The Quest for Financial Freedom
I think back to when I was in high school (which was not all that long ago, as I am only 26 years old) and all the teachers taught us that we needed to go to college so we can get a good job. Don't get me wrong, all kids should try to experience college. If not for the high paying job, simply for the light shedding experience it brings your life. Being from a small town, I never would have gotten to live with the types of people I lived with, go to the places I went, and frankly drinks as many beers as I did! If nothing more, college makes you a more rounded person. However, it is sad to see that there is a massive lack of entrepreneurial spirit. Perhaps maybe this was my particular University, but the many people I spoke with before writing this article tend to agree. The major lesson is the same as high school. Learn as much as you can about a particular field so you can get a good job and make somebody else rich. I can't help but wonder how different this world would be if more people were taught to think outside the box and start there own businesses.
Fortunately enough for me, I was always thinking just a little different from most of my friends. The idea of getting a 9-5 job mad me unhappy. Life is too short to spend the majority of it cooped up in a cubicle, counting the minutes until Friday at 5:00pm. All so you can get the heck out of there and start doing things you wanted to do all week.
The worst part about the whole "work" thing is most people barely make enough money to pay their bills, let alone live the life that they want. In fact most people not only can't pay their current debts, but they are actually sinking deeper and deeper with each passing year. They resort to paying bills with credit cards completing the vicious circle.
First off, lets give a basic definition of what is means to be financially free. Financial freedom comes when you no longer have to worry about money. You are making more money from you passive streams of income than you are spending. You can basically live off of your investments. It's sounds cliché, but the best way to describe it is like a money tree. You can pick off some fruit when you need it, and it will grow back more. While more fruit is growing, you are planting seeds for other money trees. Eventually with some hard work, you will have a self sufficient money forest! With a little care, and some tending, it will continue to flourish and increase in size. Why is it that some people are able to break the mold and become financially free, while other struggle to get by. Well, there are many reasons, and methods for becoming financially free but there is almost always one common denominator. The common denominator is "Leverage." You see there is not enough time in the day to get there with only one small stream of income from you job. You would have to work around the clock. Constantly working to make money is not freedom. You will never have time to enjoy it.
When you start leveraging yourself, you begin to make passive streams of income from other areas (planting trees) Another great way to picture the term leverage in action is a great story I read in the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The story tells of two men in a small village. Each day the men would walk down to the river with their buckets and pail up water to bring back for their families. This was back breaking work, and took up much of their day. One day one of the men (we'll call him Jim) decided he no longer wanted to pail water everyday. Jim got to work on thinking up a better way.
As the days went on, the first guy (we'll call him Larry) kept on walking to the creek to gather water. Jim however was not there. As the days went by Larry became curious and went to see what Jim was up to. To his surprise, Jim was rigging pipes from the walls of his house, as a local neighbor was walking to get Jim's water for him.
Long story short, Jim had an idea to break the cycle. Why not pay someone to get the water for him for a short period of time (the initial investment) while he built a pipeline down to the river. Once it was completed he would never have to go down to the river again. He could simply use his hand pump and have all the water he wanted (the stream of income).This story is a great analogy of what we need to do to get our constant stream. Why are we slaving away at our jobs everyday?
I decided to start building my pipeline a few years ago. I was working a full time job (to make ends meet) however, when I came home at night I was not watching TV. I was on my computer doing research. I can't tell you how many get rich quick schemes I have read through in my quest. I finally discovered a technique called Internet Marketing and I knew it would be the answer for me. I studied and studied and studied some more. Finally I made a website and started on my path to freedom. Within two years (an awful long and sometimes depressing two years) I finally saw my red ink turning to black. I was making money!
I continued honing my skills, and testing, testing, testing. Three years from the day I started, I was able to make enough money online to pay all my living expenses. I continued working my regular sales job, but I could afford to lose it if something bad were to happen. Each year my income online grows, while my "job" income stays just about the same. It makes me happy to know that I never "have" to work again! I only do because I am passionate about my line of work, and it is now part time.
You see, there are many ways to break the mold. Take an idea and run with it. Internet Marketing may not be your gig. Read some books, interview successful people, and soon you too will know what you must do to build your pipeline. Remember, as the old saying goes, "Nothing happens until something happens." Don't procrastinate! Jump in with both feet and get started. You can always change, or improve later. Keep on keeping on, and never give up. You can make it happen!
Related Tags: work at home, financial freedom, making money online, internet markeing
Adam B has been marketing products online for several years. Internet marketing has allowed him to quit his job when he was only 26 years old. He is dedicated to helping people find their way to financial freedom.
Check out his blog at http://www.newjobsecrets.blogspot.com
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