Mind the Beginner

Yesterday, the lottery in The Netherlands was up to a record breaking amount of money (€27 million)  to be won and it was guaranteed to be won by someone. You can imagine the frenzy. People literally bought hundreds of tickets and were already spending the money in their head. You know how that goes. “I would by a new car! No wait, two cars!” Aside from the stupidity of buying a new car as opposed to a relatively new used car is that really what’s important?

It’s well known that people who suddenly come to great riches tend do squander it just as fast. They’re not accustomed to managing money. One of the reasons few people become rich.

Even so, (almost) everybody dreams of being rich. I found a great quote on that I’d like to share with you:

“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up”
- Paul Valery

Yes, well all share that dream on one way or the other. Even those who are rich dream of being richer. It’s almost a universal truth. And yes, I dream of being wealthy too, or at least, having enough savings to be able to live comfortably from the interest. I estimate that goal to be €1,3 million in the bank at 3,5% interest. If the interest were higher (and it often is) say 5% under a million (.96) would more than do it. With relatively low risk to your savings you can generate an even higher interest rate.

See those numbers? It’s not that big now is it. Even if you don’t make a six figure income you can reach this point. It all depends on two things: Be realistic and be frugal, keep it simple and keep it safe.

Okay, now it’s time for you to laugh. Here I am, a blogger/student who’s 26. Doesn’t have a penny’s worth of savings talking about having a million in the bank. My old classmates are lawyers, engineers or otherwise already earning an income. And I’m being realistic or dreaming?

Actually, yes I’m dead serious. Chances of you winning the lottery are astronomical at best. You’re better of putting that money to some use instead of throwing it away. Let’s say you’re a typical player buying two lottery tickets every month, €5 Each and you do that for forty years, most people play their entire life. That’s €4800 spent. But with an interest of only 3.5% you could have had €10,337. An increase of 46% over all that time and very likely a better “result” than playing the lottery.

Okay, those are small numbers but there are so many things that are simply not worth what we pay for them. Most things we don’t even need. As I talked about before, the reason minimalists often have such great homes is because

• 1: They aren’t cluttered and
• 2: because they only need a few things, the few things they do buy are of good quality.

We live in a world that’s trying to convince us that quantity is all that counts. After all, we’ll buy two new cars when we win. More jewelry, more expensive watches, more bling (What a horrible word btw), more TVs, more useless clutter you “need” to show others your wealth.

It’s time to stop dreaming about those riches and come to grips with reality. You will not win the lottery. Being frugal and saving is the way to go. It’s not glamorous and it’s slow, but it’s a far better path to riches. And besides, you’ll learn a great deal about managing your money so by the time you do reach that point when you can live off the interest (a passive income)  you’ll know how to manage your money and you’ll think twice before buying a new car. Make a habit out of saving and being frugal. Eventually you’ve worked so long and hard to get where you are, you’ll take great care not to throw it all away just like that.

How many of us feel like we are out of place where we are right now. Our work takes place in the proverbial cubicle where we secretly do other things at the same time. Running an online business or perhaps blogging in the boss’s time. We hate don’t like our job a lot and as the saying goes, we work so we can live.

Work has a negative ring to it, it’s our job, it’s what we do so we have money to do what we really want to be doing. Just ask anyone you meet what they think work is. Work is something we should not enjoy, if we enjoy our work to much it would become play. That certainly can’t be good for productivity now can it? It’s not supposed to be fun. Stop playing and get back to work.

But what if playing was our job? If we define our work as something we have to do to make a living (are we actually living?) and if we see fun as something that doesn’t apply to work we are heading off into an interesting direction. If we enjoy our work, we could conclude that we don’t have to work another minute! How about that one, the zero hour workweek is born just because of a change of mind. Every once in a while you see one of those employees or entrepreneurs, people who thoroughly enjoy themselves at what others perceive as work. They actually are playing all day long. No wonder they are enjoying themselves!

Where did it all go wrong? It’s not so much that things went wrong, times have changed. With the invention of Internet came the possibility to get paid to exist in stead of having to work long days for the rest of your life. Internet has rewritten the rules about life and how we spend it. Fifty years ago working from 9 to 5, 5 days a week for 40 something years was the norm. After that you were allowed to retire and enjoy what was left of you life. It seems totally out of place somehow. We work when we are most vital, and enjoy life when we’re not so vital anymore. Work was your life…

…and now we can get away from it all. The first thing would be to enjoy your work and get rid of all the negativity associated with working. The second step could be to take a look at what the things are you really want to be doing with your life. You can use boredom to get a clue to that. Boredom sets in whenever we are in a certain situation that we’d rather not be, we’d rather be some place else. Start making a list of all those places you’d rather be and get to work realizing those dreams.

With the power of Internet it’s quite possible to have a great time and get payed for it. The challenge is your to make it happen. Believe in that zero hour workweek and you can make it happen. Our brain is a brilliant piece of engineering, there is nothing that’s humanly possible that we can’t do, it’s all in the frame of mind. Why does one person become a bestselling author and the other works in a factory all his life? It’s the combination of creativity to think outside of the preconceptions and the productivity to make those thoughts real. We end up with success. We are playing, not working.

Come play

[update] Yesterday (20090908) Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind launched a new eBook called “The Zero Hour Workweek”. A huge coincidence but I’d still like to mention it here, for those who want further reading on the subject. For your convenience (and as internet currency) here’s a link to his new eBook [/update]

“In order to engage in life fully, we sometimes have to subject ourselves to small, calculated risks. And though we can’t control anyone else’s behaviour, we can learn to control ours to minimize those risks.”

This is a quote from Neil Strauss’ book Emergency. (Page 385 if you want the context) and I found it rather thought provoking. In daily life, what are the risks we take every single day. I gave it a hard thought while taking a long ride on my motorcycle and realized that just by taking that ride I was taking risks I didn’t have to. 

But although I didn’t have to, I wanted to take this risk. I thoroughly enjoy riding my motorcycle in the warm spring sunset and I’m not alone in this. I spotted at least thirty other riders and as is the custom with “bikers” you wave at one another, just to acknowledge what all bikers know: that riding is better than driving. But in order to wave you need to let go of the handlebar for a second. Going 60 mph and letting go of the handlebar with one hand to wave. A calculated risk if you ask me. Less dangerous than eating a snack in the car or using your mobile. That is not the only risk in riding a motorcycle, they are everywhere. But as in the quote, we can learn to control our own behaviour and minimize the risks involved. You won’t see me waving while cornering or overtaking. Use your own judgement to control your behaviour. But, also look around what risks are considered “normal” and what is excessive. Are you overly cautious or are you taking more risks than you should?

Any entrepreneurial effort is also a risk, the stakes can be high and the possibility of failure are real. Are the rewards worth the effort and the risk? I think they are. It’s hard work and a path filled with setbacks but in the end there is nothing that quite beats the rush of the startup, it’s highly addictive though. Take this blog for example, it’s a startup of sorts and it’s a great feeling to see the number of subscribers and readers grow day by day, knowing that this is a direct result of your own work, you alone are responsible in the end, failure is all yours, success is all yours too. Although success in blogging could never happen without your readers, they are your friends and can break you just as easily as they have made you. The risks involved with starting this blog are minimal, there is no monetary commitments yet (for me) , and likewise no monetary rewards (for me, yet). 

The chance to have your own business, or even your own blog is something everyone should try. Don’t get in to deep and spend thousands of dollars on it. Look into the possibilities to start a small side business that won’t cost to much and enjoy the rollercoaster of startup and the joy of every single cent you make. Find out if you enjoy the thrills or if the risk is to great and you can’t stand the feeling. Either way, take the chance if you can and find out. To many people out there have the dream of being an entrepreneur and only a small percentage of those really give it a go. Blogging on a free wordpress hosted blog is a great way to experience your first startup and get a feeling for marketing. After that, the steps to investing some money seem less daunting. 

Start monetizing your blog, offer your skills to others for a modest fee, try a small drop-shipping business. Give it a go and find out if it’s what you thought it was. 

…This is one of the reasons for me to start blogging, I dreamed about it and in stead of just dreaming, I acted on the dream and now that dream is reality… Engaging in life fully and not standing at the sidelines dreaming of what could be. Take the chance! 

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Once more I look at my mountains and realize that they are tall. I can imagine myself standing on top and being on top of the world. I can dream about it and most of all I can be positive about it.

But let’s be honest, does being positive get you up there? Absolutely not! Being positive is just dreaming, you dream being up there while you lay in bed or on the couch watching some mindless TV show. “One day I’ll be up there you’ll see!”

Yes, one day… with that attitude that day will be when your body has disintegrated to dust and a speck of that dust carried on the wind might land on top of that mountain just by sheer luck. Stop lying to yourself! The only way someone gets up there is by working very hard, making long days, investing their time and doing the very best they can. You won’t get up there if you work four hours a week, you won’t get there by doing less, there is no magic trick. You’re not even assured of getting there by doing exactly the same thing as you idol.

If a best-selling author tells you you should read certain books, Amazon will be very happy with that writes because we all immediately start reading those books. If your idol wears certain shoes, how many of you will buy those shoes just so you can imitate him? Dress like the one who made it and maybe, just maybe, that success will be yours as well? Play on the signature guitar of your hero and you’ll soon be playing just as good? Dream on!

There is a reason some people are at the top of their niche or the best of their field. They got there first. No other blog will ever be able to challenge icanhascheeseburger. The owners of that blog make thousands of dollars a day just because they had the brilliant idea and monetized it. No other blog can do that anymore because it has been done and it will be seen as an imitation.

So why do we want to imitate others? The chance to be successful that way are slim at best. The way to get to the top of a mountain is to find one that hasn’t been climbed yet, one that is yours for the climbing without the crowds. The problem with our dreaming is that most of the time we dream of being someone else. That’s the easy dream we don’t need to be creative. We just think to ourselves “I want to be like that person, I want to live his life”. It will not get us there however. This is a fault in our thinking that helps sell all those signature guitars, replica racing helmets and any brand of clothing that “they” wear. There is a phenomenon called social proof. It’s the idea that if everyone is doing something it must be right. I wonder how many people actually buy something because their friends have bought it.

So what do we do about this problem? We dream our own dreams, create our own mountain to climb and be positive about that. Be realistic and dream about that goal in our life, not the goal someone else reached and who we envy.

Don’t wish you were this or that person you idolize. Be yourself and follow your own path to your own top.

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The rat race is all around us. Running around, always looking at the horizon or the top of the mountain. It’s totally useless you know? We set goals in our lives, wonderful things we would like to do one day. We read about 4 hour workweeks and think that would be just great. We keep dreaming about where we want to be, and in doing so we never have time to enjoy where we actually are. 

At this very moment you are reading a blog on beginnings. Now I ask you, what do you want from this blog? Is reading this post what you want to be doing right now? Are you procrastinating perhaps? Don’t panic, we all procrastinate and we all have dreams about our future that keeps us away from the now. Yes, even “great” people like Timothy Ferris and Leo Babauta have moments every day that they dream off into some kind of fantasy about the future. It’s human you know..

In being human it’s perfectly okay to dream about the future and look at the top of the mountain. But in doing so we forget to enjoy where we are right now. In favour of a bright future we forget to actually live in the now and appreciate where we are and who we are this moment. 

Drifting off into a fantasy about the future is a sure sign you aren’t completely happy with where you are right now or who you are. You’d rather be somewhere else in stead of having to live in this boring moment you are in right now. Perhaps you’re supposed to be working on a homework assignment right now you’re putting off in favour of this blog post. Well, one the one hand I’m happy you’re reading this post, on the other hand this post is a way for you to get distracted from what you are supposed to be doing right now isn’t it? 

Stop for a second, breathe deeply and open your eyes, where are you right now? What are you supposd to be doing right now? 

Take another breath….

….and now go do what you are supposed to be doing and stop fantasizing about the future, it will still be there tomorrow!

..That is the question is it not? Why would you blog? Why wouldn’t you? There seem to be more and more blogs every day, it’s a virus spreading on the internet. Starting up a bog is easy, you just get an account at wordpress and voila you can start writing about anything and everything. Perhaps you even get some readers who can help you and comment on your reading…  and if you’re REALLY lucky you get so many followers that you become an expert of sorts. More and more bloggers however seem to be in it only for the money. They read all these fantastic stories about making huge incomes on blogging. But is it realistic to expect your blog to get there? If you’re lucky you might make a buck or two but that is not the reason to start a blog. Blogging is hard work and it takes a long time to get readers. If you want to, you can get there however and have a tiny second income from it. Be realisic about it but don’t forget to dream.

There is a long way to go however. A way that takes you past a lot of hurdles and setbacks. For the beginner I’ve identified two major ones:

1. The actual writing
2. Getting people to read it (and comment)

For me personally, the first hurdle isn’t a hurdle. I aways find something to write about and with the upcoming problogger 31 day challenge I’ll probably get even more ideas. But that second hurdle is a major one. How do you get people on your blog and how to you provoke them into commenting and in doing that helping you with your blog. I read somewhere that out of every 100 readers on your blog, only one will comment. That’s 1% of your readers. But what if you have only about 4-20 readers a day? How do you get comments then? Patience…

Is a blog all about the comments and the statistics? As I’ve talked about before this is a beginner’s trap you should be weary of. Again the solution is simple, write for yourself and write consistently. Readers will come over time when your writing inspires people and offers a certain level of quality. Keep writing, above all keep writing and when you least expect it, your blog wil grow if that is what you want.

If you can answer for yourself what you want from your blog that’s the place to start. Set goals and work on them, one step at a time.

What do you want from your blog and how to you plan to get there? Tell me all about it please.