Tuesday, January 27, 2015

When you think it's over....it's just beginning!

We're taught to go to school, study hard, get good grades, go to college, get a degree, get your career going, move up the ladder, then retire.  But guess what? The game has changed.  I did all those things.  My parents made sure I got a great education and even sent me to art school for college.  Despite most parents fears that art school only cranks out starving artists, mine knew that wasn't going to be my fate and they were right.  

I graduated with a Film degree, moved to LA and became a movie trailer editor.  I busted my butt and sacrificed to reach my goal and created an amazing life for myself.  I got a 6-figure income, my dream car, a place by the beach, traveling to Europe every other year and getting my work in front of Oscar winning directors wasn't bad either.  I'd reached my goal and expected to just sit back and enjoy my life....and  then it happened.....plot twist!  I lost my job.

Over the past few decades, I'd refused to see that the economy was evolving and I'd ignored the signs. For the past generations it was the "40 hours a week, for 40 years" plan and that's what I trusted, but things changed.  All the sudden 9-5 isn't secure anymore and certainly no one stays in one job for 40 years.  Whether its their choice or not it doesn't matter because job security is gone.  It doesn't exist.  Unless you are in a government job or a union, you are rolling the dice every single day.

"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." - Warren Buffett

The boat is sinking in the 9-5 job world and it's time to find a new boat, a better boat, a different boat.    So I've had to do a lot of soul searching as well as investigating new avenues of income because a paycheck is an outdated idea.  

Many of my friends have found new ways to live beyond the 9-5 with fantastic results.  Passive income and residual income are new avenues they've discovered that actually work and people are happier as well as paid better!  The brilliant thing is that part of this journey is really asking yourself what you are passionate about?  What gets you out of bed each day?  What brings you great joy?  Why couldn't those things pay you handsomely?  Ever hear "do what you love and the money will follow?"  I've watched many of my friends become pioneers in these new directions with staggering results.  They are happier, more content in their souls, spend more time with loved ones and are paid beyond what they ever imagined!  Who wouldn't want that life?  There are new boats out there, better boats, different boats but we first have to let go of the one that has failed us and is sinking.

So in a way, this has been a blessing.  I've been forced off the Titanic and had my fingers unclenched from the side. I don't really like change....ok, I loathe it but its been essential in my growth over the years.  Moving cross country at 21 was a really difficult change, but I did it because I had to.  I was drowning. So here I am again, in the water, drowning.  Luckily, I have friends on the new boats offering me a hand.   And come to think of it, even though my parents came from the "40 hours a week for 40 years" generation, it doesn't mean they did that.  They owned their own businesses, several in fact.  Their mantra has always been "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up."  Very good advice and I think I'll take it.