I Hate My Job!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend this morning. She said to me, “I hate my job. I wish I could do what you did and quit”.

My response to her was, “plan for it and make it happen.” I have a feeling there are a lot of people who are in my friends shoes. I know for myself – I felt stuck. I made good money in Corporate America, but I was not at all passionate about what I was doing. I had a lot of fear of giving it up (you know the acronym of fear – future events appearing real) – I felt stuck and miserable, but I made a plan. My friend said to me, “I just don’t know where to start…”. So I shared with her my plan of attack. I hope this can help other people who may also feel stuck.

1. Get clarity on what you want (see one of my previous blog posts to get you started — https://adventuretowardfreedom.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/how-to-get-everything-you-want/). For me – I want FREEDOM. Freedom to do what I want, when and where. My long-term goal is to create a nice passive income stream with commercial real estate. As I get closer to retirement, I also want to understand and manage my IRA funds, so I got started a Stock training program. Many people are able to take baby steps – start a part-time business or get the education they need while keeping their job for a period of time.

2. SAVE – make sure you have at least 3 months of living expenses saved. This may sound like a lot, but if you get creative, there are a lot of ways to easily get here.

Budget – know what you are spending today – and see where you can save. Eating out is a big one – can you cut this one in half or more?

• Reduce expenses – here are some suggestions — negotiate with your Internet, cable, phone companies, chances are you can greatly reduce your expenses here. Can you cut out your morning Starbuck? How about your seasonal clothes expenditure? If you want it bad enough – you’ll find a way.
• Purge/de-clutter – this one is huge. For one, it’s amazing what will happen in your life when you make space for new. If you have a lot of clutter – you are blocking the flow in your life. I started purging and set a monetary goal of what I’d like to make selling unused/unneeded items in our house (after 11 years – there was a LOT!). My neighborhood has a Facebook “Swap” page – check it out, these are great. I’d simply take a picture of the item for sale, post it on the Facebook Swap page with a price, and someone would buy it and come to my door to pick it up. It is amazing what I made doing this. It wasn’t the big items that sold easily – it was the little $5-$25 items – those items at first glance you might think no one would want, you’d be surprised. At the very least donate items – you can use the deduction on your income taxes.
• Make extra money – try this exercise – do a mind map of ALL the things you can think of to make extra money. Don’t sensor – just list them. You’ll be surprised when you’re finished of all the different options you have.

• Sell your car – if you have a car payment, sell your car and buy a used car you can afford so you don’t have a car payment. I love Dave Ramsey – if you can’t afford to buy an item (and I don’t mean with payments) – you can’t afford it. Rearrange your lifestyle to one you can afford.

3. Create a transition plan – This is the fun part. Determine when you want to “jump” and work backwards from there – what needs to happen so you CAN JUMP? I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful partner to support me. We sat down and got clear on the minimum amount of income I’d need to generate while we are working toward our long-term goals. One of the ways that we decided to generate additional income was through “Vacation Rental” with our home. Sites like Homeaway.com, VRBO.com and FlipKey.com are blowing up. Recent statistics show 47% of leisure travelers are interested in staying in a vacation home. We did some work on our house to get ready for vacation rental and the response has been overwhelming. We’ve actually had to turn away more interested renters than what we’ve accepted. Check out Playa del Dragon – we’re currently looking for SnowBird renters November 2015 – February, 2016. http://www.vrbo.com/730229.

When I did my transition plan I also asked myself a question, “what’s the worse thing that can happen?” The answer – I’ll have to get another job. I can live with that. I’d love to hear from others – what do you want to do and how are you going to get there?

Don’t be afraid to JUMP and enjoy the journey!

Lessons from Dad

I spent this last weekend with my 84-year-old Dad. My relationship with him has not always been an easy one. Growing up I thought my Dad was the bomb, he had the Midas touch and everything turned to gold. In my later years, I haven’t always agreed with the decisions that he has made. But the more time that goes by, the more I admire his drive and how he has overcame the obstacles in his life.

Lesson 1 – Never let others make decisions for you.

My Dad worked for George and George, a safety equipment company for over 20 years. The owner of the company was having some financial trouble, and decided that at 76 years of age, it was time for my Dad to retire. They threw Dad a party, gave him a flat screen TV and wished him well. My Dad loves to work; he loves his customers and taking care of them. He immediately went to work for a competing company and most of his customers followed him there. At 84, my Dad is still working today.

Lesson 2 – Always try new things

My Dad was 76 when I bought him his first computer. He not only learned to use his computer and e-mail, but he now is using LinkedIn and Facebook (and I shudder to know what else). I hope I will always be as open to learn and try new things.

 Lesson 3 – Take responsibility for your decisions and mistakes

My Dad had a mid-life crisis when he turned 50, and after some very bad choices, found himself fired, broke, divorced, and moving alone to another state. He was totally starting over. My Dad worked hard and built a successful sales business. Just this weekend, my Dad said, “I have no one to blame but myself for the mess I got myself into.” I love that about him.

Lesson 4 – Save money for a rainy day

My Dad is a spender; I guess he thought he would work forever (and so far he has). He didn’t plan for retirement and has NO savings.   I think because of this, I’ve become a planner and a saver, my Dad’s lack of saving stresses me out. I watch my Dad and he has not a worry in the world. He has his daily routines and he is happy and loving his life. When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.

As I was driving to Oklahoma last week to pick my Dad up, I was surfing radio stations. In the Midwest the Christian radio stations are plentiful. A sermon about “Worry” caught my attention. I loved the message, when you worry, you are not trusting God (or Higher Power, or Source, or the Universe, etc). I realized that my Dad lives his life worry free. He trusts that he will have everything he needs, that he will be taken care of and as he puts it, “The Man upstairs must have a plan for your old Dad”. This may be one of the best lessons of all.