Don’t worry though, passions change frequently and as a freelancer, you aren’t trapped in just one passion. You can change with your passions. Once you figure out how to do it, it can never be taken away from you.
To start earning money this way you don’t need money, you don’t need employees, you don’t need a business plan, you don’t need anything but you and your passion plus a desire to find a way to make money with them. Get out of what is necessary and into what is fun.
Bus #2 (Turtle)
Although I still don’t recommend starting a small business, maybe it’s for you. I can’t know for sure and the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of successful small businesses out there. Personally, I think they succeed because of a combination of luck, resources, and tenacity. Maybe you have what it takes.
One thing is certain, you still need to make sure that the business is built around whatever your passion might be. While you don’t need a lot of capital to start up a small business, it helps. According to the Small Business Administration, most start ups don’t make a profit during the first 12-18 months they are in business. So having money to run the business with is important. It might be though, that you only have to invest in something as simple as business cards. Once you have the cards, you really do have a business. It’s like magic.
You don’t need any down payment, no office, no car, no secretary. Trent Ham has a blog called The Simple Dollar in which he explains dozens of zero start up cost businesses. Maybe yours is there.
A good book to start with is Chris Guillebaeau’s $100 Startup. You’ll find more resources listed in the appendix.
Bus #3 (Paradise)
Now let’s just say that you don’t want to freelance or run a business. What in the world are you going to do? Well, the answer is hop on Bus #3 to destination Freedom and start working towards earning a passive income.
The main idea of a passive income is to reduce your hours and increase your income over the course of your life. Easy, right? In fact, it is. The main thing you will face when creating a passive income is determining which route is the right one for you. If you focus on each stream in turn, optimize it, and do a little maintenance now and then, you will be surprised at just how successful you can become. I recently met a blogger who earns $20,000 every month from passive income.
Usually if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, but in this case, it’s not. People are really doing it. Normal people. People who started with nothing. Here is an example that comes from my own passive portfolio. I bought a domain name for $7 a few years ago and parked it on Google Adsense for Domains. Today it brings in upwards of $500 every month. I don’t do anything except collect the money and look at the stats. That means I’m making $6000 a year for doing absolutely nothing. How would you like to have that situation?
Passive income can be found through blogs, affiliate programs, joint ventures, e-books, social media applications, Twitter, Facebook, and plenty of other ways. I’m putting a number of resources in the Appendix if you want to check out some of the opportunities that exist.
Starting Your Life Anew
Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but you don’t have an excuse to continue being miserable anymore. You have the knowledge. You have the resources. You have what it takes. The possibilities are endless and all you have to do is discover them. There are more ways to make money from what you love than there are ways to rise in your current career. Get ready to change your life.
Will you take Bus #1 and freelance with your passion?
Will you take Bus #2 and start a small business against my advice?
Will you take Bus #3 and start creating your future passive income?
It’s up to you. I’ve given you the system map. Now all you need to do is figure out which bus will get you there. Or maybe, you’ll do all three or combine all three bus routes into one as I have done. As much as I hope you eventually will quit your job, you don’t have to do it right away. In fact, it might be better if you don’t quit for a while so that you can start to see the potentials without the worry. Choose your bus, step on board, and see where it takes you.
Maybe it will take you all over the world like it has me. Maybe it will lead you to the love of your life, just like it did for me. Maybe you will find exactly what you never knew you wanted just as I have. I hope so.
The thing is, it’s nice to wake up and do what I want. You can have this too. Don’t forget to give importance to the things that you love. Your passions are the reason you are here. I’m sure of it. When you give your energy to your passions you will feel more alive, more vibrant, and better able to deal with all the challenges that life is certain to throw at you.
How To Stop Working For Someone Else
The way to stop working for someone else is as simple as finding out that you really only need to work for you. If you get it, I won’t be surprised to hear that you quit very soon. Maybe you need to give notice, or maybe you don’t. Either way, I’m sure if you get it, you are going to quit it.
I met an Australian man in Hawaii who was working in construction. He asked me what he should do and I said he should quit. Later, I saw him looking happier than I’d ever seen him and he told me he had quit. That night his boss came and pounded on my door. I opened it and the guy punched me in the nose.
A bloody nose was a small price to pay for liberating someone who thought he was trapped. My friend told me how he was considering suicide and instead, I convinced him to suicide his career. He did and I can tell you that the results were good, despite my bloody nose.
Like him, you can quit. You can start your own business, take up freelancing, or start to set up your passive income streams. Just don’t tell your boss where I live when he asks why you quit. ;)
I think though, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Start saving up some money to support yourself with before you turn in your notice. Make a plan for how you will free yourself and start thinking of yourself as already liberated. You will immediately feel the difference.
Choosing The Day To Start
You aren’t really a prisoner to your job at all. You can leave any time you want. You don’t have to stay there. In fact, you can call up the boss and quit right this instant. Don’t ever forget that.
When I talk about choosing the day to start, what it really means is picking the day to quit. When you quit working for someone else, you are starting to work for yourself. Don’t make a big scene, the best thing to do is to explain to your employer that you are heading out on your own, tell them that you enjoyed your time with them, but you no longer have to have the job. Never burn your bridges because you never know, you might actually change your mind, but I hope not.
Do it sooner rather than later. I would suggest that you wait no longer than six months. That should be plenty of time to get your plan straight. In fact, if you do it in half the time you originally plan for, you will find that you actually get everything done in half the time too. Long deadlines make us all lazy.
How To Start Really Living
The hardest thing for most people to do is to start saving their money instead of spending it. In fact, money is a lazy way of keeping ourselves occupied. Start cooking at home, stop wasting your money on things that aren’t important. You’ll find that taking a run outside is far more satisfying than using the treadmill in the gym.