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I started this without really knowing it when I made my blog. I think your steps are very useful.
Baselining is often underestimated/underused but it is rather important as it shows possibilities. Something I do now and again is to write down everything that I do in and a day as I do it. Then reviewing it at the end of the day I see where most of my time goes.
What kills me about us two is that we're doing similar things independently - kind of like Newton and Liebniz. I started my income snowball a few months ago, and I know have a legal business shell that's covering my streams. The name of the shell: Creative Liberations, LLC. So when you wrote about Project Liberation - I thought, huh, that's interesting.
Too much Tim for us, I guess.
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Response:
Wow. That's some insane synchronicity. Must be in the zeitgeist. :-)
Great post, Clay.
My brother and I are both awesome (if I do say so myself), well-adjusted, and have a great relationship with our parents. We both had happy childhoods filled with family vacations (fishing trips to the beach near home and yearly road trips to our grandparents' home in North Carolina), parties (low-budget affairs in our living room), and lots of love.
I think parents should worry less about lavishing their kids with game consoles and more about being around for dance recitals and homework help.
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Response:
Awesome story. (In case anyone's wondering, Laurie really is awesome).
"WOW! That's amazing! I would have never thought of that! Now that I mention it, I NEVER HAVE thought of that before! I need to do what this article says! Right now!"
(Insert sound byte of hand hitting forehead!)
Because for people like you, Clay, who have a mind for business and money, it comes second nature to think of these things. I guess I'm commenting to say thanks for the lesson. I needed it and I'm going to do these things today!
Happy Fourth. Don't burn your hair off or anything.
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Response:
You a truly gifted and skilled craftsman and I hope you're well on your way to becoming a millionaire.
Have you read "The E-Myth Revisited"? I highly recommend it. It's a great read for small business owners.
I think your plan makes a lot of sense.
"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour."
I'm currently trying to strip it down to the basics, and start focusing on stuff I can do easily now, and most importantly, stuff that I feel passionate about. I've got over a page of topics written down for the blog I'm getting ready to launch, and several articles already through the first draft phase. I'm heading out for a camping trip all next week; I plan to seriously de-stress and re-focus, read a few books, and draft out more articles in a notebook. When I get back, I'm gonna launch that puppy whether or not all the details are ironed out.
I think once I finally take a first step, no mater how small, I'll get rolling...
I actually just ran the minimum numbers in a sloppy way that I need and it's far less than what my "goal" has been. In fact it seems very, very doable, and very soon. Cool!
Keep on rockin' the excellent posts.
~Duff
I love the income snowball stuff and I'm very anxious to hear about the top secret stuff.
Let's start with the snowballing effect first shall we. :)
Daniel
http://winningeveryone.com
And yes, it's definitely possible to live a free life with kids. I have two and, without having a great income, even managed to get the "required" game console, cellphones, etc. This whilst moving countries on a "whim", etc. We're a very loving, if unconventional, family and my kids are now happy teenagers, drug and addiction free.
I'm really looking forward to Project Liberation. Sounds right up my street.
Let me be the contrarian and just point out that the debt snowball is a very personal and passive endeavor--regardless of what you pay off, it just affects your own financial situation and nothing else. On the other hand, the "income snowball" is actually a pretty big deal in that taking on new lines of work really affects those around you, people's perceptions of you, the amount of commitments you have, your existing financials, etc etc.
I like your approach of suggesting "start with the easy stuff and hang a shingle," but there's a greater commitment to taking on a tangential career path than choosing which debts you pay off first. Some streams of income are no-big-deal and others may become beasts of a job. I just want to offer the caveat that when figuring out which new jobs are most accessible that one should also consider what the long term implications are. (I know long term is anathema to "quitting things and flakiness" but I also recognize your readers don't want to leave their new customers hanging.) Sometimes that might lead to choosing a number slightly higher up the list...or a different path entirely.
There I go being the traditional boring guy. Just food for thought : ).
You know, I think I agree with you on this. That's a good thought. I see where that needs to be a consideration. If you take on an income stream that works, and works all to well, then sure your time will be required to maintain it. Sometimes this may mean a total sacrifice of everything you once and still hold to be most important. So, is it worth it in the long run?
I never did ask myself that in the beginning, I wonder what would have happened if I did?
I agree about tangential careers, but I believe that one can build an income snowball while doing a number of things that are clustered around your ideal career path.
My long-term goals are very tied up with the internet, so I'm not building websites, doing social media and SEO consulting, and writing ebooks just to make an income.
It's also worth nothing that you can create business relationships that don't demand 2+ years of commitment. Unless they hire me, I don't think ANY of my clients would feel mislead if I can't continue my services on a consistent basis for the next two years.
So, in summary, I think it's possible to (1) create an income snowball that's clustered around a core of relates talents and passions, and (2) manage the expectations of your clients so that no one misunderstands what you are offering.
So, now that that unrelated to the post part of the comment is over, I really enjoyed this post though there is one theme I find that always places me outside the scope of the productivity circles... it always seems that everyone is employed, and makes a decent income at an office type job and they're trying to get out of that. However, I have a shitty job, working at a security monitoring company (I don't get a flashlight) making barely enough to get by (my fault entirely).
I do, however, have a plan, and I've been studying and implementing many ways to make money online and I believe I've come to a point where I can make enough to quit my job (which would make me freaking amazingly happy in just that).
So, I'm just going to lay it all out there. I'm in moderate debt, make about 23k a year and I have very few expenses (the biggest one is my debt). I hate my job and feel like I work and sit around and work and sit around... etc. I'm very inconsistent but I've seen results from very small amount of work online. I know if I worked online (which I love) I could make enough money to support myself.
This is probably a stupid question that only I can answer, but hey, it's good to hear what other people have to say.
Should I quit my job and just work my ass off on my online business...
Or, should I keep my job and try to work my ass off simultaneously to make enough money to quit (which I've been trying to do for years).
This comment is way longer than I expected. Sorry. And thanks for the post.
--Clay
The only financial advantage I had was equity in my home (but not a large amount) to finance the business.
For me, the ability to make the change came from a combination of frustration with constantly hitting dead-ends and glass ceilings working for "the man" and an attitude that money is abundant. In my first year of business, I gave money to charity even though I was not profitable; my wife and I never changed our lifestyle; I continued my masters program; I started a blog; and the newfound freedom opened new doors as my creativity exploded.
Now I see that the possibilities are only limited by my imagination...
My advice to others is that "being responsible" can actually be counter-productive and the quest for discovery is limited without adding adventure to our responsibility...
"We have to recognise accident, i.e., the fact that there is no formula, no 'principle', which covers all things; that there is no totality or system of things. And this recognition at once supports a life of 'responsibility and adventure' and leads to scientific discovery." ~ John Anderson
Great post...
Kent (The Financial Philosopher)
Just about the time I start panicking that a current consulting job is about over, someone else calls. I have a dozen projects I'd love to do (including advertising my consulting "shingle" and blogging) but haven't been able to swing it yet.
When people ask me what I do for a living I can never really say because I do so many different things so I've made up some line about computer consulting.
If it hadn't been for the sudden change in employment I don't think I would've had the nerve to jump off of that bridge, but I'm very glad I did. Now if I can just figure out a way to make the money come in automatically so I can do more traveling... I'll have to read part two!!!
My wife and I have been baselining and taking small steps to decrease our "stuffprint" -- (I just made that up!!)
I work for a Fortune 500 company but I have to tell you that the Life Design idea has not gone unnoticed by them. It seems that allowing employees to create their own reality makes sense for them as well. I now work from home and have almost total control over my schedule.
Because of that transition I've had the space to share my own voice on certain issues. Sufficed to say that I appreciate your voice. You've helped me and my family.