I like starting my thoughts off with a wonderfully intriguing topic. What does it mean to be on the road to becoming an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is someone willing to take the necessary steps to become more than they are and their chosen path is through business. Creating their own time and financial wealth. Not just being self-employed.
Self-employment is easily characterized as “owning your own job” or even more often having a “job that owns you” and usually doesn’t come with the time wealth factor attached or even in the same Universe.
This brings us to the basic requirements of entrepreneurship – first the business.
One that does not consume the entire day and rewards the participant with a satisfactory financial return.
That follows an easily “duplicatable” system. Anyone can do it.
Offers a set of products that are in a growing demand (at the very least not a shrinking demand).
That can, and often does, reward the participants with a complete return of their initial investment within the first year.
That operates “autonomously” at times and allows the participants to enjoy their life.
The principle idea is to find an existing business model that works for a large number of successful participants. Creating your own might be ok for you if you have a track record of success in business, but first-timers in a “reinventing the wheel” scenario is not really a good idea. I am not ruling out all kinds of individual ideas and efforts, just pointing out that statistically speaking you are better to follow an established system than to “roll your own”.
Other points to consider on the path to your own destiny is to establish a budget based on a successful business and not one based on “struggling self-employment” or the ever popular “shoe string” method of budgeting. Include in your beginning budget all the tools required for your business, any necessary inventory and supplies AND include operating capital and “living capital” for a period of time until you are generating the income to cover your operations and living costs.
Do not fall into the trap of “selling yourself short” – what I mean is to take less and expect less, because … and it doesn’t matter what you want to put in that blank, it is a chasm you might never climb out of. In your service or product sales, you might be tempted to make a deal or offer a discount, all on the theory that “something is better than nothing” and you will be tragically mistaken. If your product or service is worth having, then it is worth paying for … in full … on time. Now, if you offer a “special” where your customer can purchase more or bigger than they normally might, then an “incentive to act” promptly might be an idea. This is not the same as selling cheaper just to make a sale. This is adding value to an even larger sale, where both you and your customer gain by the transaction. You make a larger sale and include an additional product. They gain by getting an additional product as part of the larger package.
Find mentors and listen to their experience. On the subject of listening to advice I suggest an attitude of “know for yourself” which is the best path. I also suggest that anyone in business operate their business from a perspective of common sense and good business practice and not from a place of ego. More errors are committed due to ego than from any other thing in history.
Become a student of personal development, if you are not already one. Most of the ultra successful people throughout history have had the daily practice of self-improvement. To include a quote from Einstein here “you cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it” is appropriate. Every hour, day, week, month will bring along a new and different challenge for us to solve.
Begin each morning with a period of visualizations, meditations or just daydreaming about what is or might be possible for you. As your life progresses you will begin to achieve some of the things you dream about and you can dream about bigger things. Set “SMART” goals for yourself (this is a goal achieving system).
Find people to associate with who make more than you and have more than you. Your income level will be the average of the 10 people you spend the most time with, so spend time with those who have and make more.
Read empowering books – live in a constant “media fast” – no tv (especially news and talk shows) – no radio talk shows – no endless tv shows.
A Media Fast. This is a controversial idea, undoubtedly, as it will ask you to consider giving up some of the things you’re addicted to most: television, DVDs, movies, news, magazines, newspapers, and … gasp! … the Internet. Don’t tune out yet, though: this is not a permanent thing, but call it an experiment instead.
Take a minute to think about how much information you process every day. If you’re like me and a lot of other people, you get a lot of your news on the Internet, and you also read a lot of blogs. You might also read books and magazines and newspapers. You probably also watch a lot of TV, where you get entertainment and news. You might watch a lot of DVDs, and listen to the radio on the way to work. At work, you might get memos and emails and a billion other pieces of information coming at you. You might be a part of an online forum, or social site, or newsgroup, or mailing list (or several!).
It’s information overload. Our brains are not made to process this much information. We can do it, but it gives us a lot of stress, and we cannot think about any of the information long enough for it to give us real value. We are in the middle of a vast river of information, and it just flows by us constantly.
And then there’s all the time we spend on all this media.
Take a minute to think about how much time you spend online (typically a few hours), watching TV or DVDs (typically a few more hours), and reading all the other stuff mentioned above (another hour or two). Now think about how many goals you could accomplish if you cut those activities out of your life. The time you would gain would be tremendous.
So what do you do about it? Sometimes it’s good to get drastic. Try a media fast. But is it even possible? Yes, it is. Here are some ideas:
If you’re feeling bold, cut out everything for a week. Well, everything that isn’t completely essential — you might need things like email for work, but can you really say that reading your blogs is essential? Is TV essential? Most likely not. Cut it out and see if you can make it a week.
Fast for a day. Can’t hack a week? Try one day. Cutting all Internet, TV, radio, and reading (other than fiction) for a day would be pretty drastic for most of us. See if you can last.
Fast on specific media, and take turns. Instead of cutting out everything, try cutting out only TV for a week. Then try cutting out newspapers and magazines. Then … if you dare … try cutting out your blogs. Then your favorite websites (whether it’s Digg, Netscape, a forum, wherever).
When you fast, work on specific goals. Don’t replace one media with another, or with another time-waster. Have a goal that you’d like to accomplish for that day, or week. See if you can use the time you’d normally spend on media to accomplish actions that further your goals.
If you’re not sold, track your time. Try logging your time spent on media for one day, without actually cutting back. Add it up in a spreadsheet at the end of the day. See how many minutes you devote to each type of media. It might be an eye-opener.
Once your fast is over, re-think your media intake. You may discover that cutting out TV, for example, wasn’t as hard as you thought, and that you were able to get a lot done. Maybe you want to stay off TV for good, or at least cut back on it drastically. Instead of launching right back into your old media habits, use your media more thoughtfully from now on. See if you can live with less, and work on your personal goals more.
Imagine the peace of mind that could come from shutting off the river of information that comes at you daily. Imagine the focus you could find without all the distractions. Imagine that your life can be changed for the better with this one little edit. It may seem difficult to quit an addition, but don’t you think it might be worth it? At least give it a try.
A final word that I offer is: certainty. Live with certainty. Be certain about who you are, what you desire in life, what you will offer and accept in your business, and how you will live your life. If you aren’t sure what certainty is, then I will offer this as an example: Each of us is completely capable of getting up in the “dark of the morning” and stumbling to the kitchen and making our morning coffee or tea without turning on the lights, either in the rooms we travel through to the kitchen or in the kitchen. This is CERTAINTY. We know our house and surroundings and if we bump into a table or chair along the way we still maintain the certainty of knowing our house.
In the real world of brick and mortar business, every day millions of people are dragging themselves from their comfortable beds, performing their morning rituals of washing and breakfast to head to their jobs. In their daily grind some are thinking that there must be a better and easier way to make a living.
All these millions know someone or know of someone who has “made it” by quitting their boring existence and become their own boss using their own computers in the comfort and ease of home.
While the idea of working from home sounds like an ideal solution, most are just not preparing. Many of these unhappy people will just quit their jobs and jump right into the first internet marketing business they find with no preparation, no knowledge of what they are doing, no education, and no hope of success. Failure is their only option and they are not even aware of it. The real fact is that most of these (so-called) businesses do not have a plan or curriculum of learning for the new and budding business owner and the people who are having results are not equipped to effectively train and/or don’t care to be educators and build success into their customers.
According to many sources, more than 90% (Ninety percent) of all Internet business start-ups end in failure within the first 120 (one hundred twenty) days. And that number is all too accurate: NINETY PERCENT!
This alarming failure rate goes unheeded for a number of reasons:
Many don’t know the statistical probabilities they face.
Many don’t see themselves as being part of the failures or they wouldn’t leap.
Many are talked into things they are unprepared for.
Many don’t know the basic tenant of – “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”
Of course, success is still a possibility. There IS that other 10% (ten percent) that do succeed. For them, success doesn’t happen by accident. And success isn’t just a crap shoot. Success happens because of some very important factors.
Success happens because people learn about internet marketing and how it works. They do not expect to get rich quick or be able to make a killing overnight and retire to a tropical isle.
It is strange but somehow the same people, who wouldn’t dream of starting a real world business, think they can make a go of an internet business even though they have no business background.
People think that an internet business just means that they no longer have to get up and go to work. They think they can simply work when the feel like it and still make a good living. They do not understand that any business requires them to work hard and sometimes work long hours.
Some Wrong Ides on the Internet
That 90% failure rate of new Internet businesses really is not surprising when you think about the sort of people who start an internet business. Most people seem to think that being a successful internet marketer is as easy as getting a website built and getting their own domain name and they could not be farther from reality.
Being a successful internet marketer requires self-discipline. People read books like “4 Hour Work Week” and think that partying all night, sleeping until noon and then 3 or 4 hours with a computer will make them rich. There is not a magic button to push to have instant massive traffic to their million-dollar-like website and fistfuls of cash in their bank. It is just not going to happen. Internet marketing does not run on auto-pilot. And while established internet marketing types do not put in the long, boring hours they have built their businesses by doing that in the past.
It does not happen overnight for anybody. Most people are not prepared for the time requirement necessary for an internet business to achieve success.
They Do Not Have a Business Background
All businesses whether large or small, Internet or “brick and mortar” have two things in common: they are a BUSINESS and must be operated like a business! Business people must understand accepted business practices. There are simple and basic concepts like “acceptable over-head expenses in relation to projected income”. All entrepreneurs need to understand profit and loss and what constitutes each.
It is not a requirement to have a college degree in business to be successful but it wouldn’t hurt. On the other hand some basic business knowledge is an absolute necessity. If it is difficult to balance your check book, then it might be a good idea to keep your day job and forget about being in business. Yes, you can hire an accounting firm that will tell you WHEN to make tax deposits, but they will not tell you IF you need to make tax deposits. An accountant can tell you if you made a profit but not how you make it. If you have no business background find a mentor who can guide you through the process.
The fact is that all successful businesses follow the rules of sound business principles. A successful business is not an accident. The numbers tell the story that only 10% of all new internet businesses are successful or are even still in existence after their first 120 days.
Expect to be profitable and take the necessary steps to accomplish that.
Have sufficient resources available for everything from startup costs to personal needs for a period of time. It’s called “capital” and there is no alternative to plenty of it. Make sure you have products to sell and a method to get paid, these are part of being ready for income.
They Do Not Have The Right Mindset!
Most of us have heard the phrase, “He has an attitude!” And it is often a derogatory remark made about a person with a negative attitude. The word “attitude” is important when thinking about marketing start-ups. A good attitude or a good mind set will not guarantee success but a bad attitude or a bad mind set can guarantee failure.
Let’s examine a few attitudes that will absolutely guarantee failure:
I can work when I want to. This is absolutely wrong! You cannot just work when it suits you. Expect many long and sometimes boring hours of hard work for your business to succeed.
I can get rich quick! This is a dangerous one. While getting rich quick is possible, there are too many “get rich quick” schemes that are only ways for the unscrupulous to take advantage of the willing. Expect to be wealthy in whatever time it takes. It is possible to make a very comfortable living in internet marketing but it is not usually quick or easy.
I don’t need a business plan. Internet business is still a business. All business principles apply to online business as they do to brick and mortar business. It is imperative that you have a plan for your success based on sound business principles.
Internet business people do not have a boss. You are the boss. A good boss sees that all work is completed on time and in full, or you will fail. Set up a work schedule and goals to meet or you will find yourself working at a job under a boss who does do those things and maybe for minimum wage.
Ways to Avoid Failure
Starting a business … any business … has no guarantee of success, period! Even large multi-national businesses can fail in a new business venture. Failure is always an option and the possibility or probability of success can be enhanced.
You can increase your possibility of success by:
Making a business plan BEFORE starting your online business. To remind you one of the things I said at the beginning: “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” A plan for success is a requirement. Have the steps listed in great detail including reasonable cost estimates for completing each step.
Expect to work hard to achieve your goals. Never expect things to be easy. Most of the time things are not as easy as they appear. Each successive step will require its own work, time and patience. Sometimes things don’t go right on the first try. Be willing to keep going again and again until you succeed.
Find a mentor who is having results in the business you want to begin. Not someone who makes their money from “selling you on the How to” parts.
Remember those statistics! Ninety percent of all new internet businesses fail in the first 120 days. You don’t have to be part of that majority. You can become a part of that 10% minority of successful internet business enterprises. Find something that others are having success with – to the level you want your own success, do what they do, and you will have your own success. Be prepared to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
The Bottom Line
Find a great business model where the leadership supports, encourages and empowers you to a greater success than you can even imagine. AND then the simple steps are DO WHAT THEY TELL YOU TO DO!
How rosy is this? I was amazed today, and it takes a lot to amaze me. I read an email that started out by saying some very bad things about recruiting. As this email progressed (and yes, silly me read the entire thing) it transformed into a recruitment email. That is like having a sign in front of your steak restaurant warning everyone that meat is bad. Don’t people read the junk they send out?
In our universe of internet marketers we are recruiters. You can put a bag over your head or stick your fingers in your ears and hum, but be aware of this. WE RECRUIT. That’s it. All our marketing or lead generation or “old school” belly-to-belly is about is getting more and more people in our team and having them do the same thing.
The differences in all the varied business models are how you get paid, how big and what kind of organization is required for your qualification and what the company has as the product line. Some are priced higher and some are priced lower. Some will reward you appropriately and some will reward your up-line more richly for your work. Some profess to teach a system and some will have a system in place that is easier to follow. And you can find promises of “reward” ranging from a few dollars per week (or month) to what I like to call “lifestyle” income. With the lifestyle income you can make enough to life the lifestyle you choose.
In examining and exploring this range of income types, I’ve looked at some big, some small and some in the middle. Anyone wanting to know specific companies will have to contact me to find out which ones I have evaluated.
Small opportunities exist that promise “anyone can make money within an hour with no investment” and so, being the intrigued idiot I am, I jumped on this a few years ago. And yes, they delivered on their guarantee. Within the first hour, following their simple instructions I had money in my account in their system. The amount was less than a half dollar. To make enough to “withdraw” and have the money in my hand, I would have had to spend an hour a day for about 15 days (This would return to me about $10 US). Not exactly a high enough hourly rate to bother with. I prefer things that make me more than that. I could have sped up the process by “upgrading” and recruiting others who also “upgraded” and that is how their system really works. Standard MLM – recruit a paying team and make some money.
There are a few “social networking/internet marketing” companies showing up lately. One has a simple model, when you upgrade (reasonably small amount) and have two people upgrade under you (that you recruit) you have covered your monthly cost and so by adding two people for each day or week you will begin to see a decent level of income. And their products are the training on how to market and attract those who will join your team, so the system will reward those who follow it.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that if you follow the instructions of the people who make the level of income you are seeking, that you will achieve a similar result. The real question to ask yourself is “whether you will follow the instructions” … ‘nuff said?
It's official! SelfGrowth.com has named us their Business Opportunity Experts! We're joining other SelfGrowth.com experts like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil.
All we can say is “WOW!”
Here's the press release that is going out tomorrow:
SelfGrowth.com Names Don and Karla Silver as Business Opportunity Experts
Don and Karla Silver team with SelfGrowth.com, the internet supersite for Self Improvement and Personal Growth to provide expert advice and information for SelfGrowth.com’s popular Business Opportunities section
Medford, NJ – March 4, 2014 – Business Opportunity experts, Don and Karla Silver have joined a select group of the world’s leading experts, including Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins and Dr. Phil McGraw, to provide professional commentary and advice to individuals seeking information about self-employment and business opportunities.
“We're so excited to be partnering with Don and Karla Silver, who bring a wealth of expertise and information that our SelfGrowth.com members and visitors can learn and grow from.” Said David Riklen, Founder, SelfGrowth.com.”
Don and Karla Silver come to SelfGrowth.com with decades of experience as entrepreneurs, leaders and business owners. This powerhouse couple have helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs succeed in their businesses, online and offline. Recently, Karla Silver has co-written a bestselling book, “Change Agents,” with the great Brian Tracy, and received the prestigious “Quilly Award” from the National Academy of Bestselling Authors.
Don and Karla Silver have appeared on television, radio, telesummits and stages all over the world.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the readers at SelfGrowth.com,” said Don and Karla Silver. “SelfGrowth.com is the #1 self-improvement site on the internet and has been an amazing source of information and personal development for millions of people around the world.”
As the official Business Opportunity experts, Don and Karla Silver bring their unique experience in the business world as well as their expertise in Lifestyle design.
Learn more about Karla and Don Silver at http://www.KarlaSilver.com and http://www.OurBusinessOverview.com
About SelfGrowth.com:
SelfGrowth.com’s mission is to provide informative, quality Self Improvement and Natural Health information to help people improve their lives. SelfGrowth.com provides information ranging from Goal Setting and Stress Management to Natural Health and Alternative Medicine.
It’s August 2001. It’s 3 AM. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night. Again.
It feels like it’s the millionth night in a row where I wake up in the middle of the night, totally burned out from my job, and I’m miserable. I hate it. The technology sector is almost in ruins and my life feels the same way.
The Internet/Technology sectors have been one of the best places in the world to work. I’d been part of the team in charge of creating the whole Internet business model at a company called Excite.com, and I’m enjoying the perks of stock options/stock splits, shareholder euphoria and a job that can’t be beat with the pay to match.
And yet something doesn’t feel right. Deep down something is bothering me but I just can’t put my finger on it.
I start to think about my life as a whole. Isn’t this job and this career the dream career I always wanted? And suddenly it dawns on me.
My life is so out of balance that I actually don’t have a life at all. I am living and breathing my career. That’s when everything began to change for me.
I jumped out of bed and started making a list of things that would make up my dream life. I had never thought of that before… what I really wanted. Not what was best for my next career step, the next big deal or promotion, etc., but what I really wanted my life to look like. I began to define what I wanted.
I’d have my own business, rock a beach body, speak French, live somewhere beautiful and travel the world. The list went on and on.
You know… that list of things you’ve always wished for and wanted, even fantasized about?
The list you have, but for some reason keeps getting pushed to the back of the to-do list over and over again.
I was tired of that – I wanted to take action now. I wanted to live a life of my own design.
I wanted everything on my list. I wanted my life back.
The next day I took a leave of absence. I was half relieved and half terrified.
I was taking a huge leap of faith. I didn’t have a plan, just a general notion and a feeling that a better life was possible. I didn’t have the blueprint or the solution yet, but I was officially on the hunt to piece together how I was going to make this happen – in all areas of my life.
At that moment, I was so hopeful, so optimistic. But life has a funny way of giving you a reality check. It turns out optimism doesn’t necessarily make anything easier.
Life can punch you in the face sometimes.
Fast forward two months later, and I’m completely lost. I still have no direction. I’m listless and drifting. What should I do?
Then my husband decided that he would leave me. See, he had felt so ignored in my pursuit of the next job/promotion/deal, etc., that he had had enough and wanted to find someone else that would actually BE in a real relationship with him.
That was the deepest pit of despair that I have ever been in. I crawled into bed for a month (or two or three) and just ignored the world.
Those months were some of the loneliest months I have ever had. How could I have left my job at Excite only to end up questioning everything? More importantly, what the hell was I going to do now?
I couldn’t help but wonder – had I made the right choices? Was I crazy for leaving Excite and thinking that I could ever build a business around the lifestyle I wanted to live? At the time, all I wanted to do was move forward… somehow. I had lost track of my quest to design my life, and just wanted to go a day or two without crying.
Finally I got out of bed.
I travelled to visit a friend in Paris (about six times!), went to school in the UK at Oxford University, went on safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, travelled to Australia, and moved to San Francisco.
It was fun, but it wasn’t making a living or a life. I was really just avoiding life.
I looked at franchises, and considered buying an established business. I even thought at one point that I would open a spa, but all of those options felt like I was just buying myself a job. All of those options would put me right back where I was before, and look what that cost me.
I woke up every morning feeling emotionally drained. I can't remember another time in my life where I've ever felt so drained. So devoid of energy, I just felt lifeless…
If you've ever been in this kind of circumstance, you know what I mean.
It wasn't just the break up that had me down, it was finding myself embarking on yet another new path, more alone than ever and feeling very uncertain about my future. I was scared out of my mind.
Despite all the good things, and positive progress around me, – I'm human and therefore susceptible to nature’s “flight or fight” syndrome whenever I feel fear.
And I do feel fear. I'm no different than you. We all do at some time.
You need to know you're not alone in feeling these feelings. I hear you – I've talked with literally thousands of you that experienced incredible lows…and I want to tell you, you're not alone.
But it's these fears that may keep you stuck. And I was stuck.
But I could feel it – there was still something deep down inside me – gears churning, not as quickly as before, but enough so that I felt uncomfortable doing nothing. Slowly but surely I got up.
If you want to succeed you need to override your natural desire to flee and stay and fight.
Fight on for another day.
Truly successful people make the choice to feel the fear and move forward anyway.
That day, despite my overwhelming desire to flee, I made the conscious decision to fight.
As you can imagine – 99% of me didn't want to get up. Getting back into bed and sleeping for a year sounded much more appealing.
But I got up… slowly and surely I forced myself to get up. And that was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Looking back at it now I've realized getting up is 90% of the battle. Life is going to knock you down and your ability to get back up is what makes all the difference in the world.
And thank God I did get back up. Shortly after, I met the man of my dreams and began building a life with him. And just a few short months after that, I answered an ad online which led me to meet a group of crazy-fun and successful internet marketers, some of which whom have become my best friends.
I began to feel slightly more recharged. The fire inside me was glowing a little brighter and I felt that all may not be lost after all. The universe was giving me a sign.
Over the course of the next few years, things started to slowly change for me. I'm not saying this was the only challenge I ran into…far from it. In fact I'd need a whole book to write down all the struggles I've overcome on my path to success. But I continued to persist, and this persistence has led me to one single realization that changed everything for me.
I'm going warn you – initially you may not think its revolutionary, and when you read it, you may think to yourself “That's it?” But those of you who “get it,” you know that it's BIG.
It was the simple realization that if someone had accomplished it before I had, that not only was it possible for me too, but the rocky road ahead was now literally paved in gold.
Read it again.
There's something amazing about our ability to observe others – to ask questions – and to find the missing puzzle pieces in our own lives based on the experiences of others.
Even though I was satisfied with how my business was going, I couldn’t help but think about that list I had made years ago, just before I left Excite. Even though my business was going well, and my personal life was fantastic, if I had to grade my progress on all of my other goals it would be a streak of D's. Yikes.
It's It was honestly a little overwhelming thinking about all the things I hadn’t gotten to do yet (sound familiar?) but were very much a part of my list – that list that I had made detailing that version of myself that exists in my wildest dreams.
Even worse is that it wasn't until later that I had my second “a-ha” moment – when I finally asked myself:
Why don’t I look to other people who have paved the way?
There are many people out there who have automated their businesses at the million (or billion) dollar level, more than I have, who live and work all over the world, who have learned to speak a second language, to dance, to surf, to rock a beach body, to play the guitar – you name it.
That road has been paved hundreds and thousands of times for me, or anyone.
What's stopping me from applying the exact same process I used to build my business and apply it to grow my business bigger and better as well as in all the other areas of my life I want to improve?
The answer is…nothing!
You're probably thinking …how is this even possible? Listen, I'm not that out of my mind, I'm just dead set determined never to live a life of mediocrity in any area of my life.
As far as I know, we have one life to live and it's ours to decide what to do with it. It's never too late to change the trajectory we’re on.
It's not always going to be easy, but we don't need easy… we just need possible.
It was time to DESIGN MY LIFE.
So… I went back to that list and added to it. I read a ton of books and blogs about other people who were living their best lives. I studied what other people had done.
I consumed information like a beast.
I had met the man of my dreams. I was earning an income online without selling my soul to corporate America. Now it was time to step out on a limb and do what I had always wanted to do.
I wanted to live, love, work and travel all at once – to actually design my life!
So here is what I did:
I specifically defined what I wanted to do. I mean everything. What my perfect day looked like. What my perfect relationship felt like. What I felt and looked like. Everything. AND I wrote it all down – every last detail.
I found a business that didn’t require me to be in any one place. That meant being able to work remotely, online from anywhere in the world. This way I could pay for my lifestyle as I lived my lifestyle.
I decided to take action. Making a move today is always better than tomorrow, because as you and I know, tomorrow never actually comes.
On September 28, 2008, all of our stuff went into storage, and since then, my husband and I have lived all over the world.
We’ve walked the ancient streets of Rome, got married in Tuscany, learned wine-making secrets in Portugal, studied with personal development gurus in Hawaii, made tortillas in Mexico, lazed on the beach in Spain, and so much more. The memories and experiences and friends that we’ve created together beat anything I could have achieved while working a job, or simply accepting what came my way in the world.
Most importantly to us, we weren’t travelling the world on a shoestring. No youth hostels, budget hotels, or rail passes. No third-rate villas, no teeny cars, mass transit or bad restaurants. That kind of travel is fine, but it isn’t for us. We are “luxury vagabonds,” not couchsurfers. If we were going to travel, we were going to travel in comfort, have someone else take care of our luggage, and go and do and see and eat what we wanted, when we wanted.
It hasn’t all been easy. We’ve had enormous financial ups and downs, made incredibly bad decisions, and started in businesses that ultimately failed.
But all these ups and downs have been on our terms, and each one has played an important part in our wonderful journey.
Part of me knows that I could be doing more. I'm still looking for new and better ways to automate my income, make more, save more and be more. There are areas of my life with room for improvement. I definitely don't have that beach body yet, I can't speak French or Spanish yet, there are many relationships in my life I could improve, I can't surf, dance, sing or play the guitar. But I’m excited to continue working on my to-do list and designing my future, even better than I ever imagined.
Are you ready to live a life of your own design? I’ve helped many people live the life of their dreams. When you are ready, I can help you.
You must be logged in to post a comment.