“Some people see things that are and ask, Why?
Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?
Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.”
It is sometimes hard for me to relate to other people’s situations because of the “unconventional” life I live.
It’s also probably hard for many of you to relate to my situation for this very reason—although I still hope you can at least learn whatever you can, especially considering I was once where you were (probably worse off, in fact).
Either way, I can only speak from my own experiences… and my life is one of autonomy.
It’s not often I have to do something I don’t want to do. I’m extremely fortunate in this way (although I’ve worked hard to make it so).
I set my own schedule for work, play and sleep. I travel when I want to, read when I want to, watch a movie when I want to, and do absolutely nothing when I want to (which I need to do more of).
I’m not financially rich… not even close. You could say I’m “time rich” or “freedom rich.” Whatever.
Of course, getting to the point of being “time rich” took a lot of time and mountains of hard work.
When you start a business, especially a brick and mortar one, you become responsible for employees, taxes, inventory, ordering, selling, marketing, customer support, and everything else that a small business takes to run (which is a lot).
Even though you are the “owner” or “boss,” you end up becoming more like an employee to the million little details in your business. In time, if you are smart and work hard, you can build a team to handle these tasks for you. This is when you get your time back and become an “Investor.”
That’s where I am at now in my two small businesses: Owner/Investor instead of Owner/Operator.
This allows me to be free in my schedule and living location (I’m currently in Austin, Texas and my businesses are in Fort Myers, Florida).
Of course, there are times when I miss the restriction of having a schedule, of having to be somewhere. Sometimes “doing whatever you want” isn’t the easiest thing to manage. (I know, I can see those of you with a job shaking your head.)
Now, with all that said, there is something that those of you with a job have going for you that I don’t get to enjoy.
It’s this: You get to clock out!
I never get to clock out. I’m 24/7 on the job. I’m 24/7 working. And when I’m not physically working, I’m 24/7 thinking about it in some way. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to turn this off. Being able to clock out is a huge benefit to having a job that most of you are not taking advantage of.
What so many fail to realize is the majority of what gets done in life is the result of mental energy welling up before being expended into action. Let me explain.
When someone says, “I don’t have time,” what the really mean is they aren’t setting aside time to form thoughts, plans and action towards doing something. They think they don’t have time but what they really aren’t doing is making “mental space” by committing to something.
This is often the result of a skewed perception of what it actually takes to get stuff done, or from the thoughts about what committing to a new project will mean.
Every single thing in your external world started in your internal world. Every tangible thing you have created for yourself has started as a thought, idea or plan in your head. After you formed that thought, you took action to make it so.
Let the real work begin
Simple to understand, right?
The thing about action is it’s easier to take than its ever been in the history of mankind. You can hire VA’s for dollars an hour, you can research information in minutes that may have taken weeks, months of years to access. You can build a business and have everything you need to run that business for less than a hundred dollars a month. And on and on.
All that stuff is absurdly easy. Like ridiculously easy. Yet still, you struggle with getting shit done. This is because of the thoughts in your head. To get shit done, you have to make commit then fill up mental space with ideas and plans.
Most people think they don’t have time. That’s false. What they don’t have is commitment. Simple as that.
If you have a job, you have the opportunity to make all kinds of room in your head. You get to clock out each day, both physically and mentally, and this allows for a completely free mind that you can fill with a new business or project.
This is a huge opportunity, but to utilize it, you have to commit to filling that mental space!
Like I said, I never get to “clock out.” I have to be careful with what I research, read, and think about because my mind is always full (usually with things that get in the way of my work). It’s a pain in the ass to deal with and wrangle under control. I have to be the boss and the employee in the business of me.
After 8 years of working for myself and growing multiple businesses, I’ve learned the power of simplicity. Action is as simple as starting at point A and moving forward until you reach point B. That’s the easy part.
What’s hard is committing to filling your mind with the ideas, plans and intention needed to take action.
Maybe you think you don’t have enough time; maybe you paralyzed by fear or the uncertainty of it all. Whatever it is, the fact is: You have more opportunity than you know. (And if you are like most people, you squander it.)
Instead of watching Netflix for 4 hours, how about cutting it down to 2 then spending those two hours to form beliefs and plans that will translate into something tangible, like action?
If you work 8 hours a day, after you clock out, you have another 8 hours to do with as you please. That’s plenty of time. Start carving out 1, 2 or 3 of those hours to commit to filling your head (and spreadsheets) with plans. The action will come soon after.
The second you “clock out” of your day job, you have all the opportunity in the world. Start using it.
And… NO, you don’t need to quit your job to get started. That’s just an illusion. Most companies and business are started by people that have (had) jobs.
Clock out and get to work.