

Or when I’ve talked about how I became a digital Nomad and the steps I took to Brand myself online and put myself out there, I started with one thing. I started with a website, then I started with social media, and I’m on a lot of the platforms, but just because I’m on them doesn’t mean that I’m on them all the time or that I’m posting on them or that I’m communicating on them. Some of them work better for me than others. Making YouTube videos works better for me than, say, being on LinkedIn.

Final Thoughts…

Please please please drop a comment below, hit the like button if you like this blog post (and video) subscribe to my channel, and tap that little bell icon if you haven’t already, because that means that you haven’t gotten started.

Tell me what you are going to start first? Comment below, I want to hear. I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to see what you get started on!

If we haven’t officially met, of course, I’m Blogging Brandi. I am super excited to share with you what’s going on in 2025, but the first one was one of the websites that I created. I actually just dropped that on you if you didn’t figure that out.

Some of My Blogs:

Money Blog @FancyFinancials
RV Life @RVersity
Dog Life @BirdiesDoghouse
Biz & Branding Blog @BLABossInc
ReSelling Blog @AmbayExchange
Blogging Blog @BornToBlogClub

>> Take a Tour of All My Blogs HERE!

PS stop drinking the corporate Kool-Aid — no more! 🤮

Are you thinking about starting your own small business or a side hustle and looking for ways to make money online? Here’s how to start a SUCCESSFUL small business in 2025 🌷📦 the ULTIMATE guide, advice, everything I learned to start and grow your online business fast…

🚨 DOWNLOAD 100’s of small business ideas in this small business guide ⬇️

My ULTIMATE GUIDE to making money online as a Digital Nomad from Anywhere!

Plus, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel, so you won’t miss an episode in this series of HOW TO START 2025 SUCCESSFULLY: goal setting, healthy habits, reinvent yourself, & mindset!

XO – Blogging Brandi

ABOUT ME

If we haven’t officially met Hi, I’m Blogging Brandi, an EX-Corporate Kool-Aid Drinker, born to be blogger, Female Entrepreneur, and Digital Nomad who LOVES RV Living, since it keeps me close to Nature! All though you can catch me from time to time on an airplane, in a hotel, Airbnb, as I can WORK FROM ANYWHERE not just my RV.

I’m also an all-natural, introverted, God Fearing, Rescue Dog Mom, but most importantly a Writer and Creator! I believe you can have many passions, create multiple streams of income, and don’t have to conform to the norm!

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ICYMI…

My Sunglasses are Transitional Glow in the Dark Glasses by Zenni Optical

I used GoDaddy to build my websites, buy my domains, and host.

Google Workspace is my Go To for Documents, Spreadsheets, PowerPoint, & Taking Notes!

I mentioned that I was searching YouTube and came across a video that inspired me (here’s the link to How To Start Anything in 2024 By Amy Landino of Amytv

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