The pastor reminded us during Christmas service that the routine of waking up in the morning, sitting through meetings, fire fighting at work, reaching home too late to see the family awake, going to bed, and repeating the cycle, is NOT what life is about.
If you are looking forward to retirement, the bad news is that many countries are already advocating older retirement age.
While most of us dream of making millions, deep down inside we are really looking for freedom to do what we think are worthwhile, and what we like. At our own terms. And convenience.
While money isn’t everything, continous streams of income around the clock do help mitigate the sweeping concern of lack. They buy you many aspects of freedom.
For one, you can choose not to live the rat race that threatens to stretch late into your golden years. You relieve yourself of inevitable back stabbing at the workplace - free to love, not to hurt.
Free to choose not to do what you know is ethically wrong.
There is freedom to pick your hobbies – I am learning how to play the piano now at this ripe (not old) age. (Please bookmark my blog.. I am planning to upload recordings of my amateur pieces from time to time)
You can do social work, church ministries and missions. Meaningful activities that bring completeness that money, in itself, will not purchase.
Free to give. It is more blessed than to receive.
Needless to say, when your business becomes wildly successful - you can take vacations as often as you like.
But what if you fail? Consider the internet marketing option. Your start-up cost is usually very low.
Plus, I am not advocating that you quit your job today. Quite the contrary, in fact. Residual income takes time to build. But if you work on it, in due time, even a small stable stream in your portfolio can do wonders in your perspective of the workplace. You find yourself more condfident dealing with others, and you handle work stress better knowing now you have something else to fall back on. Your morale keeps you happier longer in your employment! Talk about killing many birds with one stone!
Coming back to starting up, what do you sell? Many people get stuck with that question.
There are many web based products you can market. If you want my recommendation, there is a web-based e-learning company that offers seminars by masters of their respective fields. (Website in signatory area.) In addition to the right to distribute this product, your subscription entitles you to Learning Channels in Personal Development, Corporate Training, Family, Lifestyle, and Language Mastery, among other learning and video conferencing resources.
Of course, there are many other affiliate programs out there you can choose from.
Make sure you pick one that offers good support. Some even assign mentors to serious entrepreneurs.
You have to believe in your product. It must benefit yourself and your customers. (Incidentally, the program I recommend above sells itself since the seminars are conducted by Robert Kiyosaki, Anthony Robbins, Stephen Pierce, and others of equal reputation.)
In closing, I re-iterate the point – take the first step! You may be happy in your job today, but we all know better than to take that for granted.
Ianny Lau is an engineer-turned-entrepreneur. He is an example of a very conservative person succeeding in business. In an evolving economy today, Ianny encourages and helps others start small in businesses. You can find one such opportunity at http://www.strategytofreedom.com.
Ianny maintains his ‘Ianny Loves the Freedom” blog at http://lauianny.wordpress.com. Apart from his thoughts on current affairs, he also shares products of his hobbies from time to time.