“Just Like Air”
Happy Holidays you all! I’ve been doing some thinking about the meaning of things and a lot about the future of our industry. I’m so grateful you are part of our journey and love the relationships I have been developing through this blog. We love you all, you challenge us and you make us laugh. It has been a blessing.
The world is changing. How we view money. How we earn it. How we spend it. Does it rule our lives more or less than it did in the past? Can we change that by the way we choose to work and how we do it? The winds of change are blowing and many, many people are about to join this revolution we call business ownership. This is just the beginning.
I asked the first billionaire I met what it is like to have that much money.
His answer was “it’s just like air”
I must have looked confused because he smiled and he asked me if I knew any asthmatics. I nodded.
“During an asthma attack – what is the only thing that person is thinking about?”
“Their next breath” I answered.
He looked at me and said – “You have financial asthma. I never think about money, to me it’s just like air. It has almost no bearing on my life what so ever.”
I think about that all the time. That conversation significantly shaped my relationship with money.
Not everyone wants to be stinking wealthy. Frankly, it is simply not necessary. The question we all need to answer is what is enough? My wife and I made our list of dreams and goals, and then figured out what that would cost. In our case, we need some pretty significant wealth to accomplish our goals. In contrast, one of my oldest friends Davie & his gal Lindsay have always lived on a shoe-string budget. He actively chases his passions with an innocence and yet dedication I see in few others. His life is a beautiful thing to behold. He is a world class waterman, a patient and gifted teacher and will soon be a therapist. A good one I am willing to bet. Money has rarely played a significant role in the attainment of his goals, so why would he bother trying to become rich?
How do you relate to money? Does it play a large or small role in achieving the steps you will take in the life you have planned?
Why do I mention this? Not to get you thinking about money (though please do). I have been reading through everyone’s responses to the interview we posted and a picture is forming that excites me. There is a revolution occurring in people’s work patterns and career choices. The small, independent business owner is coming back with a vengeance. I promise you, the numbers are about to explode. You can now make a six figure income, with about the same effort as an employee, working from home (or anywhere) on your own schedule, perhaps even doing a mostly what you love. That is the true American Dream, not dramatic wealth.
I often hear in the valley, “go big or go home”, “real competition only starts at 100 million” … and on and on. The public image of business here is the startup that will drive millions, if not billions. Yahoo & Google. Not a bad dream if you ask me. But that is not the face of business in the future. This perception is missing the simple fact that most people don’t need, nor actually even desire, that outcome. They just want some control back.
The world of business is about to be swept by a storm of people, like you and me, who are going to step out on their own and be self employed. Whose goal it is to make a nice income while having a life. We will place family, fitness, friends and faith at the same level of priority or higher then we do our income. Will we not go through this process alone. We are building social networks, global teams of other independent business owners who educate, help and support each other. And it has only begun.
One question that was posted from Lawrence Salberg back to the group asked: “What is the most promising technology on the horizon and how do you see it helping you in terms of your business ideas?” This is my answer. It is not a computer based technology but a social revolution. Companies will pay us for the value of our work, not for time day in day out. Productivity will increase dramatically as will personal satisfaction. Overhead will drop. As contractors will handle our own benefits, allowing us to get higher pay while making our own choices about our future.
For this revolution to go smoothly, the need for education is paramount. There are so many basic things that none of us learned in school. Like how to relate to money. How to balance a checkbook. How a mortgage works. How to sell a product or service. How to make sure people pay you like they said they would. The most rudimentary bookkeeping. The simple difference between an employee and a contractor. What a legal contract is and when to use one. It is all lore right now. Passed from person to person among our community, from mentor to apprentice. Perhaps some day our school system will burst forth from its mummified cocoon and emerge a beautiful butterfly, but until then its up to us to help each other succeed and share any wisdom we have with the newest person.
I have a Hanukkah wish. Let us band together and pay it forward. Help the newest contractor you meet. Answer their questions. Teach them what you know. They aren’t your competition, there is so much work out there it is down right ridiculous. Once you iron out the initial bumps, I cannot promise you a better life. So I am writing this to say, tag your it. Now pass it on. Share your wealth.
Shane, you and I must be the only mice stirring tonight. Loved the post. I too feel that writing is experiencing a renaissance, and that the American dream has changed significantly. Maybe we should call it the International Dream? Whatever we call it, this is definitely a very exciting time to be alive.
James and I are big proponents of paying forward too. This was the main reason we wrote our book, Write For The Web. I guess you could say part of our mission statement is to help up and coming writers realize their potential and provide them with the tools to make their own opportunities. If I had met someone like me – or any of the bloggers in this community – years ago, I would probably be in a very different place now.
“Just like air” says it all and that goes for anything. The moment you stop “wanting”, that’s the moment you free yourself and start receiving. I read a book called “Conversations With God” a few years back (the author’s name escapes me at the moment), but there was a part in there that said something like, if you say you want something, that’s exactly what will happen. You’ll keep “wanting”. But to say “I will have…” puts the energy in motion, gives it direction, and sets your mind in action to achieve your goal.
Anyway, that might just be fodder for another post for me at another time. Happy (belated) Hanukka, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanza, and Solstice Blessings (did I cover everyone?) to all.
Can I say this post is completely up lifting!
Thank you! It was just what I needed to read right now. I think you are right. We are on the way back to a bunch of little businesses. It think though something needs to be added to that. Those of us who are in the process of striking out and forming our businesses need to support everyone else. Not just with advice and moral support but by where we spend our $. That means not immediately running out to walmart, connecting to amazon or going to the nearest super grocery store the next time we need to buy something. It means putting our money where our mouth is and buying stuff from other small business people. This fall I just signed up for a local CSA (community supported agriculture) at a local farm. Starting in the spring it will buy me a box of produce every week. I’ve got local people I met at the farmers market where I buy eggs and meat. I tried to buy more Christmas presents from places like http://www.etsy.com and http://www.localharvest.com which are portals for small scale artisans and sellers. I think more then just starting small businesses we have to look out for small businesses. Nothing is more important to them then giving them a chance above the more well know names. Plus in a lot of cases you get better quality. As my husband said over dinner this week, “Wow, this chicken actually tastes like a chicken.”
Merry Christmas everyone!
This post is great and extremely empowering. I’ve made the decision that at the end of February, I’m an official contractor.
I have some pretty lofty goals over the next 6 months to a year and the only way I’ll be able to achieve these goals is to work for myself.
I want to thank each of you for inspiring me to take this leap. I met Shane and Peter in August and at that time I wasn’t ready to be independent, but since then something has been brewing inside of me.
I like sitting in my living room working. I like being independent – in control of where I’m going.
I’m tired of driving over a big mountain – for over an hour – to get to a j-o-b.
I’m tired of working for someone that isn’t passionate about what I’m passionate about.
I’m ready to make a difference and change the world.
I’m with you. This is an exciting time. I love this industry. I get passionate just thinking about it. We are in a very new, almost pioneer-like, time period.
We will see many, many changes over the next year and beyond. Changes in education, social networking, communities – online and offline, and the way people communicate.
I don’t want to be sitting at some desk while everything is booming all around me. No way. I’m going to be right there in the middle helping mold and shape this new world.
Together we can all make a difference.
Shane,
I agree that I think lots of little business are going to be storming into the world, and I think it’s great. At the same time, I love the big guys like Walmart, Amazon and Publix. Those places make it easy for me to get what I need quickly so that I have time to share my messages of hope and joy with others.
I love the Internet and think that this free exchange of ideas is really helping people find others of similar interests and the courage through stories like this to take a risk. Once people take control of their own salaries, the traditional business models will eventually change to the new ideal.
It’s a very optimistic time. Good luck to everyone!
When I read that I said, “Yes.” I want to have a life where money has little to no impact. I want to be able to live a quiet simple life with my fiance, but still be able to experience the beauty of the world together.
And I want to be able to help others do the same.
I agree, I think things are really changing too. I don’t pretend to speak for everyone, but I think a lot of us in our 20’s and early 30’s have seen our parents working really hard and making a lot of personal sacrifices to just barely have a living and we don’t want to take the same route. At least it’s that way for me.
There’s really no reason why you can’t do work that you love, have time for your family and to do things that interest you, and have a comfortable living all at once. Why can’t we have our cake and eat it too, right?
This is an excellent time for everyone who shares these ideas to get together and re-shape the world how we want it to be. And I hope everyone here has their dreams fulfilled for the next year and many to come!
Sorry for the lack of response – in the name of balance, I pretty much turned off the box so I could actually relax!
You are all awesome and I love the attitude.
@Rose – I think it is really cool making the concious decision to support local businesses. That said (ditto to Shirley) I have always believed that just because you are small and local does not mean you can get away without being competitive. If you can’t beat the big stores with lower prices then you need to sell something else of value, either high quality service, personal relationships….
@Stephanie – that is an awesome proclimation. You have been such a sweet and kind vocal supporter of our 2008 goals and I can wait to see you gather up you courage and make the leap. We are here for you.
@Naomi – It is definitely specific to our generation. I wonder though if the following generation will come to the same conclusion we did or if this is a byproduct of having experiences the bubble crash so intimately during our formative career years? Will they be more open to business (we are kind of a jaded group us Xers)?
Harrison – can’t wait to see the post & Joshua – they are good dreams aren’t they? No what are your goals and what vehicle will take you in that direction?
Great answer to my question. I hope your wish comes true. I get very motivated and excited dealing with enterpreneurs, small business owners, and freelancers. Then, every so often, I stick my nose into the world of corporate, or start hanging around my friends who play drones at the local corporate mega-machines, and I start to lose hope.
In my own little myopic worldview, I can believe that the future for your ideal is very near. But living in Brevard County, known for NASA (Space Shuttle program) and a bucketload of defense contractors and all those who feed off that system, it’s hard to maintain hope.
I loved your apprenticeship analogy. How true that is for the time being. And how right you are that if it doesn’t blossom out of that system, we’ll all be forever cast as pajama-wearing telecommuters.
That’s why they say that the richer you are the more problems you seem to have. Money, in my honest opinion, does not hold the answer to everything. Although it holds a great deal of power, it might only end up causing you more stress in the end. That’s what I realized this year.
Let me begin by saying I am new to this site and am not a programmer, but I hope I am still able to participate in this discussion.
Reading these posts motivated me. I recently left a well paid management position with the world’s largest retailer to follow a passion of mine in education and to give me more time with my family. Although I don’t think public education is the right fit for me, it allowed me to realize I can control my own life. I don’t know what the right career is for me, and to be quite honest it is uncomfortable making less money and being so uncertain about my future, but I love the idea that I may find or create something I am truly passionate about.
Shane you speak of the need for basic financial education in schools and it is finally taking place. The state, in which I live, Missouri, now requires that all high school students complete a course in personal finance prior to graduation. They are taught basic money management i.e. budgeting, basic mortgage principles, etc. So some steps are being made, slowly.
What a wonderful, wonderful post. It really inspired me, just before I’ll go to sleep. Thanks again, awesome writing.