In the Land of Smiles - Angthong National Park.

In the Land of Smiles – Angthong National Park.

Working online is no longer an “underground” movement (at least not as much as it used to be).  People are aware there are opportunities to make money online, to quit your typical 9-5 cubible job, or to start a first business.  It isn’t always easy, and it typically requires a radical change of perspective.

If working online full-time, you have to view the world a bit differently.  What we’ve been told to do our entire lives is do well in school to get into a good college.  Do well in college to get a good job, and get a good job to make a lot of money.  And make a lot of money to do, what? Retire earlier, raise a family, buy a house? This perspective is hammered into our heads. With the massive opportunity on the internet, and the education bubble, a shift is happening. Now, if you enjoy your current job (no matter what it is) and can’t see yourself doing something better most days, then I am not writing to you. This is more for all the people I hear complain all the time about their work, or the people who wish they could be doing more with their life (both financially or timewise).

Time “Off”

One of the biggest restrictions I see with working in the “corporate world” (I don’t like the term, but I am defining this as the classic job, working a typical 40 hours a week and happy with the wage you’re making) is the time restriction.  You typically get 2-3 weeks off a year (out of 52 weeks/year).  Not only this, you are forced to be in a certain place at a certain time 5 out of 7 days a week.  This is something that drives unhappiness, and it baffles me how many people live this life without a significant drive to change. If you have a family, and you sleep 8 hours a night, work 8 hours, that leaves only 1/3 of your conscious life to enjoy with them.  Not only that, it is on a schedule that someone else made.  How are so many people satisfied with this?

“treat it as a real job”

One of the things I hear all the time from people working online is to “treat it like a real job”.  Their point being that it is easy to slack off and not work, and that it should be taken seriously.  Absolutely.  However, with this said, it is also important to realize the change and all the opportunities it creates that the “corporate world” doesn’t have.  Has there been a particular place in the world you want to see? Do you enjoy working out in the gym when no one is there? Do you enjoy going to lunch when you’re hungry, going to sleep when you’re tired, and waking up when you’re not tired? Use your flexible schedule and location-freedom is take advantage of this stuff.  It is stuff that most people dream about but will never take the risk of doing. Those who do take the risk reap the rewards.

I can’t count the number of times my friends left an event, party, or gathering early “because they have to work at 7am tomorrow”. Not only this, they then miss out on so much of the night/gathering.  Yes, I have to work tomorrow as well, and will still likely still get more work done than the average corporate.  But the time flexibility allows me to still do what I want without constraint.  That is VERY powerful.  Think about it.

Opportunties

There is more opportunity now than ever to make money online.  The internet is expected to grow, so there is a lot of pie that needs to be eaten, and the pie is only getting bigger. 3 billion more people will use the internet in the next 10 years. Why not start now? There is little risk, just start learning, reading, and executing.

There is even more opportunity to learn new things than ever.  I don’t know if there are numbers, but I’d guess that most people who work online today learned a skill online. I can tell you that I learned everything I use on a daily basis today (to make a living) on the internet, by reading and practicing constantly.  The information is there, it is just a matter of reading it.  It is free, too. It is interesting: I’ve never taken a marketing class in my life, never had someone teach me marketing or advertising, yet I can make a living doing it. Again, the information is there, read and execute! I can tell you I am not alone.  There are thousands of people doing very similar things as me. Get busy!

Other things you should read:

 

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Patrick

Web Developer
I write for fun, I travel for fun, and I enjoy learning. I hate sugar-coating things. Understand the world in reality, not by dogma. Question everything.
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