I don’t have tens of thousands of subscribers to Vacant Desk but I have enough to say, “Sorry I haven’t posted more often.”
I’m very passionate about this idea of getting out of the office, living life, not being defined by our work – yet making a killing anyways.
I know this is a very Tim Ferrissian sentiment but I don’t care. I’ve been working my whole life to achieve this. And by some measures, I have. (From time to time)
I started working for myself in my early 20′s and I’m 35 now. I had about two years of 15 hour work weeks and I loved it. Unfortunately, that business mounted up on wings like Icarus and then swiftly plummeted to the depths of the sea called “housing market train wreck”. That’s right, I was an evil real estate developer. Bwah-ha-ha!
My “self-employment” history:
- A Waterjet processing facility - Cutting big thick hunks of metal and plastics.
- An architectural metals company – Cutting aforementioned hunks of metal and assembling them into something that (supposedly) looked cool.
- An industrial design firm – I had grand hopes of creating interactive kiosks and placing them everywhere. That would have been such a service to humanity! (by the way – That company was called Interacticon. I know, Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto…)
- A licensee of interesting products I could sell to the public – That lasted about a month.
- A real estate developer - This is where things start to get very, very interesting. In good and very bad ways.
- An internet marketing professional -And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where I am today.
The sum total of this journey of capitalism has encompassed roughly 13 years or so.
I’ve learned a lot!
However, one thing I’ve learned above all, and I guess this is the reason for this post, is that it’s all meaningless if you’re not enjoying life. It’s an absolute waste of time.
If you’re someone who is entirely and completely defined by your job title, the amount of money you make, how many people call you “sir”, or how many hours you work per week, (and I’ve met plenty of these people and struggled with this myself) then this blog may not be for you. Or, perhaps, it’s what you need more than anything.
This isn’t an easy subject to write about…not only are these concepts very broad they apply to so many different niches/approaches/practices/etc.
Here’s what I believe it is though:
- Not putting in the hours a normal American commits to their job.
- Not focusing on how much money you accumulate but the spread between your life costs and your earning capability.
- Being able to point to the most important aspects of life and engage in them: Family, friendship, service, faith, health….
There are also business tools, business models, and modes of thinking that apply to all this.
I hope to explore this subject on a more regular basis in the future. Please share your thoughts in the meantime. I’d love to hear from you.
