Out with the Old, in with the New

Every now and then, I just lay in the middle of the floor and stare at the ceiling, thinking about anything that's currently annoying me. Whether it's people, situations, obligations, anything. There's something specific this time, but as I'm writing, I'm sure other things will come to mind.

Is it strange that I don't really plan these newsletters out? I kind of like that they're just a stream of consciousness...

Oh well, whatever. I'm learning that, too.

"No one really gives a shit Mike..."

Anyway...

There's one thing I'm having trouble changing.

It's been so ingrained into my mind and seared into my neural pathways through the system of education.

You know, the training for those of us who thought that by just sitting in our chairs like good little girls and boys and going through the school process would produce a fantastic life without having to do anything extra.

It's literally taking me years to unlearn it.

And it's why I tend to burn out after about 2-3 months...

I'm finally self-aware enough and have done this enough times where I notice the pattern.

There are 2 parts to it.

I have bursts of intense motivation and focused action, thinking it will get me to my destination sooner rather than taking small steps and resting, giving myself plenty of time to realize the goal, a.k.a. consistency.
I usually spend all the intense motivation and focused action working on the details instead of working from the Birds Eye view.

They both originate from the idea that I have to trade my time for money rather than using my time to create systems that generate revenue.

These ideas started swirling around in my mind after talking to that guy from my sharing issue and, more recently, reading a portion of The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris.

But it was really driven home when I heard this quote from Steven Bartlett:

"If the business can run without me, then it's successful, and I'm successful in it. If it needs me, then I'm not quite there."

It finally clicked.

It's made me realize that I've been in half-asleep zombie mode for like... 10 years. Fuuuuuucck...

This may be old news to you, but for me, it's a reminder of who I used to be and my mindset when I started my first 'business,' a mobile auto detailing service. Even back then, nearly 15 years ago, the idea of hiring people to run satellite trucks under my umbrella was there, but I was young and impressionable and let the fears of others become my own.

Since then, I've been slowly rocked to sleep by the warm embrace of easy money in the form of a nice salary through software engineering.

But I'm waking up again, and I need my bottle... I'm hungry, dammit...

And hopefully, if you're seeing yourself in this story, it's splashing some water on your face as well.

The 'problem':

Trading your time for money is just one of the many ways to lock yourself into working forever if you're not saving and investing your income properly. While on the other hand, using your time to create income-generating systems creates wealth.

From my current perspective, it's also proving to be the fundamental difference between being self-employed and owning a business. So, let's think about the key differences between the two.

Self Employment:

You still work a "9-5" type of structure. It's just for yourself instead of for someone else
You have your own clients but still work for them, almost like an employer.
You get paid per hour or project. So, it's still technically trading time for money.

Examples include catering, consulting, graphic design, and web design. Typically, service-based businesses that need you, your skills, and decision-making to operate. You're the owner/operator.

Now, these opportunities can be evolved into businesses. In fact, this is the proving ground to see if you actually have a valid business idea.

Business:

Create a system that delivers a product or service and an automated funnel to bring the clients, and the business works to satisfy their needs.
The system works for the clients. When clients aren't happy, you update the system.
The system collects the revenue and pays you. Ideally, all day and even while you sleep.
The system should be vetted through your network, experience, or expertise.
The 'system' may only be run by you until you can step out and hire others.

Examples are creating a catering service, creating a digital course, or mobile app, a graphic design agency, or a web development studio (all the same as above); however, in the business setting, you need an onboarding and training system to bring new people in and inform them about the business and how to thrive, thus growing the business.

You need a system to teach them your ideals yet give them space to experiment, grow, and learn individually while also giving boundaries, expectations, and requirements.

You also need systems to remove them if they no longer fit the vision.

In essence, you are now the employer.

You need marketing, financial, and support systems in place so you're not killing yourself with the stress of wearing all the hats.

So, next steps are:

All self-employment ideas must come with plans, timelines, and milestones for business transformation with analytics to measure and validate feasibility effectively and as quickly as possible.
Calculate how much must be accomplished alone before hiring others to help. This will give insight into how much revenue, and thus clients, need to be acquired to reach those goals. Remember, even outsourcing costs ~$10/hr for a minimum of 60ish hours a month. Trust me, this is an actual figure.
Find ways to automate as many daily to-dos as possible.

Otherwise, if I don't take these steps, everything will still feel like I'm "working." It won't matter what the idea is.

We're all running towards something or away from something.

It's what drives us.

In this case, I'm running from that feeling of obligation, waking up and immediately putting on my automaton helmet, and going off to be a part of someone else's automated system...

The sense of busting my ass for a company that doesn't really give a shit about me. The thought of giving someone else's dream and 'system' the best years of my life instead of doing everything in my power to realize my own dreams.

"If you don't like something in your life, don't try to change the outcomes themselves, but rather the system producing the outcomes."

Solution Example:

Social Media posting

Instead of writing a single post every single day or even a bunch of posts scheduled to be distributed from a queue from an app like Buffer...

I can write a book or even a long newsletter or article and break that up into posts for social media.

This means I could write once or twice a week, which is about 2 or 3 hours, have articles or newsletters for two weeks, and social media content for 2 to 3 weeks.

It's not fully automated, but 2 hours a week feels better than posting at 7am every morning, which feels like I'm working or sticking to some stressful, self-imposed schedule.

I'm strange that way.

For instance, it's 4am right now while I'm writing this. (Don't ask me why 😈)

But it doesn't feel like working to me.

It feels more like an idea surge that has to come out no matter what.

And I don't know about you, but I prefer that feeling over a routine being forced upon me.

I.e., 9-5 Monday through Friday.

I wish employers would take that approach.

In fact, when I finally figure this out and create a business that can actually hire people,

I'm going to try it.

"Work whenever you want as long as you complete your tasks."

I wonder what problems and opportunities come from that type of employee schedule... Hmmm....

TL;DR / Conclusion:

Anyway, a summary of my rant would be:

If you're good at short bursts of motivation and enthusiasm but struggle with consistency, be sure to use your bursts to create systems that are highly automated to work in your favor.
Avoid burnout by using times you're inspired to create more or a lot of what you do, then breaking that up into smaller chunks and distributing it to build consistency.
Utilize the above systems to avoid even your most loved hobbies or passions feeling like 'work.'

Other stuff:

Happy New Year!!

I know everyone has their own way of doing things to celebrate and self-inspect during the beginning of another revolution around The Sun. Whatever you do, I hope it works for you. 🙏🏽

If you're still reading my ramblings, thank you. ❤️

I released a book! 😅

You can get it on Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR9QBL2H

or you can take the super secret back tunnel for friends only here:

https://www.developerslivesmatter.com

Please let me know what you think!

Lastly, I've updated my website a bit to lean more toward what I'm doing for 'business.' It's in the 'I'm trying to find myself' phase, so please be patient with me. There will be new price plans coming up later today.

If you need to follow me on social, you can find the links somewhere on here.

Later!