Who still has a Job despite earning a full time IM income & why

[Tomwood]

Who still has a full time proper for a wage job despite earning enough to go full time as a internet marketer.

And importantly why

I have a full time job and I am making a little more that my full time wage working part time on the internet.

The reason I am currently staying in my full time job are

1 I love it (most days)
2 The wife would kill me if I quit
3 It's seasonal and finishes on Nov the 1st anyway
4 I am scared

[Biggy Fat]

I know of one that still has a job despite making way more that it offers - Collen Slater I think is her name. AKA the 60 Minute Affiliate.

[mikengo]

I can understand point #4 above. Something comforting about getting a regular paycheck even though it will never make you rich ;-)

[pheonix44]

I can tell you that I don't miss having a job. I was getting paid crappola. I think people have a fear of not getting that check weekly in their name. Something about it seems so secure even though you can be fired tomorrow.

[misterwrecker]

I am in college myself but many people continue working at a "regular job" because of the benefits and then there is that whole so called "job security" and "guaranteed paycheck" that is not what it used to be.


-John

[Mukul Verma]

I may still have a full time job if I did not break my knee.

Two years ago I was working full time and doing Internet Marketing earning about the same. I then got hurt and I ended up in crutches and could barely walk and had to go on disability for 4 weeks. Dealing with the paper work and reporting to someone and headaches. It was at that time I realized why do I keep the job. If I did not break my knee, I may not have woke up!!!

I LOVE not having a job.

[Kappa]

I don't work, but my husband does. Even if we were making more, I would not want him to quit for health insurance reasons, I really don't want to be in the open market for health insurance. I would want to have about $2 million banked in offline investments before he let go of his job. To me, 2 million is enough to work with off line and otherwise write your own ticket. Having less than that, I just don't know for sure.

[pheonix44]

I love how everyone is so big on the health insurance as their main reason for holding on to their job. I have heard horror stories of people who thought they had good insurance but as soon as the actually NEEDED the insurance the company found all sorts of reason to screw them over and they still ended up having to pay out of pocket. 2.000.000 cash is enough to retire on. At some point you actually have to trust that you can provide for yourself. I don't need to have a billion dollars in the bank first to quit a 1000.00 a week job that gives me mediocre insurance. I am not trying to be harsh, but people have to stop looking for certainties where there are none and just trust that they have what it takes to survive if they are put in that position.

[Marty S]

Originally Posted by davebo

Business is setup to run without me. I have multiple sites that do well over $1M/year. I got used to the idea, early on, of using outsourced help. So it's relatively little time for me. Less than 5 hours a week.

Incredible stats! $1M in sales and you still feel you need to keep your job? You obviously have a remarkable system in place. Dude, just sell that system and you might very well double your sales overnight.

I understand what you are saying about people quitting too soon, but from the information you have provided, I think YOU are taking that way tooooo far, while cutting off the gold mine you are sitting on.

[Tomwood]

This medical insurance issue seem to be a bigger not something I personally have considered we have the national health service in the U.K lucky us

[Jeremy Kelsall]

If your in the US don't even worry about insurance lol - Uncle Obama will give it to everyone soon enough.

Getting your own insurance really isn't that "bad" cost wise. I think I pay $475 a month and my insurance now is as good or better than what I had when I had a "real job".

Much like Dave, I stayed at my job as long as I did because it was easy and the pay was DAMN GOOD. However, once I made the decision to leave and did it - I was able to increase my online earnings at a pace that it more than covered what I was making online + what my old salary was.

[Crew Chief]

For most people who stay, its usually a fear thing based on a lack of information.

I'm a full time IM'er and wouldn't trade it for the world. But I do remember the days of getting itchy about not getting up and going in to work for someone else for a living. It was a transitional stage that I had to adjust to. The affiliate commissions made it an easy one.

REMEMBER THIS, you are an entrepreneur/business owner, no different than any other business owner.

That means you are going to need to set up your company properly, (i.e., LLC vs. Corp) have a CPA handle your money, seek out a viable health insurance plan and most importantly invest your money in other money making vehicles, (i.e., real estate, Foreign Exchange, precious metals and stocks and bonds). The key is having multiple streams of income.

P.S. There is no such thing as Job Security anymore!

[BIG Mike]

I teach part-time (EFL), am paid nothing for it and do it mainly because my wife makes me do it.

Seriously, I don't get paid, but enjoy the work and having some structure in my life. The kids are great and it's a nice feeling helping them prepare for their future in some small way. And we've got a kickass pass rate on exams

[Liason]

The thing is- I actually like my job for the most part. If my online income was twice what I make I my job, I don't see any reason to quit because I would be doing what I like and money wouldn't be an issue

[TyBrown]

I agree. At most jobs I've had in the past before I quit to work for myself I was paying an average of $200 a month for insurance through my company program.

Nowadays I pay about $400 a month for about the same insurance. I can't imagine the loss of quality of life I would have had if I decided to stick around at a job for the 'security' of $200 a month.

The funny thing is that when I quit I had a few people at work tell me what an idiot I was for giving up such a secure job (even though it was only $14 an hour, mind you). I know of a couple of those people who were laid off.

Security isn't 2 million in the bank, it isn't an employer, and it isn't the 'golden handcuffs' of health insurance. All of that can be wiped out. Security is learning bankable skills and enough self confidence to make things happen; that stuff stays with you.

Originally Posted by pheonix44

I love how everyone is so big on the health insurance as their main reason for holding on to their job. I have heard horror stories of people who thought they had good insurance but as soon as the actually NEEDED the insurance the company found all sorts of reason to screw them over and they still ended up having to pay out of pocket. 2.000.000 cash is enough to retire on. At some point you actually have to trust that you can provide for yourself. I don't need to have a billion dollars in the bank first to quit a 1000.00 a week job that gives me mediocre insurance. I am not trying to be harsh, but people have to stop looking for certainties where there are none and just trust that they have what it takes to survive if they are put in that position.

[Tomwood]

It appear my thread or rather the I started a thread is owned by all participates has become an issue of health insurance something of little concern to me in the UK

I am more interested in other reasons why people have stayed in a Job because they feel their job makes a difference, because they love their work or because of the social aspect of working.

I personally would miss the social aspect of work and fear that if I went fulltime IM my social life would suffer considerably

[pheonix44]

There are far better opportunities to meet people other then being stuck in a job. Opportunitiess that can advance way past what you ever though possible. You will meet many more interesting people away from the job then what you would being stuck in one. Here is a little message from personal development coach steve pavlina I included from his "10 reasons to never get a job" post.

8. An inbred social life.
Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. They hang out with the same people working in the same field. Such incestuous relations are social dead ends. An exciting day includes deep conversations about the company’s switch from Sparkletts to Arrowhead, the delay of Microsoft’s latest operating system, and the unexpected delivery of more Bic pens. Consider what it would be like to go outside and talk to strangers. Ooooh… scary! Better stay inside where it’s safe.
If one of your co-slaves gets sold to another master, do you lose a friend? If you work in a male-dominated field, does that mean you never get to talk to women above the rank of receptionist? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialize with instead of letting your master decide for you? Believe it or not, there are locations on this planet where free people congregate. Just be wary of those jobless folk — they’re a crazy bunch!

[Sarge]

I keep my job because it's my career. I'm an electrician and soon I will have my master's license and be able to have my own company. I can dispatch a small team of dedicated tradesman. If you treat them right, they'll help your business succeed in a big way! I'll be able to run both of my businesses from home. (for the most part)

[Orator]

Granted I'm new here, but this thread really is what has been on my mind lately.

I've decided to keep my main job mainly as sort of a built in protection while I work to a point of being comfortable totally making a living off various passive income streams.

I've already committed myself to spending most of my free time on setting up these streams over the next couple of months. It's easy to justify all that hard work with the thought of finally becoming my own boss.

Fear is a natural reaction to any major change, and going into business for myself is a pretty big change. Still, like any venture as long as I approach it with intelligence and remember to have a solid foundation, it will work out fine.

[lisag]

My husband still has a job as a CIO despite his online income and mine.Why?

Health Insurance
401K Match
Tuition Reimbursement
3 weeks paid vacation (like getting paid to work on his online business)
2 kids in college and one in high school

[killercopy]

I've decided to keep my "real" job for much of the same reasons as LisaG...but reason #1 is that it is another stream of income! And you can't go wrong with free health care, tuition reimbursement (I'm getting my Masters Degree for free), 6 weeks of paid vacation every year, great pay + a pension that will last me from day #1 of retirement to the day I die (I'll be retired in four years at age 45).

HOWEVER, keeping my job definitely has a negative affect on my online income because of the time the job takes away from me working online. The other reason, is that lately it seems as though whatever niche I enter, the pack seems to follow. I think everyone here would admit that it's not as easy to make money online as it was just a few short years ago.

My last online business was in a great niche that I had a decent run with over the period of a year. During the year, I netted just over 25K...now i know that's not enough to live on and not really good money, but after that one year, I was able to sell my business (an ebook + website) for 48K. I sold the business just in time, because others began to see what I was doing, and more and more competition popped up every week or so. Long story short...the relative ease it takes to start an online business = more competition and more struggling to make a comfortable, predictable living. I know there are many doing it and I do applaud them. It's just that I like the security of a guaranteed income and the ability to work online in my spare time.

[pheonix44]

The only problem is that the income is not a guarantee if you get fired tomorrow. Not trying to be a prick, but there is nothing "guaranteed" about it.

[GainRealWealth]

Hmmmm, I think having the income tax taken out of the job check will actually help to some degree when it comes time to file. I remember when I worked for myself for two and half years, I came out better when I had a job and worked for myself, even if it's part time.

[killercopy]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

The only problem is that the income is not a guarantee if you get fired tomorrow. Not trying to be a prick, but there is nothing "guaranteed" about it.

True...there are no guarantees anywhere. Just like I could technically be fired tomorrow and lose my income, Google can slap down thousands of people relying on them to earn their living (as they do quite often)...and your business could be gobbled up by competition when you go to bed tonight. I'm not saying my way is the best. Internet Marketers are the ones to tout "multiple streams of income." To me, my job is one of those sources...and the one that provides the most benefits (although those benefits might not be the most important to others).

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by Tomwood

I personally would miss the social aspect of work and fear that if I went fulltime IM my social life would suffer considerably

Why not start your own social network???

Where there is a will there is a way!!!

If that's the ONLY reason you've parked yourself at a [J-O-B] just go out and start mingling, networking and engaging people. As Samuel Johnson once aptly put it...

"If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair."
- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784) British lexiographer.

[Mukul Verma]

2 Years since I left my job and came online full time, YIPPY!!!!

[wisecrone333]

I think it comes down to personality in a lot of ways - my husband works full time now, but at the begining of the year he quit his job and so I put him to work online - I thought it would be okay because he would spend hours on the computer anyway, but he absolutely hated it and wanted to go back to offline work - he was lucky he was able to get another job as we feel the recession here in NZ too.

For me I haven't had a job in the "real" world for more than ten years. I do feel isolated sometimes, especially as we live in a rural area, but to be honest I would not go back to any job outside of home for anything - I like being able to take breaks when I want to, drink as many cups of tea as I like and sit up all night if the muse takes me - I couldn't do that if i was working outside of the home.

So thats my 2c - working outside of the home works for some people and some people like me (who is considered a freak by her family) prefer to work online and the freedom that entails.

Lisa

[Jon Tees]

I always wanted to be self employed/have my own business and now I am living the dream. I spend my free time watching American football and baseball games, going to the beach, movies, exercising, attending college courses and however else I choose and it’s great. If I need a day or two off I can simply take it without having to beg anyone else to work for me. The only thing I miss is the social interaction with other people at the work place, but I make up for it with social interaction in other places on my own time.

[bgmacaw]

While I'm 100% IM right now I am seeking a new employment position or at least a full time W2 contract position. My reasons are...

1. Health insurance. I have COBRA right now (a way to extend your previous job's health insurance plan for those of you outside the US) and it's rather expensive. Getting my own insurance isn't a good option for me since my wife has a chronic disabling disorder and my age also makes it more difficult and expensive. Having a large company insurance pool works in my favor.

2. Additional income stream. Since my wife isn't able to work, having both job income and IM income creates the same financial situation as if my wife still had a job. While we still do live cheaply with no debt except the house having the extra income has paid for nice extras like long vacations and stuff. Now we don't have that job income so we're back to bare bones mode.

3. Maintaining and improving my programming skills. I'm a computer programmer and I enjoy the challenge of continually improving and expanding my skills and solving problems.

[pheonix44]

You're speaking as if most people work in their jobs until retirement age. Most people jump from job to job. Not only that, but as soon as things go bad for the company and they want people to take pay cuts everyone gets pissed off about it. Most companies will cut their losses and either fire those who make the most and hire younger people they can pay less to or just move overseas. Of course you want to run a real business and I can see that things like disability insurance, health insurance, 401k, and other benefits are important. But if you really have a long term plan these won't be a problem. At least with a REAL business you leave some kind of legacy for your children, with a job their is nothing to leave. I used to have a job and I hated it, their is a lot more to it then just those benefits, most often People will not even be employed long enough to see those benefits. Hell the army tries to sell you on benfits like college tuition and other benefits, but they do not tell you that there is a guarantee you will live to enjoy them. Most people retire with only enough to last for a little while and end up living below what they were used to anyway despite having retirement savings. I see it all the time. I saw a lady who had 1.000.000 retirement, but ended up needing heart surgery which cost 100.000 dollars plus costly after treatment that ended up draining her. That insurance she needed so much at 50 was not there for her when she needed it most. So instead of enjoying retirement she is worried how she will pay her mortgage.

Here is a brief mp3 I found that talks about what I am saying. Just click the download mp3 button if you go there.

http://myprops.org/content/How-Bad-Is-It-Hr1-2-5-09/

[Peter Temp]

I still have a job inspite of earning handsomely through IM income, because i love the job that i do and its the one where all my education went into. I am happy working part time and making money. 2 options are always better than for safety reasons too. Thanks

[pheonix44]

That's the whole name of the game, diversification. I never said that people did not enjoy those benefits. The more money you make the more you will have to employ the time and energy of others. That way if I am laid up in the hospital sick I still have people working to make me money. Which is the whole concept of a job, your boss is sitting on a beach drinking a martini while you work to put money in his pocket. If you mean being in the center that way then I do not see anything wrong with that. I don't have to be the person doing all the work, that is what I have employees for. Take me for instance, you have probably noticed my wso thread in my sig, do I depend on it as my only source of income? No, do I use the money to diversify so I can double, triple, or quadruple it? Absolutely. As I have mentioned in earlier posts it does not make any sense always worrying about the worse. Quite frankly I could care less if I got reduced health insurance or other benefits because based on what I have seen as soon as you need a SERIOUS surgery they will find reasons to screw you. They may not care about routine doctor visits and cheap meds, try getting them to pay for a 100.000$ heart surgery, not to mention the countless bills that pile up after that which can drain any money you have saved for retirement. Best any of us can do is just save properly, invest properly, and make sure we have enough for a rainy day along with skills we can always put to use to earn money if our jobs were to say F U tomorrow. That way I can use them to make more money as opposed to relying on an employer to let me prove to them why my skills are valuable to them or why I am worth 1000.00 a week when someone overseas will do it for 1/4 that price.

[Chris Hunter]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall

If your in the US don't even worry about insurance lol - Uncle Obama will give it to everyone soon enough.

Getting your own insurance really isn't that "bad" cost wise. I think I pay $475 a month and my insurance now is as good or better than what I had when I had a "real job".

Jeremy, if you don't mind me asking, who do you have your insurance with?

I'm looking at options right now to pay for my family's insurance without paying for it through my job.

[autumn78]

Although I'm not making a killing in internet marketing (yet), I'll still keep my old job, or at least part-time since I'd go crazy not using my artistic abilities which it requires.

[AverageGuy]

I have a full-time job, simply because I love it.


david

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

There are far better opportunities to meet people other then being stuck in a job. Opportunitiess that can advance way past what you ever though possible. You will meet many more interesting people away from the job then what you would being stuck in one. Here is a little message from personal development coach steve pavlina I included from his "10 reasons to never get a job" post.

8. An inbred social life.
Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. They hang out with the same people working in the same field. Such incestuous relations are social dead ends. An exciting day includes deep conversations about the company’s switch from Sparkletts to Arrowhead, the delay of Microsoft’s latest operating system, and the unexpected delivery of more Bic pens. Consider what it would be like to go outside and talk to strangers. Ooooh… scary! Better stay inside where it’s safe.
If one of your co-slaves gets sold to another master, do you lose a friend? If you work in a male-dominated field, does that mean you never get to talk to women above the rank of receptionist? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialize with instead of letting your master decide for you? Believe it or not, there are locations on this planet where free people congregate. Just be wary of those jobless folk — they’re a crazy bunch!

Sorry...gotta say it - that's about the weirdest freaking post I've ever seen. I don't know who this Steve pavlina is, but that's some weird **** he's spouting.

Since when is anyone in a given work environment "Forced" to socialize with anyone?

[Whosyou]

I have a full time job,hate it, I will quit the minute my various online ventures are earning me enough to allow me to do so.

Why?

1) I want my life back! - There are loads of things i would rater be doing with my time other than grafting for someone else for near on 40hrs a week.

2) The freedoms that doing business online offers - I can administer my business from just about anywhere in the world that has an internet connection!. why would i want to turn up to someone else's office 5 days a week?

[pheonix44]

BIG MIKE

Here is the entire post just for clarification, and by the way I just love that article post robot, it saves me a lot of time.



10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

July 21st, 2006 by Steve Pavlina Email this article to a friend
Just for fun I recently asked Erin, “Now that the kids are in summer school, don’t you think it’s about time you went out and got yourself a job? I hate seeing you wallow in unemployment for so long.”
She smiled and said, “Wow. I have been unemployed a really long time. That’s weird… I like it!”
Neither of us have had jobs since the ’90s (my only job was in 1992), so we’ve been self-employed for quite a while. In our household it’s a running joke for one of us to say to the other, “Maybe you should get a job, derelict!”
It’s like the scene in The Three Stooges where Moe tells Curly to get a job, and Curly backs away, saying, “No, please… not that! Anything but that!”
It’s funny that when people reach a certain age, such as after graduating college, they assume it’s time to go out and get a job. But like many things the masses do, just because everyone does it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. In fact, if you’re reasonably intelligent, getting a job is one of the worst things you can do to support yourself. There are far better ways to make a living than selling yourself into indentured servitude.
Here are some reasons you should do everything in your power to avoid getting a job:
1. Income for dummies.
Getting a job and trading your time for money may seem like a good idea. There’s only one problem with it. It’s stupid! It’s the stupidest way you can possibly generate income! This is truly income for dummies.
Why is getting a job so dumb? Because you only get paid when you’re working. Don’t you see a problem with that, or have you been so thoroughly brainwashed into thinking it’s reasonable and intelligent to only earn income when you’re working? Have you never considered that it might be better to be paid even when you’re not working? Who taught you that you could only earn income while working? Some other brainwashed employee perhaps?
Don’t you think your life would be much easier if you got paid while you were eating, sleeping, and playing with the kids too? Why not get paid 24/7? Get paid whether you work or not. Don’t your plants grow even when you aren’t tending to them? Why not your bank account?
Who cares how many hours you work? Only a handful of people on this entire planet care how much time you spend at the office. Most of us won’t even notice whether you work 6 hours a week or 60. But if you have something of value to provide that matters to us, a number of us will be happy to pull out our wallets and pay you for it. We don’t care about your time — we only care enough to pay for the value we receive. Do you really care how long it took me to write this article? Would you pay me twice as much if it took me 6 hours vs. only 3?
Non-dummies often start out on the traditional income for dummies path. So don’t feel bad if you’re just now realizing you’ve been suckered. Non-dummies eventually realize that trading time for money is indeed extremely dumb and that there must be a better way. And of course there is a better way. The key is to de-couple your value from your time.
Smart people build systems that generate income 24/7, especially passive income. This can include starting a business, building a web site, becoming an investor, or generating royalty income from creative work. The system delivers the ongoing value to people and generates income from it, and once it’s in motion, it runs continuously whether you tend to it or not. From that moment on, the bulk of your time can be invested in increasing your income (by refining your system or spawning new ones) instead of merely maintaining your income.
This web site is an example of such a system. At the time of this writing, it generates about $9000 a month in income for me (update: $40,000 a month as of 10/31/06), and it isn’t my only income stream either. I write each article just once (fixed time investment), and people can extract value from them year after year. The web server delivers the value, and other systems (most of which I didn’t even build and don’t even understand) collect income and deposit it automatically into my bank account. It’s not perfectly passive, but I love writing and would do it for free anyway. But of course it cost me a lot of money to launch this business, right? Um, yeah, $9 is an awful lot these days (to register the domain name). Everything after that was profit.
Sure it takes some upfront time and effort to design and implement your own income-generating systems. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — feel free to use existing systems like ad networks and affiliate programs. Once you get going, you won’t have to work so many hours to support yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice to be out having dinner with your spouse, knowing that while you’re eating, you’re earning money? If you want to keep working long hours because you enjoy it, go right ahead. If you want to sit around doing nothing, feel free. As long as your system continues delivering value to others, you’ll keep getting paid whether you’re working or not.
Your local bookstore is filled with books containing workable systems others have already designed, tested, and debugged. Nobody is born knowing how to start a business or generate investment income, but you can easily learn it. How long it takes you to figure it out is irrelevant because the time is going to pass anyway. You might as well emerge at some future point as the owner of income-generating systems as opposed to a lifelong wage slave. This isn’t all or nothing. If your system only generates a few hundred dollars a month, that’s a significant step in the right direction.
2. Limited experience.
You might think it’s important to get a job to gain experience. But that’s like saying you should play golf to get experience playing golf. You gain experience from living, regardless of whether you have a job or not. A job only gives you experience at that job, but you gain ”experience” doing just about anything, so that’s no real benefit at all. Sit around doing nothing for a couple years, and you can call yourself an experienced meditator, philosopher, or politician.
The problem with getting experience from a job is that you usually just repeat the same limited experience over and over. You learn a lot in the beginning and then stagnate. This forces you to miss other experiences that would be much more valuable. And if your limited skill set ever becomes obsolete, then your experience won’t be worth squat. In fact, ask yourself what the experience you’re gaining right now will be worth in 20-30 years. Will your job even exist then?
Consider this. Which experience would you rather gain? The knowledge of how to do a specific job really well — one that you can only monetize by trading your time for money – or the knowledge of how to enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life without ever needing a job again? Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the latter experience. That seems a lot more useful in the real world, wouldn’t you say?
3. Lifelong domestication.
Getting a job is like enrolling in a human domestication program. You learn how to be a good pet.
Look around you. Really look. What do you see? Are these the surroundings of a free human being? Or are you living in a cage for unconscious animals? Have you fallen in love with the color beige?
How’s your obedience training coming along? Does your master reward your good behavior? Do you get disciplined if you fail to obey your master’s commands?
Is there any spark of free will left inside you? Or has your conditioning made you a pet for life?
Humans are not meant to be raised in cages. You poor thing…
4. Too many mouths to feed.
Employee income is the most heavily taxed there is. In the USA you can expect that about half your salary will go to taxes. The tax system is designed to disguise how much you’re really giving up because some of those taxes are paid by your employer, and some are deducted from your paycheck. But you can bet that from your employer’s perspective, all of those taxes are considered part of your pay, as well as any other compensation you receive such as benefits. Even the rent for the office space you consume is considered, so you must generate that much more value to cover it. You might feel supported by your corporate environment, but keep in mind that you’re the one paying for it.
Another chunk of your income goes to owners and investors. That’s a lot of mouths to feed.
It isn’t hard to understand why employees pay the most in taxes relative to their income. After all, who has more control over the tax system? Business owners and investors or employees?
You only get paid a fraction of the real value you generate. Your real salary may be more than triple what you’re paid, but most of that money you’ll never see. It goes straight into other people’s pockets.
What a generous person you are!
5. Way too risky.
Many employees believe getting a job is the safest and most secure way to support themselves.
Morons.
Social conditioning is amazing. It’s so good it can even make people believe the exact opposite of the truth.
Does putting yourself in a position where someone else can turn off all your income just by saying two words (”You’re fired”) sound like a safe and secure situation to you? Does having only one income stream honestly sound more secure than having 10?
The idea that a job is the most secure way to generate income is just silly. You can’t have security if you don’t have control, and employees have the least control of anyone. If you’re an employee, then your real job title should be professional gambler.
6. Having an evil bovine master.
When you run into an idiot in the entrepreneurial world, you can turn around and head the other way. When you run into an idiot in the corporate world, you have to turn around and say, “Sorry, boss.”
Did you know that the word boss comes from the Dutch word baas, which historically means master? Another meaning of the word boss is “a cow or bovine.” And in many video games, the boss is the evil dude that you have to kill at the end of a level.
So if your boss is really your evil bovine master, then what does that make you? Nothing but a turd in the herd.
Who’s your daddy?
7. Begging for money.
When you want to increase your income, do you have to sit up and beg your master for more money? Does it feel good to be thrown some extra Scooby Snacks now and then?
Or are you free to decide how much you get paid without needing anyone’s permission but your own?
If you have a business and one customer says “no” to you, you simply say “next.”
8. An inbred social life.
Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. They hang out with the same people working in the same field. Such incestuous relations are social dead ends. An exciting day includes deep conversations about the company’s switch from Sparkletts to Arrowhead, the delay of Microsoft’s latest operating system, and the unexpected delivery of more Bic pens. Consider what it would be like to go outside and talk to strangers. Ooooh… scary! Better stay inside where it’s safe.
If one of your co-slaves gets sold to another master, do you lose a friend? If you work in a male-dominated field, does that mean you never get to talk to women above the rank of receptionist? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialize with instead of letting your master decide for you? Believe it or not, there are locations on this planet where free people congregate. Just be wary of those jobless folk — they’re a crazy bunch!
9. Loss of freedom.
It takes a lot of effort to tame a human being into an employee. The first thing you have to do is break the human’s independent will. A good way to do this is to give them a weighty policy manual filled with nonsensical rules and regulations. This leads the new employee to become more obedient, fearing that s/he could be disciplined at any minute for something incomprehensible. Thus, the employee will likely conclude it’s safest to simply obey the master’s commands without question. Stir in some office politics for good measure, and we’ve got a freshly minted mind slave.
As part of their obedience training, employees must be taught how to dress, talk, move, and so on. We can’t very well have employees thinking for themselves, now can we? That would ruin everything.
God forbid you should put a plant on your desk when it’s against the company policy. Oh no, it’s the end of the world! Cindy has a plant on her desk! Summon the enforcers! Send Cindy back for another round of sterility training!
Free human beings think such rules and regulations are silly of course. The only policy they need is: “Be smart. Be nice. Do what you love. Have fun.”
10. Becoming a coward.
Have you noticed that employed people have an almost endless capacity to whine about problems at their companies? But they don’t really want solutions – they just want to vent and make excuses why it’s all someone else’s fault. It’s as if getting a job somehow drains all the free will out of people and turns them into spineless cowards. If you can’t call your boss a jerk now and then without fear of getting fired, you’re no longer free. You’ve become your master’s property.
When you work around cowards all day long, don’t you think it’s going to rub off on you? Of course it will. It’s only a matter of time before you sacrifice the noblest parts of your humanity on the altar of fear: first courage… then honesty… then honor and integrity… and finally your independent will. You sold your humanity for nothing but an illusion. And now your greatest fear is discovering the truth of what you’ve become.
I don’t care how badly you’ve been beaten down. It is never too late to regain your courage. Never!
Still want a job?
If you’re currently a well-conditioned, well-behaved employee, your most likely reaction to the above will be defensiveness. It’s all part of the conditioning. But consider that if the above didn’t have a grain of truth to it, you wouldn’t have an emotional reaction at all. This is only a reminder of what you already know. You can deny your cage all you want, but the cage is still there. Perhaps this all happened so gradually that you never noticed it until now… like a lobster enjoying a nice warm bath.
If any of this makes you mad, that’s a step in the right direction. Anger is a higher level of consciousness than apathy, so it’s a lot better than being numb all the time. Any emotion — even confusion — is better than apathy. If you work through your feelings instead of repressing them, you’ll soon emerge on the doorstep of courage. And when that happens, you’ll have the will to actually do something about your situation and start living like the powerful human being you were meant to be instead of the domesticated pet you’ve been trained to be.
Happily jobless
What’s the alternative to getting a job? The alternative is to remain happily jobless for life and to generate income through other means. Realize that you earn income by providing value — not time – so find a way to provide your best value to others, and charge a fair price for it. One of the simplest and most accessible ways is to start your own business. Whatever work you’d otherwise do via employment, find a way to provide that same value directly to those who will benefit most from it. It takes a bit more time to get going, but your freedom is easily worth the initial investment of time and energy. Then you can buy your own Scooby Snacks for a change.
And of course everything you learn along the way, you can share with others to generate even more value. So even your mistakes can be monetized.

[MisterMunch]

The main reason I would stay in my job, at least for some time after I could afford not to would be the social life.

I work a place with a lot of things happening. Each year we travel a group of 80 people to a great paid vacation. This year it was Dubai, next year USA. (live in europe). There are also a lot of fun things happening on a regular basis that I would like to keep. And it pays.

[pheonix44]

If that is what you enjoy then good. Most people do not do what they enjoy. But it would be even better if you could utilize it to build your own wealth instead of someone else's

[David Hooper]

What do you guys consider "full time income" to be?

I'm having a hard time getting my head around why anybody would work a job for "two weeks paid vacation" or something like health insurance, which can easily be purchased.

When you're your own boss, you can set your life up so every week is a vacation...

Seems to be there it something more going on here. There is a secondary payoff for keeping your job and it's not "health insurance."

[nmh]

Originally Posted by Chris Hunter

Jeremy, if you don't mind me asking, who do you have your insurance with?

I'm looking at options right now to pay for my family's insurance without paying for it through my job.

Hi Chris,

I think the big thing in this country IS the heathcare that is the big show stopper for many. Don't miss a payment by accident and need it, you are dead in the water.

Really most people could care less about 401K matching etc. if you can manage that yourself via a good financial planner and CPA. In the US if you need a surgery and you are on your own insurance or you have an ongoing problem, we here fear our insurance will drop us vs. if you work for a larger organization, that can rarely happen. We actually had our homeowners drop us b/c we had a tornado and because we --- drum roll please-- called in to ask a question about a lightning incident- I know INSANE. Not a claim people, a call! So you need to really be sure you do your research.

When we were paying our own (individual/family - not through my personal company) for a family of 4 we had BlueCross BlueShield for about $800 something a quarter. We had a $2,500 deductible. Well visits were only $30, we had a prescription card (which doesn't really give you a lot off). The dental SUCKED - we couldnt find a good one! You can go to an in network dentist but the office and the technology was NOTHING like what we were used to quality wise. The best way is to get these benefits is through the company you set up or go in with a group (there are some available via benefit brokers that work with different small businesses to get the best plan). You might save a lot. At least you can write off the premiums etc. The higher the deductible the lower your payment. Just put that deductible away in a health savings plan (plus I don't think that money is taxed from what I remember) and you will be set BUT make sure they can't drop you when you need them the most as the case in the postings a few above. Remember again, if you set it up via your LLC or Corp, you will have better options on health and dental. Good luck!

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by David Hooper

something like health insurance, which can easily be purchased.

It's easy if you're male, young, single, in good health and don't have a history of doing stupid/crazy stuff. It's not so easy if you're 40+ and/or you or a family member have a pre-existing medical condition or disability. You have to be making enough to essentially self-insure by paying for everything out of pocket except for a catastrophic care policy to cover serious problems, like cancer, that could wipe out $1M in savings quickly.

[Success With Dany]

Originally Posted by Mukul Verma

I may still have a full time job if I did not break my knee.

Two years ago I was working full time and doing Internet Marketing earning about the same. I then got hurt and I ended up in crutches and could barely walk and had to go on disability for 4 weeks. Dealing with the paper work and reporting to someone and headaches. It was at that time I realized why do I keep the job. If I did not break my knee, I may not have woke up!!!

I LOVE not having a job.

Awesome!!!

[pheonix44]

What do you guys consider "full time income" to be?

I'm having a hard time getting my head around why anybody would work a job for "two weeks paid vacation" or something like health insurance, which can easily be purchased.

When you're your own boss, you can set your life up so every week is a vacation...

Seems to be there it something more going on here. There is a secondary payoff for keeping your job and it's not "health insurance."

I think most people feel they have to make like 10 times more money being in business for themselves then what they did when they had a regular job. I hear people say things like they would have to make 10k a month in order to quit a job that is currently paying them 2400.00 a month. This doesn't make sense. As for the health insurance issue the best thing you can do is try to take care of yourself the best way you can so that you can avoid serious problems. Sad to say healthcare is a business and when you really need them most if not all will always find reasons to screw you over or drop you. Imagine working for 40 years, having good insurance, having 2.000.000 in retirement, and then needing 100.000$ surgery which your insurance won't pay for. It is not the surgery that will drain you in this case, it is the outpatient treatment, the meds,the equipment you might need, and other related minor surgeries. If you simply get hurt you would be able to keep making money from home even if you could not work your regular job. I have said before the best thing we can do is learn powerful skills that can never be taken away from us. That way if I lost 2.000.000 tomorrow I would not be concerned because I know I have the skills to have it back in a few years and then some.

[sree94]

I am making double what I make at the JOB, but here are the easons why I have not quit yet

1. I still have credit card debt to pay off

2. I want to dump my current car and get something a lot nicer

3. The Google Slap (if it happens, I am back to just making a couple grand in extra cash each month)

[n00b]

I've never been the type to have a job. I briefly got one because I was offered it at a company I had always dreamed of working for since I was a kid. I absolutely hated it. There is no amount of money worth someone else dictating when I have to get up in the morning, when I get to eat lunch, and when I can pee.

I think part of being comfortable quitting your job has to do with your skill level. I think people who are terrified of leaving are people who have gotten lucky online or aren't conscious competent (meaning they've done well but they don't know why, they couldn't teach someone to duplicate it.) If I woke up tomorrow and everything was gone, and I mean everything, I'd be bummed for a day and then get to work building my business again. I've had to start over several times and each time was an adventure, a lot of fun, and I wouldn't have traded the experience for the world and especially not for a job. Yeah it was hard, but I don't want life to be easy, easy is boring and often involves giving your freedom up to someone else. Hard is interesting, hard teaches you about yourself and life.

I know that no matter what happens I can always build it again. Take away everything I have and drop me in any city in the world where there's an internet connection and I can do it all again, and I'll probably do it better because I'll have learned something. To me that is true freedom and no one can take it away from me.

[Jack Chua]

Your situation is almost similar to some of my friends. It think it is because they should have a fall back just in case the thing in IM will be a little slow and at least they have other way of income that is fix and stable.

[MustafaKamal]

I would like to label the tag 'being a student IS a job' (involves mugging for grades and not cash).

Then again, I'm fulfilling my old folk's dreams of seeing their child in a convocation ceremony with a silly square hat the size of a SONY TZ laptop.

[Travis72802]

I am so interested in how folks view
the same topic.

I don't think there can be a right or wrong really.

What I think stops most folks is fear that their
internet biz will disappear over night.

Like they get Google Slapped as one fella mentioned.

What's the cure?

I can only theorize and say from my experience...

But I think the cure is becoming a proficient all around
marketer.

Would it be a thorn in my side if Google went poof?

Hell yeah.

Would it mess with my income...long term?...or even
short term?

No.

I understand...

That there are ALWAYS hungry crowds.

I know I can get in front of them in various
ways...

And...

I am confident that I can ADD VALUE to their
lives...

Now...here's where the story can turn sad.

I don't think, no matter what side of this fence
you fall on...you are right or wrong.

UNLESS...

UNLESS...

You are fibbing to yourself.

If you REALLY want to be free...but are
using health insurance as an EXCUSE...than
I think you are doing a disservice to yourself.

Ya know what I'm sayin?

If your telling yourself you need X amount of
dollars before you fly free...

More than likely...when you get to X amount
of dollars...You will feel like you need more.

That ugly little troll of 'self doubt' doesn't
vanish because you hit some arbitrary number in
your bank account.

You just got to be true to yourself I think, which
can be a real bear of a challenge sometimes.

and...

I ain't sayin' you should go off half cocked.

Just ask yourself...is it REALLY the health insurance
that's hangin' you up?

My Opinion,
Travis