One of the worst things about being a solo entrepreneur is chasing work. I dislike it. A lot. I like working, but getting work makes me feel like some kind of beggar, as if they are doing me a favor, even though I am offering them a service. I am not sure what it is with me, but I have never liked asking anyone for anything and have generally given social service away for free with no expected return - but that doesn't really cut it in terms of running a business, there has to be income coming in.
With the arrival of the new year, one of my investment plans for 2021 is to try and increase the workload in my own business a little more, as even a few hours here and there make a significant difference to my monthly income.
Hourly, I get paid well as a consultant, the trouble is getting enough hours and this isn't an area that has competition on price. The difficulty is the maintenance of relationships and this has become more difficult over the last year. I don't know if I will be able to increase my workflow, but I am willing to chase a little harder than I have been, especially since I believe that the companies I train for, get benefits for having me there. If they didn't, I wouldn't be in business - not because they wouldn't hire me, but because I am not on of those "money for nothing" kinds of people, so I literally wouldn't have my business.
I think that a lot of people in general are looking for "workless wealth" where they are able to either do something they love so much that they don't feel the work of it, or have investments that are able to return adequate wealth so that no work needs to be done. And with the "money begets money" processes, the more one has to invest, the more one will generate wealth.
While I do believe that it is good to build multiple revenue streams that include passive income as well, I also believe that something has to be done at some point that adds value into the economy, rather than just captures and extracts it from the economy. There is far too much passivity in the world as it is, with a lot of the activity being spent on the useless - like the collective outrage on the internet at whatever target the mad dog of digital society gets set upon by media suggestion.
While so many people are chasing the "dream" of outsized return on the effort in, it becomes unsustainable quickly, when there aren't enough people actually adding value. It is like everyone being on social security payments, but there isn't anyone doing anything to fill the pool that they are paid from. It just doesn't work as there is no circulation of value.
Of course, this is going to depend on what people value, where it seems there is no cap on what people will pay for entertainment consumption of media and sports, but I wonder how quickly that would change if the same consumers had no food. How much TV does a starving person watch - how much are they willing to pay for Netflix? How hard are they willing to work?
Perhaps this is part of the problem with the 4 or 5 billion people on the internet, many have never been hungry enough. They have the "luxury" of being able to spend their time outraged at whatever they see and hear, rather than finding ways to improve conditions. They think that violence is the answer to their problems, without the foresight to recognize that they will ultimately be in a worse position for it. Rather than do the work to solve their problems for an improved environment, they would rather kill the problems any way they can instead.
Violence is the tool of psychopaths and fools.
Which are you?
Violence comes in many forms of course, it isn't just physical. But another part of the issue is the self-inflicted pain that people tend to deliver themselves. Pain caused by taking things personally, even if it has nothing to do with them at all. Some random unknown on the internet says something and people get their feelings hurt and that is unacceptable and a perfect excuse to rage, kick, scream and attack. Toddler tantrums.
Need a pacifier - a blankey?
I think that a lot of the drama we see in the world is because people don't do enough. As the quote goes something like, idle hands are the devil's workshop, I think that many people have so little of real interest in their personal lives, that they live their life vicariously through the drama of others. They take part and stick a boot in when they can, in order to make themselves feel relevant, as their real world doesn't give a crap about who they are or what they do or don't do.
The funny thing is, the internet doesn't give a crap about them either, as it only focuses its attention on what grabs attention and therefore profits, and that is unlikely to be anyone from the masses - it is a celebrity, a politician, a star. An easy target because they are public and there are so many people trying to get a sliver of attention from the crowd, that there is very little risk in attacking them too. This delivers the sense of "doing something" without doing anything of consequence - the sense of "having power", while performing to the standards of a coward.
But, perhaps people just have nothing better to do with their lives, which is funny as many of them are also from the "YOLO" crowd, meaning that while they know they only love once, they prefer to spend it doing nothing useful, adding nothing of value. All they need are strong feelings and in the negative will do, because if they feel strongly about something, they believe that they must be right - which means they are living the "good" life.
You Only Live Once isn't the equivalent of Carpe diem. Seizing the day, recognizes that each day a person has the opportunity to be their best, to do their best, to add their best to the world. It understands that we don't live once, we live many lives through our lifetime as we constantly changing to be different people, giving us new capabilities, taking away others. Every day we can be reborn, make new decisions, take new directions, think new thoughts - until the very last day.
You Only Die Once.
How much of life's value will you leave on the table?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]