The risk you can’t afford not to take

“There is the risk you cannot afford to take, and there is the risk you cannot afford not to take.” –Peter Drucker (Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1998, p. 61)

I once had a job at a mental health center, but I was growing restless. I disliked the strictures of meetings, unnecessary paperwork and policies, and hours that weren’t right for my temperament.

There was another therapist working part time at the center who was ready to go to full-time work now that her child was school age, so we hatched a plot to switch positions. I would go to part time and she would go full time.

We brought it to our supervisor, who turned us down without explanation. Just said “No, that won’t work for us.”

A few months later, I left to start my private practice. It was a terrible thing to do. I had no clients, no business acumen, and no savings. And it was hairy at times, but it worked out.

I did the same thing when I became a speaker. I just jumped in the deep end, frantically thrashed about in the water and finally found a way to keep my head above water and then later, actually thrive and succeed.

I have never regretted taking those risks. They were risks I couldn’t have afforded not to take.

What risk can you not afford to take right now? Are you ready to jump into the deep end yet?

Errors of ignorance versus errors of ineptitude

In his latest book (The Checklist Manifesto), surgeon Atul Gawande makes a simple yet profound distinction. Some mistakes are made because the person doesn’t know enough or know the right information or have the right skills (these are errors of ignorance), but other mistakes arise from not applying what we know.

In implementing strategies to move my life, work and income in the direction of freeing my time from money and still making a meaningful positive impact on the world, I must admit most of the mistakes and missteps I have made have been from not applying what I know.

I procrastinate on implementing what I know would help move me forward: hiring some more outsourcing help to implement the overwhelming number of ideas for projects I constantly generate; hiring a coach/project manager to “herd my cats,” that is, to help me stay focused and working on the right things and moving projects to completion in a more systematic and timely manner.

So, this post is to get you thinking about what kind of mistakes you make: Do you need more information or skills? Or do you need to use what you already know in a better way?

The case for action

I was recently watching a Charlie Rose episode on the brain and one of the eminent scientists (David Wolpert from Cambridge) made the point that the only reason we have brains is to produce adaptable and complex movement. We only effect the world by action.

He drove home the point by talking about the “sea squirt,” an animal that attaches itself to a rock in the ocean, from which it never moves, and then proceeds to eat its brain. It no longer needs its brain; its automatic nerves and sensory tissues can handle everything it needs to do since it no longer needs to produce adaptable and complex movement.

I took from this a reinforcement of an idea that I have had for a while. The only way to make something happen in the world is by taking action. The titles of several of my books (Love is a Verb and Write is a Verb) reflect this notion.

The world can only teach you what works by responding to your actions. (And I hasten to add that speech is an action.) So, to create Your Life of Freedom, you must take actions.

Then notice what works to move you in the direction in which you want to go, adjust, and take more actions.

What actions will you take in the next period of time to help make Your Life of Freedom closer to reality?

I can’t get no . . .

I read the results of a survey by the Conference Board today about Americans’ job satisfaction. It turns out that job satisfaction is the lowest it’s been in more than 22 years. Only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. Fewer people consider their jobs interesting; they are not happy with their incomes and the high cost of health care.

That was true for me many years ago (in 1981, actually) and, as a result, I left my job and began working for myself. I have never regretted it.

When are you gonna get some satisfaction and start your own enterprise? It doesn’t have to be full time (until you are sure you can support yourself and your lifestyle).

It is easier than ever with the web tools and services available and all sorts of free information about how to do it, including this blog.

Could this be the year that you will fill out a survey like the Conference Board’s and say you are satisfied with your work?

What are you waiting for? The year is already 5 days old. Time’s a wastin’.

Diversifying at your point of vulnerability

I was trained as, and worked for years, as a psychotherapist. Because I have a restless mind, love to learn new things and am bored easily, I diversified my work life over the years. I began to give workshops and write books. Those activities began to be successful, so much so that my clinical practice became a minor part of my income.

But I had another motivation in the back of my mind as I pursued those new directions. I was always thinking about the possibility that depending on only one source of income could leave me vulnerable if conditions changed.

And, lo and behold, they did change. “Managed care” (which really meant limited therapy sessions that had to be approved by an overseer from the insurance company) swept through the field of therapy. I heard my colleagues complain bitterly about how this development had both reduced their income and intruded in a grating way on their autonomy. Some quit the field altogether.

Managed care was barely a blip on my radar screen, though. First, I stopped taking clients who used insurance or let them handle insurance issues on their own. Second, if they couldn’t afford therapy, I saw them for no charge. I could afford to do this since I made most of my income elsewhere.

The point: Identify places where your income is dependent on one (or very few) sources. And then diversify.

Of course, this is one of the things this blog is about: setting up diverse sources of passive, online, affiliate, automated and location-independent income; either to supplement your current income or to replace it entirely.

Where are you vulnerable to other people’s whims or sudden shifts in income? And what are you going to do about it?

Turning webinars or webcasts into passive income

The way to turn a webcast or webinar into passive income is to record it and offer it for sale afterward.

To do this, you either need screencast software (Camtasia for Windows; Screenflow or Screenium for Macs) or you need to have a webinar service that allows you to record the webinar/webcast.

You could also put the recorded webinar/webcast up on YouTube or similar video hosting service to develop your platform or reputation and indirectly profit from the increased exposure.

You could, of course, also offer the webinar as a bonus or free gift to get people to opt-in to your list or buy a product.

Uses for webinars

There are a number of main uses or purposes for webinars:
1. To build your email list. To do this, ask people to sign up and capture their email. The webinar could be free, low-cost or it could be standard price. But all should be offered with great content (no holding back and saving the “real stuff;” people are paying with their valuable time and attention if not their money). Try all three and find out which works best for you.
2. To generate location-free income. You can do webinars from anywhere you have high-speed Internet access, so you can charge for your information or expertise on webinars.
3. To generate reputation and good will. People will discover who you are and how valuable your information is. They may want to know more (or buy more).
4. To save people travel time and costs.
5. To add a live component to a membership site or mastermind group.
6. To show people how to do certain computer- or web-based tasks or projects.
7. To close a sale.
8. To market a product or service.

Webinars 101

Webinars are getting easier and easier to use and are becoming less and less expensive.

What is a webinar?
A meeting that is held online. People attend by computer and can see some content or a person on their computer screen and hear some audio.

What features are possible in a webinar?
-Slideshows
-Video camera/webcam video of the person leading the webinar
-Possibility of participants asking questions or making comments during the webinar using an instant message-type feature
-File sharing
-Taking instant polls or surveys during the webinar
-Possibility for participants to raise their hands to ask questions or make comments
-Screensharing-the presenter shows his or her computer screen to participants or co-hosts
-Live interactions through audio, video or participants showing their computer screens
-Recording for later use, sale or distribution

In a future post, I’ll discuss the best services for hosting or providing webinars and also the uses for webinars in marketing, list-building, and sales to move you closer to Your Life of Freedom.

Universal innate desire to live beyond our means?

I came across this quotation: “All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.” – Samuel Butler

While it made me laugh, it made me cringe as well, because I have been guilty of this “innate desire.” I tend to be a “psychotic” optimist, always expecting more money in the future; forgetting to factor in the taxes and expenses I will pay when I get a big chunk of money in.

One way to move closer to Your Life of Freedom is to stop money leakage and one of the best ways to do that is to stop living beyond your income. You can get a lot of bang for your buck doing this: you save interest fees on credit cards and car loans (that can add up to real increases in your available money and less need to work so much); you can follow your energy into new income-generating projects rather than being stuck doing work you don’t like and that drains your energy.

One of the ways to live beyond our means is to not know what our means are. What I mean is that many people are a bit unconscious and oblivious about exactly what they have coming in and going out every month. If you took a few hours and figured this out (or tracked it precisely and honestly for a month), you could get a better idea of where things are going and what you can actually afford.

Balance, shmalance

“I’ve never lived with balance, but I’ve always liked the notion,” goes a line from a Bruce Cockburn song. That line made me smile when I first heard it because it articulated something I have long felt. I am uninterested in balance. I want the freedom to become obsessed with and follow anything my little heart (and big soul) desires. Sometimes that’s work; sometimes that’s spending time with my lover; sometimes it’s just sitting around being fallow, doing nothing in particular.

That is why I become obsessed with creating a Life of Freedom. That’s why I left jobs in the early ’80s. Even when I started my own business, although that created more flexibility of what I could do with my time (and no one was directing me), I still had to work a lot to make the kind of income I wanted.

When I began working on creating more sources of automated and passive income a few years ago, that finally gave me Life of Freedom I wanted. Ironically, an outsider would say I live a balanced life. I read several books a week; I write a book a year; I take several months off work each year; I play music almost every day when I am not traveling; I exercise 6 days a week; I spend lots of time with my partner; I go to several movies a week; I do several teleseminars or webinars per month; I make my own meals; etc., etc.

But if some new interest engages me, most of the time I can devote days or weeks to pursuing it.

That is freedom. Not balance; but freedom.

What are you doing to create Your Life of Freedom?