Don’t get a job…
Steve Pavlina has written a post called 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job. Apart from being slightly abrasive in parts (which I have to believe is intentional), it’s a really good read and makes you question the wisdom of what you do for 8 or so hours of each weekday.
I’ve heard most of these arguments before – mainly while studying at QUT’s Brisbane Graduate School of Business (BSGB). I distinctly remember listening to a lecture from the current Executive in Residence Anne McKevitt (fairly famous in the UK) where she raised many of these points herself.
The main idea is a simple one: why work for someone else, trading time for money, when you can earn passive income 24/7 by providing a service that runs itself? The advent of the Internet has made this a much more feasible prospect. If you can set up a web-based service that generates income without needing much maintenance, then you’re on your way. It’s been done countless times (think eBay, Amazon, del.icio.us, etc.), so you can’t say it’s not possible.
I remember reading about a teenager who set up a website called The Million Dollar Homepage. Really simple idea. The site consists of a single image, 1000×1000 pixels in size. You can put whatever you want in this image (within reason obviously), with links, and it’ll cost you $1 per pixel. It’s win-win: Businesses can advertise very cheaply, and this guy gets a million dollars. It was sold out when I looked a minute ago.
Of course, to make this passive-income thing work, you need an idea and sufficient commitment to see it through. Every time I hear about this kind of thing I think, “Yeah, awesome! I’m going to do that!”. And every time, it fades into obscurity. I’ve still got some ideas, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never been excited enough to see them through. One day…
And no, I’m not telling you what my ideas are 
.
Damo
How about this thing ? Looks pretty okay .
http://www.ibtimes.com/adcubes/
Just recently damo i was dragged along to an Amway meeting with my brother. Now don’t get me wrong i thought that the speaker was great at public speaking, he kept me amused, he was funny and he got his point across, however his main point was that one must have ‘passive income’ and make their money work for them and not the other way round. I am certain that this type of income would make my financial life much easier. But i couldn’t help to notice a common trend amoung those who sort this ‘passive income’. All seemed to have reached a point in there chosen careers where they simply wern’t earning enough to satisfy there financial hunger. They all placed greater importance on money than workplace staisfaction and personal challange at work. I strongly beleive that no amount of money will feed your financial hunger or solve your problems. I would argue that these people chose the wrong profession to stimulate their mind. Work is not just about making money and spending it. Its about acheiving the goals you set out to acheive, breaking your personal barriers, meeting knew people, making life long friends and most importantly being enjoyable. In the words of Dave Matthews ‘what i want is what im searching for, and what i need is all around me’. There’s more to work than just money, and there’s more to life than finacial freedom.
MC: Yeah, that’s an interesting idea. I’ve gotta say that like the Million Dollar Homepage, I can’t imagine this will be a long-term thing. I haven’t heard of this one at all (admittedly IBTimes doesn’t mention Australia in its FAQs) and the URL doesn’t sit right with me. Still, it’s a simple idea and has that gimmick value that might take it a fair way.
Shanas: I take your point and agree totally that there’s much more to life than money. You’re right, work isn’t just about making money and spending it; like you said, there’s goals to achieve and people to meet, etc. Nobody is saying you can’t work as well though. If your goals are related to work then having financial security outside your workplace shouldn’t take those goals away. You can still work somewhere to achieve your goals, break personal barriers, meet new people, make lifelong friends, and have fun. Of course if the passive income is all about making more and more money, then your life is probably pretty shallow anyway.
The point is, by having a passive income, there’s a lot less pressure to work any more. Many people stay in jobs a lot longer than they should simply because they’re scared to move on or they feel like they can’t afford to change. It becomes about risk mitigation and surviving and not so much about achieving goals and enjoying life. How often do you talk to people who are enthusiastic about their jobs compared to how often you hear, “well, it pays the bills”?
If you’ve ever had this conversation with me, you’ll know that if I won the lottery (unlikely because I rarely enter… actually, it’s unlikely regardless), I would probably be at work the next day. Sure, I’d probably leave once the reality set in, but I could never just go on holidays constantly or sit at home doing nothing. I reckon I’d go back to uni and do a few extra degrees, or learn some other languages. You know, to break my personal barriers, meet new people, make lifelong friends, and have fun.
I guess my point is that everyone needs money and by far the most common way to get it is to work for most of your waking hours in a job you don’t really enjoy. It’d be nice if this was not your only option. You could still do it if you enjoyed it, but there’d be no requirement anymore.
Damo
Damo, you have brought up many valid points and I will take them in my stride, however there is something I would like to bring to your attention. Let us look at the idea you discussed regarding how passive income provides one with the option to work or not based on their financial position. For example, lets say you won the lottery; you invested the money in stable enough shares to ensure a generous income for many years to come. The next day you went back to work at your job. It is in my opinion that one would not be able to find the motivation to see this day or any other though to the end. However, your comments (Damo) have lead me to think that perhaps, having financial freedom could empower an employee to demand what he/she wants or to openly speak there mind. Now this could be disastrous – or it could be the confidence one would need to move further in there chosen career. After reading the document you posted recently “Unskilled and unaware of it” I can’t help but notice you feel you suffer from low confidence. Have you ever wondered why you really want financial freedom? If it is in your belief that it will empower you and give you the confidence you desire I feel you may find yourself unsatisfied with what you discover. Confidence in ones self can never be found with any amount of money.
Shanas,
Thanks for your continuing dialog!
I guess it all depends on how you handle it. If you truly have a job that challenges you and can’t imagine doing anything else, I can’t see how having less financial pressure would change that. Realistically, you’re probably right though. I can’t imagine my motivation for work would be extremely high if I could easily be doing more exciting things, but then again, I wouldn’t put myself in that “can’t imagine doing anything else” category.
I’m not sure where you got the idea that I was suffering from low confidence from that “Unskilled and Unaware of it” link… I don’t think I was referring to myself; I don’t believe I fit into that category either. Although I guess the point of the article is that I wouldn’t know if I did, so maybe I do.
And no, I don’t think that money can buy you happiness or empower you with confidence. If you inferred that from what I wrote, I’m sorry – that wasn’t my intention. But if you could have your current life, or your current life plus another income stream, which would you choose? It’s kind of a no-brainer.
Damo
Hi, nice thread you’ve got going here.
Just wanted to add my quick 2c. I believe strongly in doing things you are passionate about. Life is too short and valuable to spend as a wage slave for some company that doesn’t care about who you are or how you feel. Most people don’t realise they have a choice about how they can spend their lives.
For me, I aspire to generate my own passive income. I’d like to create something that people can enjoy and use. In the end, I believe the thing holding most people back are self imposed limitations. ie their FEAR of failure.
You might find my articles interesting:
http://www.davecheong.com/2006/07/28/are-you-a-happy-employee/
http://www.davecheong.com/2006/06/18/our-limitations-are-self-imposed/
Good luck with your ventures and dreams.
Thanks Dave for your input. I read the articles on your site – not bad! You certainly know what you want and what’s important in your life.
For everyone else, there’s now a link to Dave’s blog from mine. Take a look from time to time.
I have the passion when I want to and believe I am able to impress others. What I would do if I have a milliondolla? Well, getting that a milliondolla is quite impressive. And I guess I will do whatever I belive can further impress others, selected others.
Having a passive income is very attractive. It is essentially a financial freedom. What will I do if I had that financial freedom? Probably getting more money because if I can achieve finanicial freedom in a few years, then getting more money is probably the easiest and most impressive thing I can do.
It is like lottery ticket, there will never be too many having that passive income. The value has to be created somewhere. The number has to add up. If you are successful in getting that passive income, it is unwise to share your secret. If others get a similar piece of the pie, you will have less or no pie to eat pretty soon… Unless, he is not sharing the secre, or there is no secret to share, or he is just passionat about impressing others, or all of above.
Seth Godin points out, there is a big factor of Luck. Just like lottery. The milliondolla idea is just a lotter ticket. Don’t count on it or you will get heartbreak. But if you win, don’t think you have got a gold finger.
Just some rant.