5 Ways To Get Unstuck And Embrace Time Freedom

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Life is NOT a dress rehearsal.

Life is too short to stack up a pile of shoulda, woulda, couldas.

This sage advice comes from an extremely reliable source – people on their deathbeds! Those MOST experienced in REGRETS.

More on that in a minute…

First, let’s examine what it is you’re looking for?

Why Are You Here?

If you’re anything like us, you’re likely a corporate professional who’s studied long and hard to carve out a successful career for yourself. You want a sense of accomplishment, achievement and importance, which’ll benefit your nearest and dearest by providing them with life’s little luxuries. It’s a simple human need to feel loved and of value to your family. We get that.

But, why did you choose the career you went after?

Maybe because it’s a field you’ve always been interested in, or maybe circumstances led you down that particular path (Fiona studied Accountancy because she won a chunky scholarship; and Greg studied Computer Science because he unwittingly wiped out an entire shipping customer database, so decided he didn’t want to repeat that gut-wrenching feeling of messing up on a grand scale). Or maybe, you bowed to parental pressure and followed the course they thought was best for you (which is the worst reason of all, in our opinion!)?

Back then, your dream was to:

  • own your own home
  • provide your family with the very best you could afford, and
  • do all the things your heart desires. Yes?

But we’re guessing that ‘happy ever after’ fairy tale ending hasn’t happened yet?

Trouble Is…

There’s a big fat chance you’re feeling trapped and unfulfilled in that once promising career.

It takes HOURS to earn a living each week which eats up your leisure time.

You’ve come to realise there’s a limit to what you can earn in your 60 hour work week as there’s no easy means to scale up your income.

Your appreciation and passion has dissipated with the repetitive ‘week in and week out’ of same old processes, politics, and protocols.

Continuing professional development must be done, but most of it is outside your preferred area of practical expertise!

You have to dress a certain way, a uniform of sorts, whatever is prescribed – instead of whatever's 100% comfortable.

Commuting means more time away from your loved ones too.

But, above all…

True Fear

You're scared stiff because you’re staring down the barrel of spending the rest of your working days that way. Stuck. Trapped. Knowing there’s something better out there but not sure what it looks like or where to start looking for it.

There’s nothing worse than having all those years of work still stretching out ahead of you, when you're no longer fulfilled or passionate about your job or your career.

Oh wait, there is one thing worse!

Having to wait to retire, until you finally have time to do the things you really want to have time to enjoy NOW.

To put that major fear into context, there’s an insightful (but tearful) book to reference: ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying', by an Aussie lady, Bronnie Ware.

Bronnie worked in palliative care for many years, nursing patients in the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. She questioned those patients facing mortality about any regrets they held or any things they wish they’d done differently. She found that in the twilight of their lives, they shared five common regrets.

As you read on, think to yourself what could you do differently right now with your life, so you live a life of joy, happiness, and meaning, and avoid harbouring these regrets.

Here are the five most common regrets of the dying, in order, starting with the most common first:

[1] I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me

Many people pursue careers their parents dictate, and end up shelving their real passion and skill. Others don’t honour even half their dreams and die knowing it was due to poor choices they’d made. The moment you lose your health, the game's over!

[2] I wish I didn’t work so hard

This came from EVERY MALE patient Bronnie nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. They deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence. (We've both been a victim of this in the past, but . . . creating passive income has banished this regret forever)

[3] I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings

Many people suppress their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settle for a mediocre existence and never became the person they're truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result (Steve Jobs?!).

[4] I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you’re faced with your approaching death, the material possessions in life don’t matter – it’s love and relationships that'll concern you most.

[5] I wish I’d let myself be happier

This is surprisingly common. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice.

They'd stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

Can you see the top 5 regrets of the dying are all embodied in the one true fear?:

Having to wait to retire, until you finally have time to do the things you really want to enjoy now?

What Would You Enjoy Right Now If Time (or Money) Wasn’t An Issue?

What do you dream about doing when you have time freedom?

Forget those hyped up ads you see everywhere depicting the dream lifestyle with flash yachts, big mansions and fast cars. We’re NOT talking about false advertising lifestyles. We mean the things you really and truly want to do now, today, if you had the time.

What is it for you?

Let’s see…

(these are in no particular order)

  • Learn to play golf/tennis/guitar/piano/darts/paint – whatever was your passion was when you were younger, before life beat it out of you. Let’s face it, to get good at any sport/instrument/leisure activity requires practice and persistence – which requires time – lots of it
  • Take world trips without having to negotiate time off and plan 12 months in advance (that’s our passion)
  • Ski/surf/sail/scuba to your heart’s content
  • Spend quality time being present with family, rather than spending roughly 75% of your waking week hours with people you don’t really care about and who don’t really care about you
  • Never again wake up to an alarm clock – because you don’t need to be out the door at 7.30am each weekday morning
  • Prepare and cook healthy meals – take time to experiment and try new recipes
  • Go to the gym when it’s not busy – it’s much more pleasant with less sweaty bodies around
  • Shop when everyone else is at work – linger in the aisles at your leisure
  • Be charitable with your time – help out at a non-for-profit venture you have an affinity for
  • Be there when friends and family need you (without experiencing the indignity of begging for time off)
  • What about home renovations, keeping the lawns tidy, washing the car…

Here’s space to fill in the blanks:

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embrace time freedom
Hiking The Grand Canyon – A Bucket List Dream

Next, think about the plus-side of not being stuck in a job or career or business you’re no longer passionate about…

For example:

  • No more boss controlling your time or micro managing you
  • No more commuting
  • No more aimless meetings
  • No more holiday restrictions or conditions on taking time off
  • No more stress (our life now is Zen)
  • No more continuing professional development that’s so ‘dry’ and non-practical

In our experience it’s…

More freedom without someone else controlling our time, worth and emotions (those last two are way bigger than you think – sometimes it’s tricky to see the wood from the trees when you’re trapped in a situation which you see no way out of)

So…

Think about what you can do to have quality of life now that makes you happy, joyful, replete.

How can you create more space in your life, so you become happier and more open to new opportunities – ones more suited to your new lifestyle?

5 Ways To Start Living Life On Your Terms Sooner Rather Than Later

So you need to break away from the old ‘salary model’ of earning a limited income in exchange for 40-60 hours a week. Which means being entrepreneurial and running a business.

Yup, you’re already adept at promoting and selling because you’ve ‘pimped’ your CV to land plum roles – so learning to be entrepreneurial and business-like is the next logical step. It’ll be a bit scary, but it’ll also be excitingly rewarding.

So let’s take a look at your five main options:

1. Buy Into A Franchise

Franchises are a great business model because all the rules, regulations, processes, and protocols are set out in black and white for you – which removes a big risk element right from the get-go.

They range in price from $20k for cleaning/dog grooming/online advertising type franchises, up to $M’s for restaurant and hotel chain franchises, and you can easily find an industry or market you’re passionate about or have an affinity for.

The key drawbacks are:

  • you’re limited with what you can say in your advertising to attract new customers
  • you're usually limited to a physical geographical location
  • there’s no avenue for individual creativity, and
  • you have to fork out a hefty proportion of your earnings in franchise fees

In reality – it’s like landing another job!

2. Do MLM (Multi-Level Marketing )/Network Marketing

Think: Herbalife, Amway, Avon, Forever Living, Utility Warehouse, Tupperware as big MLM companies. All household names with reputable products.

Network marketing companies are similar but their products are more virtual or not so tangible. With both MLM and Network Marketing, you can earn small commissions by making sales of the products, plus you can earn by ‘recruiting’ new sales people or new distributors.

When you recruit new distributors, then they join at a level below you. When the new distributors you introduce go on to recruit further distributors, those people join at a level below them. This is known as your downline, ie the people below you in the hierarchy.

In most pay structures within an MLM you earn a commission when someone in your downline makes a sale. So you can get commissions passed up to you from many levels deep, hence multi-level marketing.

However, the big trade-off is, the further down the line you’re positioned, the more difficult it is to recruit people into your downline.

In reality, MLM's make most of their money from people failing. There's a term called Breakage, that prevents most people apart from those highest up the chain from succeeding. Breakage is unclaimable bonus income that distributors (especially part-time people) fail to earn because of high group volume and downline rank requirements that stop them from qualifying in almost every pay plan.

3. Try Amazon And Drop Shipping

Drop shipping is a fulfilment business model where you buy products individually from a wholesaler who ships them directly to your customer on order.

So you don’t have to purchase huge stores of inventory, you simply partner with a drop shipping supplier and list their merchandise for sale on your website. Once you receive a customer order, it’s automatically forwarded to the supplier for fulfilment. The supplier will ship the product directly from their warehouse to your customer, and charge you only for the price of the shipped item.

So you don’t need a load of start-up capital, there’s no risk in have a ton of stock stored somewhere, and you can run your business from anywhere in the world there’s an internet connection.

Problems start when the warehouse runs out of stock (without telling you) or is late delivering a purchased item to the customer – so you have to deal with irate customers.

Profit margins can be skimpy too. For expensive electronics, margins will likely be in the 5% to 10% range. But for low-priced accessories, margins will often be in the 100% range. So it’s a volume game, which will take a long while to scale up, to make real money.

The Fulfilment By Amazon model is similar to drop shipping because you can opt for Amazon to store your product in their warehouses and have them do the fulfilment for you, BUT… you have to invest up front in a stockpile of product.

Be careful with your market research to ensure there’s an insatiable demand for your product, and be prepared to take a few months to get up and running and start making sales.

4. Get Into Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is one of the most popular ways to earn a sustainable, scalable income online, although it’s a relatively new business model in the scheme of things, so it’s sometimes a bit misunderstood. Basically, you refer a customer who buys someone else’s products or services and you receive a commission for the referral.

Amazon is the biggest, most trusted affiliate marketing place on the internet, but not too many people appreciate that Amazon doesn't ‘own' all the products it offers for sale.

The attraction with affiliate marketing is you don’t have to have any products or services of your own to sell, you generally don’t need a website, nor marketing materials, nor payment processors, nor customer support – because the product creator provides all that. So it’s a low cost way to get started online.

However, the key skill you need to learn is: how to market products online, or how to advertise the products you’re promoting as an affiliate – which takes time, and investment – just like any other business.

The biggest cost in an affiliate marketing business is advertising because you must get your offers in front of as many targeted people as possible to make a substantial commission income. The problem with that is most third party advertising platforms have become quite expensive for ‘small’ advertisers as they prefer to deal with reputable brands.

Therefore, you need to promote various affiliate products which produce chunky (top tier) commissions, in the order of $1k+ per sale referred.

5. Master A Hybrid Business Model

This is our favourite online business model. It combines affiliate marketing and top tier commissions (those over $1k per sale referral) with an integrated range of products. Sounds complex, but it’s really not.

Take Apple for instance, they have an integrated suite of ‘lifestyle’ products extending from ipods, Apple watches, iphones, and macbooks up to large desktop iMacs. Having a cohesive product suite is important is because there’s a variety of price points, so people who love the brand and what it stands for find it tricky to stop at buying only one product – which means IF you could promote Apple’s products as an Apple affiliate (you can’t), the lifetime value of each customer you refer is maximised. Hope that makes sense?

Six Figure Mentors and Digital Experts Academy together tick all the boxes of a premium hybrid business model. They pay affiliate commissions over $1k, have an integrated range of products for customers to select from, so you can earn a substantial income from anywhere in the world there’s an internet connection by mazimising the all important customer value.

Digital Experts Academy (DEA) is an educational organization which provides individuals and small businesses with a step-by-step digital marketing program created to streamline the process of starting a business in today’s internet economy. It boasts integrated curricula with a strong lifestyle brand – just like Apple. And it provides ALL the marketing training, digital tools, and support you need to be the next online success.

DEA is always looking for leaders, people of value, people with influence, people who are willing to grow.

Is that you?

There's no requirement to be technical, there's no age barrier to entry, and you can set up your business in about 15-20 hours a week..

how to earn from affiliate marketing

The Bottom Line Is…

Life is a choice. It's YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. We believe you should choose happiness.

Attaining happiness and fulfilment isn’t about being a better you, it’s about letting go of everything that isn’t you.

Rediscover who you were, before the world started to dictate who you were not.

To wrap up…

Here's a video worth considering:-

Why Most People Die Before Age 25

In The Same Boat?

If you find you relate with this post in any way, maybe you've been ‘in the same boat' as us, we'd love to share with you the same online business startup training we stumbled across, which had an monumental impact on us. It sounds cliche, but the truth is, it's changed our lives for the better, for ever.

This information allowed us to leverage the new hybrid online business model which has allowed us to free ourselves and get unstuck from the professional careers that no longer fulfilled us.

As we've aluded to above, life is completely different for us now. We have the ability to write our own paycheck and travel the world free as two birds, doing some work whereever and whenever we please. We'd honestly love to think we can help a few people simply by sharing this stuff.

A quick final point we’ll make is, this training will probably set off so many lightbulb moments when it comes to solving the problems we've been sharing here, like feeling trapped and limited with your time.

If you have any questions for us at all after checking this out, we're always here and happy to help anyone who can relate to the things we've shared.

You CAN be who you want to be, you CAN create the life you love.

GregAndFionasignaturelogo
The Laptop Lifestyle Experts

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