Financial Independence or Slavery

You really have two choices.  You can be financially independent or you can be a wage slave.  Which do you choose?

It is a choice.  Its a choice you should think very carefully about, especially as the US and World economies teeter.

I imagine, if you are reading this website, that you choose financial independence.  You may not have it now. You may not know how to get it.  But you know that you don’t want to be a wage slave any longer.

You have probably realized as well that the old belief that a “good” job guaranteed “security” is the cruelest joke of capitalism.   When times get tough, who suffers first?  Employees.   Wage slaves are the first ones to be cut loose.

To paraphrase Marx (and mangle his philosophy –   if you don’t own the means to your own financial production, you are not only a slave– you are an extremely insecure one.    Business owners, be they micro or macro, will find a way to adapt and do well during tough times.   Because they own their own finances, they have much more flexibility.

But a wage slave can only beg.   If downsized, they are in deep shit.  All they can do is go “job searching”– competing with hordes of other desperate souls to beg for scraps.

That never felt very secure to me.

So here it is– the fastest and most secure route to financial independence is to own your own business.

Don’t panic at the mention of the word “business”.   I too hated that word and the grubby republican connotations it often carries.   But as Ralph Nader says, there’s a world of difference between a family owned local business run with integrity– and the evil soul-sucking criminal mega-corporations that are destroying our planet.

You can be the former–  a micro or small business owner doing what you love with passion and enthusiasm.

In fact, I think its often best to adopt a “micro-business” goal at first.   The goal of a micro-business is not to make you rich– its goal is to cover your basic living expenses while you do something you love to do.  (And if you simultaneously reduce your living expenses– it becomes quite easy to reach your goal).

So my advice at first is:  Think Small.

You don’t have to be the next Apple or Microsoft.   You don’t even have to compete.   Just choose something you love and are reasonably good at, find a tiny niche that also loves it, and sell your funky/fun/unique product or service to them with passion and enthusiasm.

My good friend Wat is a great example of a micro-business owner.  He makes silver and leather jewelry.  He used to sell it on the sidewalks in San Francisco… but got tired of the long hours.  So now he makes a big batch, goes to music festivals from Spring through Fall, and sells his stuff there.

He loves it.  He meets great people.  He hears great music.  He “works” very limited hours.  Yet he makes enough to pay his living expenses and even save a little.

During the winters, he lives in his home country of Thailand– on a beautiful tropical island.

In many ways, he has the lifestyle of a very wealthy person.  He spends most of his time doing fun things that he loves and he lives on a tropical island 4 months a year–  swimming, diving, relaxing, etc…

I know people who make 350,000+ a year from “great jobs” who dont live as well.

So the point is–  own your finances and start micro.   Do it part time.

Just do it.  Create your ultra-tiny micro business this month.  Stop making excuses and reclaim ownership of your life!