Leaders of the Free World

I couldn’t help but read Dena’s guest post from yesterday and not want to put in my own two cents!

This past year has seen me discover that 6 years of study, work and all that jazz has amounted to me not particularly wanting to pursue my set career path (or a career path at all), income stream experiments, starting a company to launch a software product (coming very soon!) and also starting to write.

I’d like to look back on 2009 and say ‘that was the year that the penny dropped’ and the ball got set into motion.

We’re all leaders of the free world, but our own free world. You might enjoy your job, but each and every one of us ARE self employed, whether you like it or not you’re always going to have to look out for number one.

In taking your own baby steps into the free world you’re definitely doing the right thing! What have you got to lose? If you try and fail you’ll just be right back here, having been to yet another end of year work Christmas party, talking to the same people, about the same things. Alternatively you could be in an insane Christmas rush to get your latest product that you’ve created out the door to fill all of your Christmas orders, freelancing your arse off to meet your client’s deadlines or travelling around managing your own affairs? If your free world experiments don’t work you will always have the safety net of returning to work in early January to start it all again..

Focus is the Key

Focus is the derivative, having a goal or a purpose is the backbone. What do you want? What do you want to do? Travel? Run your own business? Get stinking rich? Why do you want to be rich? Keep asking yourself questions on your questions to find what you really want and strive for it. Focus on exactly what you want. In experimenting with new income streams and trial & error in general there are two theories out there: focus on each one individually, one at a time and give each experiment your full attention, or go hell for leather at everything all at once, see what you excel at and then target towards that. This year I’ve found that I’m the former: I’ve got a hundred ideas but a short attention span meaning I’m easily side-tracked, I’m adopting a more focused approach to one thing at a time.

Your Purpose

I’ve made a point of reading whatever I could on the work life balance, running your own show and escaping the 9-5. The one point that has stuck with me was by Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind, paraphrased: “Are you waking up and eating your three meals a day, not achieving anything in particular, floating through life?” and a follow up of “Finding your purpose & defining your goals is easy, what can’t you not do?” These two points infuriated me, they stuck with me and won’t go away, I can’t get rid of them or get them out of my head. When I’ve had a lazy week I do think “Well, time to get dinner ready, the third meal of the day…”

So what are you waking up for each & everyday?

Patience

I recently found out that most of America’s self made millionaires hit the ‘big time’ at the ripe old age of 57. 57 years old? The book I was reading went on to say that during the 20’s a person is busy experimenting (guilty) and switching from job to job, in the 30’s there’s the obligation to settle down and focus on a career, the 40’s is where the real ‘work experience’ kicks in and it’s not until the late forties and early 50’s that you have a break through that can provide real value. The point the author was trying to make was that you need life experience before you can add any real value to people’s day to day lives.

With this in mind I am going to take my foot of the pedal (only a bit!) in the coming year, keep reading & researching and be a bit more patient, here’s hoping my idea is just around the corner.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I read Dena’s guest post and it struck a chord with me. It also reminded me that yesterday I found myself on a phone call with an Engineering Manager to follow up a job interview! We all want to lead our own Free World but I’ve learnt this year that it’s a process, until your lotto numbers come up you’re going to have to work, whether it’s for someone else or yourself, tickets to the Free World aren’t easy!

Baby Steps into the Free World: How to Put Yourself First & Succeed
Hello readers of Leaders of the Free World!  I’m Dena and I’m a big fan of this blog and of Andrew’s mission to free us all from the trenches of corporate slavery!  I first fell in love with Andrew’s writing when I read his guest post, Corporate Fluff a few months back.  As a former cubicle monkey and a current 9 to 5 monkey myself, I could relate to everything that he was saying.  Bring down the man!  Follow your passion! Focus on providing the maximum value [...] Continue Reading…

So I started the Twelve Days of Christmas by questioning the whole commercialisation, religious factor and the massive amount of consumerism that engulfs the holiday.

Nine days later, a guest post from a fellow cynic about how it was the silly season and the festivities should be embraced; I’ve ticked off the shopping list, wrapped the presents and sent the cards off. So who would have thought, even I’ve started to warm to the idea of Christmas this year!

We should forget altogether about religion, consumerism, buying too much junk and over indulging.
Saying You’ve Been Good All Year = Presents
I’ve been [...] Continue Reading…

On the the Third Day of Christmas I gave you a very quick and brief introduction to options trading, if there were any gaps or anything you didn’t understand feel free to chime in with a comment. Part 1 was an attempt to spark your interest; this post is to show you the mechanics of how it works. Again, there’ll be plenty of screenshots that enlarge when you click them, so this article is best viewed online.

Before we dive into the details, a small disclaimer: If option trading isn’t your thing or the details get a bit heavy, [...] Continue Reading…

When Andrew asked me if I fancied writing a festive guest post for his ‘12 days of Christmas’ (or is it ‘Crispness’?) series, I went back and re-read the first entry, to try and get down with the spirit of the thing. You know, extrapolate ideas, see if there was anything I could copy, make sure I didn’t re-use his jokes, that sort of thing.
I came away thinking a couple of deep thoughts. Firstly, “Why is that lettuce wearing a woolly hat? Didn’t he steal that from me?” Second, “I think Christmas probably gets a bit too much crap [...] Continue Reading…

You haven’t forgotten that you’re your own little company have you? How’s your Research and Development department ticking along? Have you managed a break through this year? Why not?

There’s been plenty written lately about the past year, reflecting on personal events, milestones and goals achieved. Soon enough we’ll be into New Years resolutions. You can pick from your standard range: get fit, quit smoking, save more money, be nicer to people etc. Why not resolve to do something that can benefit you in the long term and open up your eyes to a world of possibility?

I’m talking about learning [...] Continue Reading…

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me, A Present That I’m Pretty Sure That I Got You Last Year?
Did you get another BBQ set for Christmas? Perhaps the latest mundane crappy autobiography from your supposedly favourite sports star? ANOTHER salad bowl & tongs?

Let’s all give a warm welcome to the concept of re-gifting.

Now whether you’re for or against re-gifting will probably be determined by whether you’ve been on the receiving end of a suspect gift or have been able to save a few dollars by grabbing last years unused present out of the closet, [...] Continue Reading…

Did you sit there as a kid watching Dan Aykroyd & Bill Murray catch ghosts and wonder how much their annual salary was, what their 401k (superannuation) fund was like or how many hours per day they worked? Me neither. I wanted to be a ghost buster because it looked like fun, plain and simple.

Where did it all go wrong? At what point did you go from wanting to be a fireman, a life guard, a deep sea diver or a pro surfer into giving in to being a corporate mule?
Focus
I recently read a great article by Ash at [...] Continue Reading…

On the Third Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me, $1,200 Credited Into My Bank Account Last Night!
I’m very excited to be able to write about this today! I initially had ‘US Stock Options Trading’ as the 6th Day of Christmas to keep you in suspense, but last night’s windfall was too much to contain!
One of my Free World income stream experiments is US Options Trading. It’s one of the online streams of income that doesn’t involve blogging, building a reputation, getting subscribers or trying to sell anything. The results are based on you and you alone [...] Continue Reading…

On the Second Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me, A Massive Invasion of Privacy…
Do you have ‘spending 2 hours a night on Facebook’ under ‘Activities’ in your personal information profile? In light of trying to lead our own free world, improve the work life balance and get out there and do something, we seem to be spending an awful lot of time on facebook?

This week facebook rolled out its new privacy settings and this caused somewhat of a small uproar amongst people. “What? Now how am I supposed to spy on people’s photos?” On the surface, [...] Continue Reading…