Day 83 Of My Journey To $40,000 Per Month – Big Decisions, Bigger Ideas
So today is Thursday, May 7th, 2026… and officially Day 83 of my journey towards making $40,000 per month online.
Honestly, today was one of those weird “thinking about the future” days.
You know those days where your brain just refuses to shut off?
That was me today.
I spent a lot of time talking to a couple mentors of mine about potentially creating my own digital marketing program someday… and at the same time I was also thinking long and hard about the future of my YouTube channel and where I actually want to take all of this.
Oh… and I made a couple low-ticket sales today too, so that definitely didn’t hurt my mood either.
Not a bad Thursday.
Current May Income Update
So as of right now, the total amount of money that has actually hit my bank account for the month of May is sitting at $1,137.08.
Not life-changing money yet…
…but definitely moving in the right direction.
I’m also expecting another affiliate payout next week on top of my normal paycheck from my call center job, so my running total for May should jump up pretty nicely soon.
One thing I’ve learned doing this whole online business thing is that momentum matters a LOT psychologically.
Even small wins feel good.
A random sale notification.
A new lead.
A payout hitting your bank account.
It keeps you motivated.
And honestly? Motivation matters more than people think.
Because most people quit way too early.
My Email List Is Almost At 4,000 Leads
My email list is now up to 3,992 leads.
Which honestly feels kind of crazy to type out.
I still remember when I was excited about getting like… three leads in a day.
Now I’m approaching 4,000 people on my email list.
Most of this recent growth has been coming from solo ads and Facebook ads.
I only recently started experimenting with Facebook ads, but I have to admit… I’m actually pretty impressed so far.
The lead flow isn’t massive yet, but it’s consistent.
And consistency is what I care about most.
Solo ads have been bringing in leads too, although I’m still keeping a close eye on quality.
One thing I’m learning VERY quickly:
Not all leads are created equal.
Some solo ad vendors send genuinely solid people who open emails, click links, and actually buy things.
Others…
Well…
Let’s just say some traffic feels about as alive as a cemetery at 2am.
So if you ever buy solo ads yourself, be careful who you buy from.
Seriously.
I did make a couple front-end sales today from solo ad traffic though, so that was encouraging.
Should I Create My Own Program?
This is where things got really interesting today.
I spent part of the day talking with mentors about potentially creating my own digital marketing program.
And man…
That idea is tempting.
One of my mentors was talking about webinars, pricing structures, funnels, positioning, all that stuff… and at one point he casually mentioned that a solid program could potentially generate $25,000 surprisingly fast.
Not gonna lie…
Hearing that definitely activated the greedy goblin part of my brain.
But at the same time, I’m trying to think realistically too.
Right now I don’t really have the money to invest into professional program creation services.
And honestly?
I’m also not fully sure I even WANT to run my own coaching-style business.
One of the biggest reasons affiliate marketing appealed to me in the first place was because I could simply refer people to programs I already liked and believed in… without having to personally coach hundreds of people myself.
I’m just being honest here:
I value my peace and sanity a lot.
And while more money sounds great… I’m not sure I want to trade my mental health for it.
At least not right now.
Another thing I keep thinking about is this:
I don’t want to create a program that’s just recycled information.
There’s already enough of that online.
I’d only really want to create something if I genuinely felt like I had a unique angle or strategy worth teaching.
And honestly…
I think I actually might.
I really don’t see many people teaching the exact style of faceless avatar content I use.
And I ALSO don’t see many people teaching the Canva slideshow strategy the way I use it either.
Those two things alone have made me a LOT of money online.
So if I ever do create my own program someday…
You can bet those strategies would be front and center.
I Think I Want To Become A Real YouTuber
Another thing I thought a lot about today was YouTube.
And if I’m being real…
I’ve been slacking.
A lot.
I haven’t posted consistently in a while, and honestly that’s mostly just been laziness on my part.
But YouTube still matters a LOT to me.
Because YouTube is how I made a huge chunk of my money online in the first place.
And now that AI tools are getting so much better, I honestly feel like I can make way more entertaining videos than I used to.
Back then, most of my videos were basically just Canva slideshows.
Now?
I can make faceless avatar videos, more dynamic edits, better visuals, better pacing… honestly way cooler stuff overall.
And I’ve been thinking…
What if I turned these daily blog updates INTO YouTube videos too?
Would people watch them?
I honestly think they might.
Because the truth is…
A lot of people want to escape their jobs.
A lot of people feel stuck.
A lot of people want proof that normal people are actually trying to build something better for themselves.
And maybe documenting the journey openly is actually more valuable than trying to sound like some perfect guru all the time.
I also think I want to branch out beyond just reviewing make money online programs.
Don’t get me wrong — review videos still work VERY well for search traffic.
But I also want to talk about bigger topics like:
How to escape your 9-5
How to build income online
How to grow an audience
The reality of trying to make money online
The mental side of entrepreneurship
The mistakes people make
What’s actually working for me
I think expanding the content would make things more fun.
And honestly?
Probably healthier creatively too.
Because I don’t want to build a business I secretly get bored of.
Final Thoughts
Anyway, that pretty much wraps up Day 83.
Still working the call center job.
Still building.
Still learning.
Still trying to figure this whole thing out one day at a time.
But I genuinely feel like things are moving in the right direction right now.
Slowly…
…but definitely moving.
And if you’re someone who wants to learn how I’ve been making money online and building this whole thing for myself, I put together a free training that walks through what I’m personally doing.
You can check that out here:
Hopefully it helps you the same way this stuff helped me.
