Free Your Time and the Rest Will Follow

Do you have true Time Freedom? I constantly come across people — a lot of people — who want more and more free time. Is it really freedom if you have to work five days a week, eight to 10 hours a day, 50 weeks out of the year? Of course not! It’s only freedom if you can choose whether to work that schedule, or not. Wouldn’t it be nice to have actual time freedom, being able to choose how many days you work each week, and how many months you take off? What’s your passion, hobby, skill or experience? Can it be turned into a revenue stream for you? Yes, it can, whether you like scrap-booking, deep sea diving, nifty new gadgets, lawn care or landscaping, becoming a better parent, personal development, financial planning, or hiking in national parks. Whatever you like or love is something you can spend more time doing, making money at the same time! You probably believe that you don’t have enough time to start your own business. In most cases, though, you are the one who’s holding yourself back. If you want to start a new business, I suggest you invest a minimum of seven hours a week, or one hour a night. That won’t threaten your day job. rnIf seven hours feels like too much for you given your current schedule, scale back other activities. What are you willing to drop? If you say, “Nothing,” ask yourself: Is a lifestyle of freedom important to me? If it is, get up early, stay up late, or say “No” to some activities that don’t fulfill you anyway. You can also consider: • Take time off work — either paid or unpaid — to get your business rolling. • Negotiate with your boss to work four days a week, perhaps doing a trial period first and being open to taking a 20 percent cut in pay. • If your boss won’t entertain a reduction in your hours, find an employer who will. • If you don’t want to change your current work schedule, partner with someone who has a lot of time to devote to the business. There are many solutions if you truly desire a lifestyle of freedom. We’ll never be able to change how many hours are in a day, how many days are in a week, and how many weeks are in a year. But we do have the ability to determine how many of those hours, days, and weeks are spent doing the things we want to do. Time freedom isn’t wishful thinking; it’s right within your grasp, ripe for the picking.