My wife and I recently went to an Escape Room with some very close friends.
The experience was amazing and if you’re not familiar with an Escape Room, stay tuned…
An escape room is an interactive puzzle experience where players work together to find clues and complete challenges to “escape” within a set time. It’s a test of logic, teamwork, and creativity!
Here are some fun escape room themes:
- Haunted Mansion – Solve eerie riddles and uncover ghostly secrets to escape a cursed estate.
- Spy Mission – Crack codes and defuse a bomb before time runs out!
- Pirate Treasure Hunt – Navigate clues to uncover hidden gold before rival pirates arrive.
- Time Travel Lab – Fix a broken time machine before you’re stuck in the past forever.
- Bank Heist – Solve high-stakes puzzles to grab the loot and make your getaway.
- Alien Invasion – Decode extraterrestrial messages to stop an impending invasion.
The escape room that we experienced took place in the early 1990s in a VHS video rental store. You remember those, “Be Kind Rewind” places? Anyway, our task was to work together to retrieve a video cassette that we accidentally returned without rewinding in order to avoid the expensive penalty that the video store charges.
This room required a lot of visual and analytical observations so that we could achieve our objective. It sounds complicated and oftentimes it was, but it was loads of fun. 
For example, one of the friends is an engineer and was very analytical. His wife was logical and looked at things from a different aspect. My wife was task oriented and kept us on track and on pace. I was there as the eye candy – Ha ha ha ha! I was actually there to facilitate the interaction between all the characters.
The interesting thing is that these character traits and behaviors were not planned, they were just what naturally came to us in order to work together to solve the puzzle.
The moderator of the escape room offered to assist us with up to three clues if we needed them. And yes, we needed them!
In the end, we escaped the room and completed our objective as defined by the theme of retrieving and old VHS tape that we forgot to rewind. It was tons of fun… but only because we chose to have fun.
I can see how this experience could be very frustrating and cause anxiety for some in the group. This was an activity that required us to work together and to rely on each other in order to 
finish the activity in the allotted time frame.
We certainly didn’t break any records by completing the activity quickly, but we laughed and joked with each other the entire time. Needless to say, it was a very successful and entertaining evening for us all.
So, what does this have to do with running an online business? Well, I’m glad you asked!
About three quarters of the way into the escape room activity, I realized that this was very similar to setting up my online business.
My online business has forced me to step outside of my comfort zone in order to finish many tasks that I either didn’t realize I needed to complete or had no clue how to complete. The thought of creating an online business is the easy part. It’s actually getting through all the steps that is the challenge. In a future blog post I will detail many of the things that I needed to do just to set up a website and this blog post, not to mention actually running the business.
In short, I counted 9 main parts to complete with roughly 26 steps within those main parts. Inside each step there was anywhere between 3 and 9 sub-steps. I am sure there are a few more, but my brain started to hurt while looking at all my data.
At times, I felt trapped as if in an escape room. I couldn’t find the clues. But slowly but surely, one by one, each piece of the puzzle started fitting together and made sense. Before I knew it, I was able to get on to the next clue (step) and the next clue and the next clue until I no longer felt trapped.
I’m not trying to scare you, I promise! I actually did not realize how much I did to set up a website and a blog post (again, this doesn’t include running the business) until I started to research for this blog post.
Here’s the good news. It’s doable! I did it! You can do it, too!
I started with the end in mind and that was to create this blog post that you are reading right now. Once I discovered what it entailed, it began to feel just like that escape room. I had no idea what I was doing and I had no idea where to begin.
Rather than panic, I begin to use my resources. I took a step back and outlined exactly what I wanted to accomplish. I reached out to my mentor and was provided with some very specific training to make things easier for me. This training consisted of a step-by-step process of how to complete the objective in mind.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing as I was just following the training that was provided. Without realizing it, I was actually learning and retaining what I was doing.
And then it happened, I completed all the steps without even knowing it and published my first blog post on December 20, 2023. Click here if you want to see that very first post but please don’t judge as my writing and my theme has really evolved since that day.
My website and my blog still need work. But I look forward to learning new things and finding solutions to the clues that will get me further down the road and allow me to continue to experience success.
Have you encountered what I have experienced? Have you had to start from a place where you had no idea or clue what to do or even where the starting line was? How did you get past that feeling of anxiety and how did you move forward. I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I’d love to learn from you.
Now, I’m thinking about my next escape room experience. I wonder what theme we can find that will keep us entertained and engaged?
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.” — Henry Ford
And of course, a few VERY BAD Dad jokes:
I was in an escape room for hours. Then someone reminded me the door wasn’t actually locked.
Why don’t escape rooms have snacks? Because you’re already in a jam.
Until next time, STAY FRESH, Friends!
**If you are curious about this process and wish to know more about an affiliate marketing business, please subscribe to my newsletter here to learn more. And please continue following my blog. My hope is not only to create the freedom I so long for but pass on what I have learned to others who have similar aspirations.
Ernie, I loved how you tied the escape room adventure into the realities of building an online business—it’s such a perfect metaphor. So many times I’ve felt stuck in a puzzle with no clear next step, only to realize later that each “clue” I figured out gave me the confidence to keep going. Your reminder to lean on mentors, take a breath, and keep chipping away really hit home. Also, your “eye candy” comment cracked me up—thanks for sharing both the realness and the laughs! And I absolutely love your TikTok channel keeping posting – I look forward to them!
Hi Alison – Running an online business can be such a puzzle. We’re confident when we start and then we get lost in the middle of trying to figure out what to do rather than taking a step back and thinking about things clearly. Oftentimes we can figure out ourselves and oftentimes we need help. The idea is to keep moving forward. Thank you for your visit and for your comments and for your constant support!
Totally loved this Ernie. Reminds me of Basic Training and then Officers courses! We all knew that we could get through it but many of us thought that we could get it done alone – those were the ones who washed out btw.
This is a great example of how you can definitely do something – even if it’s out of your comfort zone – but you need help and must ask. Something I’m still working on: the asking part.
Appreciate the reminder Ernie!
Hi Marc – While I was never in the military (and am certainly grateful for those of you that made this sacrifice), I can understand how this parallels with my example. It is the will within each of us that we need to make ourselves move forward to accomplish tasks that seem so difficult. Thank you for your visit and for your comments, as always.
Ernie, this reminded me of how I felt when I started building my affiliate marketing blog. I had no clue where to begin and everything felt overwhelming, like being dropped into a puzzle with no instructions. But just like your escape room, each small step I took gave me more confidence and clarity. I also relied on a mentor and followed simple training, and before I knew it, I had my first post live too. It’s encouraging to see how much progress comes just from taking one step at a time. Atif
Hi Atif – Yes, one step at a time. The impatient part of me wants to skip ahead or take giant leaps. But I discovered that if I’m patient and persistent each step builds upon the next one. It’s working out great for you as your website and blog looks fantastic as well as your follow up emails. Thanks for being a good example and motivation!
Loved this post! You nailed the comparison – starting an online business really is like an escape room. Confusing, chaotic, but so satisfying once things click. And I laughed out loud at “I was the eye candy” 😂 Thanks for making the journey feel a little less lonely and a lot more fun! Your tiktok video on this was brilliant!
Hi Sarah – Thank you for your visits and for always providing such nice invaluable comments. I truly appreciate all the support that you have provided me for so long and I am glad that you chuckle at my silly sense of humor. It’s nice to know that I have one fan out there… 🙂 !
Ernie, I absolutely love how you tied the escape room experience to building an online business, it’s such a clever way to explain the process! That VHS rental store theme sounds like a blast, and the way you connected the puzzle-solving chaos to the step-by-step grind of setting up an affiliate site really was great! As a beginner myself, I’ve felt that same overwhelm you described, like being locked in a room with no clear clues. When I started, tasks like picking a niche or setting up a blog felt daunting, and I had no idea where to begin. But, like you with your mentor’s training, I found a great mentor as well and he has helped me drastically in my business. Your post reminds me that it’s okay to feel lost at first; you just keep going, one clue at a time. I’m hooked and can’t wait for more of this real, practical wisdom you give in your blog posts! Can’t wait for next week’s… Have a great week ahead!
Meredith
Hi Meredith – You are always so incredibly kind with your nice comments. Thank you! As I was completing the task with my wife and friends, I could not help but to think about this online business. There are so many twists and turns and unknowns that it is easy to get lost and frustrated. Writing this blog over the last few years has helped me as it’s forced me to think about the process and about my mindset. I’m not sure if I would have lasted this long without mentors and peers like you who are encouraging and motivating. I think you know, but I’m a big fan of yours, and I know as newbies, we will see success at the right time. Thanks for your visit, as always, my friend!
Every week you come up with the most appropriate metaphorical comparisons. The escape room shows that there are different ways to view any situation- like grim determination, in this case, or just having fun with your friends in the moment. Either way, the escape happens. Why not enjoy the process?
Hi Kate – I completely agree that we should enjoy the process. There is always something that we can find that is meaningful and joyful even in the midst of difficult situations. Thank you for your visit to my blog post and for your kind comments. Have a fantastic week, my friend!