We’ve made a decision to change our life, we’re narrowing down what we want to do and what passion we can make money on, while we are getting our finances in order. Now what?

This is when you celebrate that you have a day job. What?! Celebrate? My day job? Have you lost your mind? I’m trying to leave my day job, not stay in it.

Think of it this way. You have this awesome idea you know you want to pursue and now all you can think of is doing that all day long. I get it. I truly do. But are you really ready?

-Would you be able to handle thousands of people coming to your website every day based on where you are today?

-Would you be ready to be looked at as the expert based on where you are today?

-Would you be ready to have millions of people reading your book, watching your movie or downloading your music album based on where you are today?

-Would you be able to handle a large influx of customers all wanting to purchase your current services?

-Would you be ready for the expectations?

If the answer is: “No, I would be totally freaked out and not ready” then welcome this time of learning, becoming an expert and building something up while you have a steady (hopefully) income.

Your day job is funding your “test, tweak and learn” period. It allows you to take your idea, develop it and work out all the kinks. It allows you time to build up your business, it allows you to make mistakes without being under the microscope so that when you do start having the momentum you’re better prepared.

Now, you shouldn’t be working on your dream while at work. That’s not what I mean about your job funding your dream life. What I mean is that your day job is allowing you the time you need to become an expert, to finalize your product idea, and build the foundation you need.

It also allows you to say no to things you don’t want to do, so that you can focus on what you want to do. You’re not under financial stress to chase money or say yes to opportunities that are not right for you.

Use this period to get serious though. It takes time to go from idea to making money. Create a side business schedule. Schedule in times to work on your idea. Get up 30 minutes earlier, use your lunch hour, find time in the evening and during the weekend. If you need time on the weekends for your business, be intentional about getting life done during the week.

You don’t have to work hours at the end. Pick 30 minutes a day but be fully focused and intentional about that time and put the work in.

What is one action you can take today to find time to work on your idea? Share in the comments below.

 

ps. A great read is How To Gain 9 Weeks of Free Time in a Year!

pps. Catch the other parts of this series on how to leave the rat race click HERE. Don’t forget to download your FREE 10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide by signing up with your email below.

It’s time to start figuring out which passion of yours you can make a living on.

In Pursue Your Passion – Part Two you wrote down a list of passions you would like to pursue. Now what? Start testing your ideas out. We need to find that “sweet spot” between passion, skills and what others would be willing to pay for.

Let’s use an example. You want to become a hiking guide. You dream about being able to make money hiking, one of your favorite things to do.

What is your next step? Get to know other hiking guides. Connect with them. Pay to go on a hike and ask how they got started, how do they find clients, what their challenges are and any other question that will help you understand the business better. The best way to learn a business is either working in it or getting the answers from a person who is successful doing what you want to do.

Then invite friends you normally don’t hike with to go with you. Be their guide! Learn about the trail where you’re taking them so you know what to talk about and what to point out along the way. Act as a professional guide, not just someone taking a few friends on a hike.

After the hike ask them to give you honest feedback. Would they pay you to take them hiking? If at least a few people say yes you know you have something viable to build upon. Keep doing a few hikes like that to learn more.

Basically, get feedback from people what they want and looking for. What is their pain point? What do they struggle with? What do they wish they had access to? Let your future customers tell you what product, service or experience they want and then find a way to give them what they need.

You also need to research the cost of running the business. What’s the cost of certifications, licenses, insurance and so on. What kind of paperwork do you need to have in place to become a professional guide? Any associations you should be a member of? Don’t go spend any money. You are still in the “learning” phase to see if your passion can be turned into a business, and if this business can bring in the kind of money you want to make.

If there are quite a few hiking guides in your area that’s actually a good thing. That means there’s a market. If there are no hiking guides then there may not be a market but you still need to find out. Maybe a few tried but didn’t have the right offerings that made people sign up.

A lot of people get discouraged if there’s a “crowded” market and think the only way to succeed is to be first. That’s not the case. You just have to do it in your voice and research how you can stand out from the rest.

What “different” could you offer in addition to stand out? Make a list of what other guides are doing and see what you can add to the mix. Hiking with yoga afterwards? Educational hikes? Don’t think of just hiking…think of offering an entire package of some sort. People are willing to pay for an experience, not just a service.

Then start small. Offer a free or low cost monthly hike and tell everyone about it. Don’t take on more than you can handle. You could even start a MeetUp group to get the experience you need.

In your 10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide you have room to write down those ideas that mix passion, skill and what others would be willing to pay for.

Key is…you need to start testing those ideas out. If you want to become a writer, start writing and put your work out there to get feedback. If you want to be a stay home parent while making money blogging you need to start blogging and learn how to properly monetize your blog. If you want to make money playing music, how can you find your market without taking the traditional route?

This is your time to see what sticks. And it’s okay to change course. We are living in an amazing time which allows you to easily test your ideas without much, if any capital investment.

There is no need to go find investors, or even take out a loan. Grow slow and grow organically. A great book to read is Chris Guillebeau’s The $100 Startup. (affiliate link)

Sky’s the limit. Now go write down your ideas and then pick one to try out.

What idea are you going to try this week?

 

I think we all agree that having your financial house in order is a key part in helping you leave the rat race. When you have debt or other financial obligations you may have to stay in a job you don’t like, you can’t go buy whatever you want and you are limited in the amount of days you can take off work.

Money can do so many wonderful things for you if you have enough of it. It can buy you things you need, put food on the table, allow you to quit your job, stay home, go travel, and it can allow you to help others. But if you don’t have enough of it, it can keep you from pursuing your dream.

Unless you are 100% debt-free, have years of expenses in savings and you know you will retire comfortable you probably worry about taking that leap towards your dream life. You worry about how you will pay your bills and how fast you can replace your current income with your dream life income. That is a valid worry.

What can you do to reduce that worry when you do take the leap?

Get your finances in order. Now. Not tomorrow or by the time you have figured out what you want to do. By the time you know what you want to do that is all you want to be doing. Not being held back by not having enough money in savings or having to stay in a job you don’t like because your overhead is too high.

If you already know what you want to do but are being held back financially, well, there is your motivation to hustle even harder. Take a second job, tighten up your spending to bare essentials, sell things and treat your side hustle as a business so that when you do take the leap it’s an up and running operational business.

Why now, not later?

Building up your dream life takes time. We see all these successful online entrepreneurs and think they made it overnight. But the truth is, they didn’t. Many of them are years in the making “overnight” success stories. We just didn’t see all the years of them building their business.

Now wait you say…I know people that made it overnight like John Lee Dumas. Ha! John Lee Dumas with Entrepreneur on Fire had over 100K set aside in savings to live on and he didn’t make a single dollar on his business for the first 8-9 months! And the first year it didn’t bring in a fraction of what it brings in now. If you are not familiar with his latest income report he just hit over 400,000 dollars in February! Remember, he was working full-time doing this from the start which is a big reason as why in two years he is able to pull in those kind of numbers.

I don’t want to discourage you…but I want to infuse some reality so that you get serious about getting your finances in order now, not later.

Pat Flynn, who runs Smart Passive Income, is regarded as one of the guru’s on creating passive income. But even with the savviness that Pat Flynn has in regards to creating online income it has taken him well over a year to start making money on his latest project, the FoodTruckr.

Hello, people!!! One of the best still needed a year to get a business to start making money! I recently heard Pat mention it takes on average 1-1,5 years to start making money on an online business. Ask any business owner how long it has taken them to build a profitable business, online or offline.

If you are serious about leaving the rat race and start building your dream life you need to stop wasting money on things that don’t matter, pay down your debt, boost your savings and get to work.

I know it sounds easier said than done but if you create a financial plan you have a road map that you can use so that you can stay on track. If I managed to do it, so can you. And remember to review Step One, Change Your Life and your WHY. When you hit speed bumps or find it hard to stay motivated on your financial journey, remember your WHY helps keep you on track.

Don’t wait until you got everything figured out. And, if you need help getting started check out my various financial packages on how to get out of debt from a book, to course to one-on-one coaching.

Okay, that was Step 3 in the 10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel guide. Next time we’re going to cover how to start making money on your passion.

 

What is your number one struggle when it comes to money? Please share in the comments.

“Ignoring your passion is slow suicide. Never ignore what your heart pumps for. Mold your career around your lifestyle, not your lifestyle around your career.” ~Unknown

Last week I asked you some important questions.

What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?

What would you do?

• How would you spend your day?
• What are the things you would get involved with?
• What would you do with your life going forward?
• What kind of feeling and accomplishment would you want to feel when you turn in for the night?
• What kind of legacy would you want to leave behind?

Those questions won’t take overnight to answer. And they may change as life goes it’s jolly way. How I wanted to spend my days ten years ago are a slightly different than how I want to spend them today.

Once you have your list of things you would love to do the next step is to figure out which passion to pursue and monetize so that you can leave the 9-5 rat race. How do you do that?

1. By trying a variety of things and by listening to what makes you feel alive inside. And I mean, LISTEN. You have to actively pay attention. You need to write things down and you need to go on a little treasure hunt called a personal growth and development journey.

2. You also need to pay ATTENTION. Many of us are hit with it over and over again but we keep throwing it away. Our dreams are like a boomerang. It will keep coming back screaming for us to pay attention. I wrote a post on that you can read HERE.

3. Start connecting the dots. Write down a timeline of things you have been doing throughout your life. What things do you keep coming back to? Many, when they get their a-ha moment, realize the journey they have been on has prepared them for their dream life all along. Those experiences, jobs, hobbies and more have prepared them for this next step.

4. Stop focusing on money as your main motivation for what you should do. Can you make money and not enjoy what you are doing? Of course you can. Many of you are doing it every day going to a J-O-B you don’t like!

Make sure you write down all and any passion you would do if you didn’t have to worry about money. Then write down skills you already have or skills you would love to learn and develop related to that passion. Now you have two out of the three necessary parts. The last part? Is there demand for what you would offer? If there are people out there doing what you would like to do and they are being paid for it you know there’s a market. That’s your sweet spot.

I know many of you think your idea needs to be unique and never done before. That’s not true. Your personality is unique. There is no other person like you out there. No one has your story, your voice, your exact skills, your exact way of delivering something. No one can write like you, no one can sing, draw, sell, speak, create products like you.

If others are making money on what you want to do…you can too! You just have to add your own personality to it and find a slightly different angle setting you apart. Remember, there are people out there waiting for you and what you have to offer.

In your 10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide you have room to write down those ideas that mix passion, skill and what others would be willing to pay for. Try to find about 3-5 passions that fit that criteria. If you come up with ten, write down ten. Later on in this series we’re going to take a look at how how to test an idea and see if you can make money on it.

That’s all for Step 2. You can read the other posts in this series HERE. Next week we’re going to talk about Step 3 which is a favorite topic of mine – getting your finances in order. I would love your ideas and feedback for this How To Leave the Rat Race series and what you think about it. If you’re here for the first time, welcome! Sign up below to receive the guide and follow along. You will receive the guide, blog posts and more via email so that you never miss a thing!

 

What is one struggle you deal with in regards to figuring out what passion to pursue?

Last time we talked about Step 1 – Change Your Life. If you missed that you can read the post HERE. This series is based on the FREE 10 Steps To Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide you get when you sign up with your email. Today, we are moving on to Step 2.

What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?

I want you to take a moment to think of that.

What would you do?

• How would you spend your day?
• What are the things you would get involved with?
• What would you do with your life going forward?
• What kind of feeling and accomplishment would you want to feel when you turn in for the night?
• What kind of legacy would you want to leave behind?

Imagine a bank account with money to cover all your expenses and more. Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and you would not have to go to a job. You could do whatever you wanted. And for the next day and the day after that.

Now, some of you would sleep in, watch TV all day and eat Doritos for a while. But what would you do after that? After you have taken some downtime or traveled to all the countries you want to see or hiked all the peaks you wanted to conquer.

You all know you have a dream inside of you that is waiting to come out.

Some of you have buried it so deep it will require a major innovation for you to listen to it.

Some of you are in a season of life and not sure yet what that dream of yours is.

Some of you have simply never taken the time to even think of anything else than working for 40 years, retire and then do what you are passionate about. Although, if you are here reading this blog I have a feeling that voice inside of you are looking for a better life now, not when you “retire.”

Some of you think a dream will one day reveal itself and suddenly overnight you know what to do with your life. Your calling and purpose in life will just show up. Meanwhile, you’ll just continue sleepwalking through life.

For the majority of people that’s not how finding your dream works. For many of us we have multiple things we are passionate about and when you answered the original question you came up with ten different answers. I know, we all have that one friend that seemed to know exactly what they wanted to be from the time they were born, but most of us need some time to figure it out.

How do you figure out which dream and passion to pursue in order to leave the rat race? We will go over that next week in part 2 of this Pursue Your Passion.

First, I really want you to think about these questions. Really think about them. Then I want you to write your answers down. Create a journal that you can go back to as well. Name it “Leave the Rat Race” journal.

What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?

What would you do?

How would you spend your day?
What are the things you would get involved with?
What would you do with your life going forward?
What kind of feeling and accomplishment would you want to feel when you turn in for the night?
What kind of legacy would you want to leave behind?

 

My goal with this series, besides giving you some practical advice, is to awaken you and make you start asking questions. Instead of jumping on to the next thing today take the time to answer these questions. It may be hard. It may be uncomfortable. Turn off the TV tonight and spend some time reflecting. LISTEN to that voice inside. Ignore the “practical” or “not realistic” filter. Then be brave and write down your answers. Be honest with yourself.

I would love to hear your answers, ideas and questions. Leave a comment below.