Interlude: I'm Busy, But I'm Still Here

Okay, so you know I’m you, right? Not specifically you, I don’t mean that, but I’m the you that wants to get out of the rat race. I’m also the you that gets caught up in - life. I have the wife, and the daughter, and the dog, and the drafty window, and the dishes, and...you get the drift.

"I'm still here, still truckin', and lookin' forward to makin'
friends with Monsieur Green."

Anyway, it’s been a few days, and I have a gazillion other things to do tonight, but I wanted to be sure and put out a note that says, “I ain’t give up, yet, dern it. Don’tchoo worry yerself none, I’m still here, still truckin’, and hope yer still here, too.”

This will take me all of fifteen minutes to write and post, but I’ve got to keep some of the momentum going, and that’s just what I’m doing, one step at a time.

I will tell you that over the weekend, with an hour and fifteen minutes of my Saturday morning, I made it to the library, found some books on a few of those subjects I dreamed up for the last post. Next, I’ll take some of the better bits and try to write a little post.

I’ll keep you apprised as the progress keeps on.

Thanks for reading along with me. I appreciate your attention, and hope this will help both of us in the long run. I think there’s plenty for all of us to do and generate some income, a lot of it, and it would do me well to think that you took some initiative and saw your efforts rewarded, too.

Any ideas on what you want to start with? Is there a library close at hand? Or the internet? 

Just sayin’.

Here’s the Thing - Part III

Okay, so what did you come up with? 

We’re thinking about something small, something inexpensive to make, but valuable to others, and possibly even something you can trade for money more than once. Any ideas?

How about this? 

“Quickstart Guide To Canning Tomatoes At Home”

Or this?

“For The College Grad: Living Green On The Cheap”

Or these?

I wanna know how to do this, and
I'm probably not in the target audience!

“Nerdcore DeeJaying Made Easy”

“Magic Tricks For Meeting Girls”

“Dining In Style #1: Napkin Folding In A Hurry”

“How To Refurbish Antique Lamps”

Catching on yet? Yes, it sounds too easy but that’s because in the grand scheme of things, it is very easy. (And maybe you think it’s hokey, too, but just hold on),  

Think of writing a short guide in terms of cost, both in time and money. You spend a few hours - yes, I mean a few hours - combing the internet and/or your local library for information that you can condense into a short, accessible guide that teaches certain people how to do certain things. The guide can be anywhere from a few pages (formatted with wide spacing and lots of pics), to a ten page report (still lots of space and pretty pictures), to an entire novel-length book, depending on your scope and hope. The research, by the way, is free outside of internet charges, which you probably already have or can get for free at your local library. Heck, you can even use the computers at the library to write the thing, if you want. And if by some miracle you don’t have a computer at home, then you can go old school and write it down by hand! By the way, so far you haven’t spent anything outside of a few hours of time devoted to research and typing.

Then of course, there are lots of ways of getting the thing out there that will cost nothing or next to nothing, but that’s another part of our process, and I’m not sure you’re convinced about writing as a way to really make money. 

I can hear you now. “But writing? Writing? I hated writing papers when I was in school. I’m no good at it. No one would want to read what I wrote. I don’t have the expertise or the talent. And writers don’t make anything, they’re always starving! I saw that once or seven times on television. Also, I kind of like not doing anything that would make me uncomfortable or break the inertia I have going here. Dang,” you say, “why does it have to be so hard?”

And I would agree, in a way. “Hard” is the right word. But don’t for a moment confuse that concept with “difficult,” because difficult it’s not. It’s just outside your comfort zone, and it’s not something you’ve ever tried before, so of course you’d meet it with resistance. Maybe you’re even ready to walk away now, say “Thanks a lot, but it’s not for me.” If you did, though, you’d miss out on a tiny little step that will mean bigger things for you later. Writing these small guides is just a start; after a time, you’ll find that you’ve been learning baby steps for the pièce de résistance, your passions and your meaningful projects. This is about making money, yes, but it’s about much more than that, too. It’s about making positive change, one step at a time. The writing, and making a little money at it, are just doorways to bigger things. Once you get your foot in one - the door, I mean - there’ll be no stopping you. So don’t go just yet, alright? We'll start with pennies but end with gazillions, right? Or at least, I will. Love to have you for company, but I've already said I'm gonna, so this is the way I'm starting.

Stick around, and next time we'll talk about whether or not something like this can really sell. You'll see, I think, that it can and most likely will, against your better judgment.

Here's the Thing -- Part II

Step #1: Think of a product.

Remember step one? We have to think of a product, a product we will eventually sell. And there are all sorts of products that we can make that will sell on the market. A rocket, for instance, or a train axle, or nylon nets for children’s stuffed animals. For each of these, though, there will be a good bit of time invested in each one, and the amount of your trade will be based on need or desire plus how many you make and have available. Also, to make something like a train axle, you’ve got to have a pretty substantial piece of real estate, plus the smelting pots, really good oven mitts and the like. Too complicated, and too expensive, at least to start. One day, maybe...

These things...trains gotta have 'em... Somebody's makin' some good dough doin' that, you know?

So we need something smaller. Something that doesn’t cost so much to get up and running. Something we could turn out pretty easily, but that also trades for a decent sum (i.e. we should make something valuable). Maybe something that can be traded more than once, even, generating some income each time a transaction is made, and therefore frees us up to a) live life or b) make more things to trade.

Can you think of anything that fits the description above? Anything that is dense in value, and is something you could trade more than once? Anything that’s pretty easily done, but can still be high in value for the right person? Something that’s small, and inexpensive to manufacture?

Think about that, and we’ll talk more in Part III about what I have in mind. 

A gazillion dollars sure does sound good after the day I had today... Anybody else feel that way?

Here’s the Thing -- Part 1

Hmm, squash AND kisses?

Okay, so let’s say a long time ago, I worked hard in the field, you worked hard in the field, but I had a green thumb for carrots, you were extra good at squash. “How’s about a trade,” I ask, and I walk away a few carrots shy, but with an acorn squash worth sixty kisses from mi amor at the house. 

Fast forward a bunch. Now we’re trading our stuff for coins and paper money. The money is a concrete symbol of the value we place on the stuff, and that way, I can trade with a lot more people for a lot more different stuff. My dozen carrots used to be worth a squash, but now they’re worth two copper coins, which is how much I might pay for a squash. But they’re also worth a loaf of bread, or a hot bath, or a new pair of laces on my shoes.

And here we are today. We’ve come a long way, it seems, and now we have more to trade for even more different things. No more farming for us, thank you. Now we trade services for money, and talents, and educations. Now there are even jobs that place value not on something we’ve made, but on our very time. If you show up and do whatever we give you to do, we will place a monetary value not on something you’re skilled at, or want to do, but simply for your time.

All the money you want,
for all the time that you have.

I don’t know about you, but my jobs over the past six years have been sticklers for being there, five days a week, nine hours a day. We get a lunch hour, yes, but it’s coverage they want, and coverage they’re getting. Let’s look at this through the week: I get up at 6, leave at 7, get to work at 8, stay until 5, and get home again near 6. If I ever hope to get 8 hours of sleep at night (I don’t), then I’ve spent almost 12 of my 16 waking hours at work or getting to work or getting home from work. (And still only getting paid for 8 of them!) The other 4 are for the rest of my life, to spend as I wish on things like family, or passions, or causes, or housework.

It’s the way our economy is set up, sure, a holdover from long days on the farm, or at the factory, maybe, but it’s what’s expected, and I’ve bought into it. I’ve traded my valuable, once in a lifetime time for money, and not for very much at that, or doing anything that I really like or love for that matter.

And that’s why I’ve decided to try and make a thing that I can trade for money instead. Maybe I can find a thing that will trade for more money than my time will. Perhaps I can find one that will pay me more than once. 

Possibly I already have, but of course for that you'll need to read Part 2! (Coming soon...)

The Plan, Step by Step

Here Are The Basic Steps

Even Coca Cola was once just an idea.
(And no, I don't remember when it was
only a nickel.)

1. Think of a product
2. Make the product
3. Let people know about the product
4. Sell the product
5. Do it all again with more products, over and over
6. Make a gazillion dollars

I know, I know, that’s just stupid. Everybody knows that. If it was that easy, then why isn’t everyone doing it? 

A very, very good question. 

Here are some thoughts on why this grand plan ain’t happenin’.

1. It’s uncomfortable -- Let’s face it, we’re creatures of comfort. We like things a certain way, and risk isn’t exactly the life preserver we’re all hanging our hat on. What if we fail? What if we have to get up and move from our unhappy but comfortable lives?
2. It’s too hard, and I can’t possibly make it work -- “Knowledge about a thing is power, and ignorance keeps us in the dark, cowering and fearful.” The unknown can be frightening, or at the least daunting, and how am I supposed to know what to do next?
3. I don’t have enough resources -- I need money to make money! I work 8, or 10, or 12 hours a day! And I have a dog! A kid! Ballet class at 7 in the old Fieldco Basement! When am I supposed to work on something else?
4. I kind of like my miserable life -- Sometimes it’s a rut, but I enjoy the sympathy of those who love me, the empathy of those I work with, and maybe it’s the life I deserve. Also, it’s a good way to never find out if I could’ve done more, or better. That’s a disturbing thought, and one I can live without, thank you.

There are lots of reasons we can use to keep ourselves in the same place. I think the biggest one may be inertia mixed with a full belly. Hunger has to be one of the greatest motivators, and the comfort of staying in the same place, doing the same thing, is just too great to risk upsetting.

But here are the answers -- my answers -- to the above objections, and don’t worry, I’m still gonna take you through each of the steps, step by step by step.

1. “It’s uncomfortable.” It is, and it can be a little stressful. But some stress is good stress, and that’s alright. Having a baby, getting a new job, your first check for selling something you made, these are all stressful, but it’s okay, they’re all good things. Energy intensive things, but good.
2. “It’s too hard.” This is where we learn how to do it, step by step by step. I’m not spouting any guarantees here, either, but I’m gonna try to find my way, and hopefully help you along it, too, should you decide to follow along. Don’t worry, there aren’t going to be any pop quizzes, and the final is a take home.
3. “I don’t have enough resources.” Neither do I. I have a new wife, a five year-old daughter, a seven year-old dog, and a twelve-hour per day commitment to a job that pays me so little that I usually wait until tax time before I can even think about new tires for my car. I’m happy, happier than I think I’ve ever been, but I’m poor in resources, too. I won’t let that stop me, though: I’ll figure out a way that’s dirt cheap in time and money to keep movin’ forward.
4. “I kind of like my miserable life.” I’ve seen and felt like this before, but I finally took stock in how unhappy it was making me. And by “it,” I mean complaining and licking up the sympathy I was getting, and the passes I was giving myself (It’s uncomfortable, it’s too hard, I don’t have the resources!). I think the worst was knowing that I could, but wasn’t, doing anything to move at least a step forward. As soon as I realized that, I did a little something and asked for a promotion at my job. It was promised, and four months later when I ask about it it’s still in the works, but the point is that I took a step. And it feels worlds better than staying down.

At the beginning of this post, I listed the basic steps I’d use to make a gazillion dollars, but I haven’t listed the step by step by steps to get us going. I will, though, and while I may still wax philosophic from time to time, from here on out we’re gonna get a little more concrete. 

Take my hand, if you’re happy to do it. I’m about to make a gazillion dollars, and I’d be happy for the company on my way to the bank. Maybe we can learn something together. Or at least be glad knowing that we tried.

One step at a time...

Now For The Nitty Gritty

My name is David, and for a long time I was looking for the pie in the sky, some great pot of riches that would seek me out, spill into my lap, and make me oodles of cash forever and ever. Work was always just “until the next bigger thing,” or “getting in the way of my real dream.” My bank account, or complete lack thereof, was always just one big idea from being full to overflowing. I knew I could do something, be someone, big. If only someone would recognize my talents, cut me a big advance, and set me to work, I’d show ‘em.

But it never came. No one ever saw me and appreciated me from afar. Up close at work, I got the occasional nod and “Good work, David,” even a few promotions, but never the CEO’s personal recommendation to head out the new company division. My big ideas were good, so good that I’m convinced a large global company stole one of them (more on that later), but I sat on them and sat on them until, you guessed it, someone else beat me to the market. 

I have a notebook that describes this from the 90s!

(Clear Kool-Aid, a portable device for holding and playing music back in the early 90s, white chocolate M&Ms? Yep, all of them and more. I even have documentation on some of them, but they wouldn’t hold up, and I ain’t lookin’, anyway. Like I said, I figured I didn’t have the connections or the resources to make it happen, and sure enough, I didn’t. Self-fulfilling prophecy, I guess. Wow, that’s hard to hear.)

So here I am, grown and “educated,” and even smart enough, but still nearly in squalor and stressed out over the state of my teeth and my car and the future of my daughter’s education. It just stands to reason that somewhere along the way I fell down in how to make, manage and relate to money.

And that’s what I aim to change. Growing hurts, though, and let me tell you that’s the hardest part. Changing the way you think means first admitting that you were mistaken, which means acknowledging that all those missed opportunities and fall downs were most likely your fault, and that they could have been avoided. But that’s why pain is a gift, I suppose. It helps you avoid the sharp edges in the future. 

Second, it means learning to think a different way. I once took a class in how to teach elementary kids to do mathematics, and they insisted that we learn to do math (really, just counting) in a different way. So, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, they taught us to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20 and so on. Strange? Yes, but it gave us a fresh way of seeing how those little kids would be learning to count to ten for the first time. Eye-opening. Brain-changing. But it hurt. Lots of adults in the room holding their heads and squinting their eyes shut trying to figure out how to do the next number. Changing your mind is possible, sometimes even necessary, but it’s hard. Habits do not want to die, they struggle to the surface, even when you’ve buried them and turned your back. 

So I’m going to change my mind, first and foremost. Then we’ll see what happens. And I’ll tell you about it. Step by step by step, because that’s the only way I’d ever learn about it either. Sometimes I may want to eat the whole elephant in one sitting, but it’s just too much. 

One. Bite. At a time.

A Quick Note About (Lots of) Money

A Quick Note About (Lots of) Money

Family! Family Time!

Okay, so I won’t harp on this, but it does have a bearing on why I’m doing what I am: Money ain’t everything. There’s a lot more to my life than making money. Relationships, for one, are much more fulfilling to me. They last longer, too, but they require time and energy. For me, they’re worth it. I have a wife and a daughter among so many other family and friends, and their affection and goodwill can’t be bought with money, nor can I buy back the time spent in mindless pursuit of more. 

Also, life is important to me. I want to live it, and not be at the beck and call of making more money. I am not going to obsess over it, because I’m only doing this to free up my hands for doing more things that I want to while I’m able: Writing, traveling, playing video games on a television so big that the alien space bugs are life-sized. (Smile.)

On the other hand, money is great. Need dental work ‘cause your teeth are falling apart? Kid need braces? Water heater busted? Headaches because you can’t afford new glasses? Car just broke down? Again? I ain’t lookin’ to be filthy rich. I couldn’t care less about money. Recently, when I came into a little chunk, I ended up giving big bunches away until I was as broke as I am now. (Brother, can you spare a dime?) Anyway, what I’m sayin’ is this: Money is not a cure for being a jerk, or a potion for true love, or a prescription for happiness. But it does offer help for those who are hurting in more concrete ways. I am not interested in becoming so rich that I lose sight of myself, or others, but if it comes down to it, I’d like to not worry about buying a plane ticket to visit a sick uncle, or share in the joy of a distant cousin's wedding. I’d like to make enough to give something away without breaking my own bank, if that’s possible. I’d like to not worry about whether or not my family will have to do without medicine and medical care because of the rising costs of health coverage. I’d like to make enough money so that I can live my life, and have even more time to devote to those I love.

I think a gazillion dollars would do nicely.

Luck and Bootstraps

Luck and Bootstraps

We live in a country founded on certain principles. One of the early principles seemed to be that in a land of plenty, we could make our own way. With the right resources and opportunities, we could do just about anything. Regardless of how it turned out for those early explorers, the thought lives on. Even today on the television we might hear some “self-made” person say something along the lines of “You gotta pull yourself up by the bootstraps, Son.” It’s deeply ingrained in us. More on this in a moment.

Unfortunately, there’s also another principle, this one kind of secretly bad for us: God favors the righteous with riches and plenty, both in this life and the life to come. Now while theologians may debate whether that’s what God actually says or not, it doesn’t change the fact that a lot of our ancestors here believed it and acted on it. And while God may have eventually leaked out of the equation, the modern take on this is still very much alive. It says, simply, that if you and I are good people, good things will come to us. It doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it? “What goes around comes around,” or “Do unto others as you would have do unto you,” or the entire set of lyrics to “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town”: “He sees you when you’re sleeping...so be good for goodness sake!” All of those ideas swim around in our heads, and they’re all the same one: If I am good, I will get good things.

But it’s a bad idea. Not because being jerks is commendable. It’s not, and I don’t feel that way. It’s a bad idea because being nice is not a guarantee for better things. Doing good is good, but it’s not a flare on your head to signal drop shipments from heaven. You know this, and that’s why it’s so hard to swallow. You try your best to talk over a problem with a loved one, and they keep yelling. You put forth your best efforts at work, and Suck Up from across the hall gets the award, the promotion, and the corner office. You help old people across the street and you get hit by a bus. All of your good intentions and thoughts and deeds are good by themselves, and give you a rich glow and sense of fulfillment on the inside, but they’re no promise of providence. They may pave the way for you to move forward, in returned goodwill and recognition of effort, but they don’t paint a big sign on you to signify that “This one deserves to win the lottery.”

Never win if you don't play.

Back to the bootstraps for a moment. This idea can be bad, too, if it’s not properly understood. It’s not that chance doesn’t play its part in you helping yourself, because it obviously does. But here’s the thing: If you never play this particular lottery, this lottery of better jobs or more money, you’ll never win. If you’re looking for a job with a particular company, for instance, you’ll never get your foot in the door unless you apply, unless your name is in front of the right person. If you sit on the sofa, watching another great movie, chances are that you’ll never get that job. If you hope to make more money, it won’t happen while you’re beating your head against the wall of your old job, or lazing back in the haze of that security blanket. I think circumstance does play its part, but putting your hands to the task is bigger. And while the rest of the world waits for its day, maybe you and I can do something to help ourselves along a little more quickly.

How I Made A Gazillion Dollars, Step By Step By Step

Who Am I?

Just a guy, really. Someone who’s stuck in a dead-end job, working for less than he needs, dreaming of the next best thing, the next way out. Oddly enough, I’m happily married, happily a father, and loving life. But this job. All of my jobs, really, save the one. They’re good to have, but also, I think, they’re like opium, or morphine. While they don’t treat the cause of the pain, they put you in such a cloud of haze, that blanket of security, that you don’t care about the pain anymore. You don’t want to move, for that matter. You work your butt off for eight or nine hours, then come home to work some more, around the house, a second job maybe, picking up after yourself, your kids, your dog. By the time you go to bed, you’re worthless, and you catch a few hours only so you can get up and do it all again. Exhaustion keeps us where we are, and fear over the economy, and inertia: A body at rest tends to remain at rest.

You feel bad about it, or at least I do. You want to rail at coworkers, or bosses, or just about anybody that’ll take a beating. You complain that they don’t treat you well, they don’t pay you enough, or they did you wrong, or they’re stepping on your neck and keeping you down. You come out and call your luck bad, or non-existent, and wonder what you ever did to deserve this. Or you come home and silently fester, all the bitterness and resentment building up in you until in most cases we’re going to work because we have to, we hate this place, we wish we’d win the stupid freakin’ lottery, anyway. We promise that we’re gonna find another job. And then the painkiller of security and busy-ness drops over us in a haze, and we find the blessed refresh of sleep only to wake to the nightmare again. We ARE stuck, it seems, and when is the lottery gonna fall in our laps, already? When is opportunity gonna rear its beautiful head and beckon us to our house on the beach, our castle in the sky? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Somehow life and its riches will find me, right?

Or is that just a dream? A hurtful and misleading dream...