What’s Next, Entreprenuer?

I’ve been chatting with a few of my friends lately. Mostly women but a few of my better guy friends. As we approach, encroach and blow past 40, we are all hitting a wall of “Is this my life?”  Or more specifically, “Is the “Life” I envisioned 10 years ago? 15? 5?

This may have come to a point sooner, more bluntly, because of the economy. Jobs are tenuous, 401K’s halved, future hazy. If we of an earlier generation, lulled in by job security, a pension or stock-options actually worth something, this introspection might have happened later. But it didn’t. Some of us have or have had the “big job,” perhaps we could even go get the even bigger job. Our careers assured. Then some don’t. We just got downsized. Or it perhaps it just made sense to stay home raising the babies, and we opted out of the workforce for a while. (Uh, that would be TheBetsy.)

End of a day– we all seem to be hitting a wall. Tired of commuting. Business travel.  Tired of tenuous jobs that take a pound of our flesh. Coming home too late  Weekends of errands. Sunday evening coming too soon.

Also factoring in this is that most of us have children. Young children. They seem to grow in the hours we fret, worry, commute and sleep-in recovering from the week.

When I first started out I wanted to work in Film. In Hollywood. A year or two and I knew I wasn’t made for entertainment when a friend pointed out that the few successful women in Film were generally very unhappy people. Most working off multiple marriages, or coming face-to-face with harsher realities of success, like having your sweet baby call the Nanny was “Mommy.” Of course there are few that make is work, but they are few and very far, far between. Or lying.

A few of us are ready to slow down. Down-size. Work at home for much less. Sell and move into smaller. Take the road lesser travelled. Start our own business, and work harder, but with a goal in mind. Freedom and what can only be described as “Fuck You Money.”

Hell, I’m with Leo and his Zen Habits. Simplify and savor the moments. With my husband, My children. Myself. That’s the goal with TheLiquidBetsy and by working at Inquisix. I’ve decided being if I could be my own boss was the solution to my need for independence and time. Of course both have to be successful. Of course dahling. In fact Leo posted a fabulous piece on “The Get Started-Now Guide to Being Self-Employed.” Read it. It has loads of links to good articles by really great people:

(and that’s why I totally did a cut and pasted job straight from his site.)

• Seth Godin: Lessons from very tiny businesses
• Jonathan Fields: Firefly Manifesto Remixed (How to become a career renegade)
• Pamela Slim: Free chapter from Escape From Cubicle Nation
• Chris Guillebeau: Why You Should Quit Your Day Job and Travel Around the World
• Etsy: Quit Your Day Job (true story)
• Wisebread: 6 Reasons to Become Self-Employed
• Get Rich Slowly: Employee or Entrepreneur? The Pros and Cons of Self-Employment

I draw inspiration from various sources, some I wish I read 10 years ago. Though perhaps if I had I wouldn’t have appreciated it as I wasn’t evolved. The philosopher Albert Camus teaches one must die, before you live– basically I had to know what I don’t want, before I know (and appreciate) what I do.

I’m still on the journey, but I’ve run across some great book that I highly recommend them if you’re at all thinking along the same lines as me.  I’ve really enjoyed the following two books:

First is ONO, Options Not Obligations: Enrich Your Personal Life by Rethinking Your Financial Life By Mark Warnke.  Ono, is “Delicious” in Hawaiian, and what Mark does a really good job is putting your desires in clear, sharp focus– basically “too many financial obligations make the juicy things in life harder to have.” You can see more on his site, as the book line to Amazon doesn’t have too much in the way of information.

What I like about Mark is that he is a very accessible, authentic writer. He wants you to do well. He wants you to be happy. You like him because of this earnestness.

The second is  The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. You may have heard about Timothy Ferris. He’s a character.  Tango champion (and Guinness World Recorder Holder), Lecturer, Horseback Archer in Japan, MTV break-dancer in Taiwan, National Chinese Kickboxing Champion, to name a few. I kid you not. This guy not only sucks the marrow out of life, he teaches others how to do it as well. In The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, Ferris show you how to set up your life to work for you. With minimal input from you. His writing is very real, very funny and above all inspiring. Nice.

Hey but don’t take my word for it, here’s a what a few others said about him:

“It’s about time this book was written. It is a long-overdue manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and Tim Ferriss is the ideal ambassador. This will be huge.”
–Jack Canfield
Co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul®, 100+ million copies sold

“This is a whole new ball game.  Highly recommended.”
–Dr. Stewart D. Friedman
Adviser to Jack Welch and Former Vice President Al Gore on Work/Family Issues
Director of the Work/Life Integration Project, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

“Timothy has packed more lives into his 29 years than Steve Jobs has in his 51.”
–Tom Foremski
Journalist and Publisher of SiliconValleyWatcher.com

“If you want to live life on your own terms, this is your blueprint.”
–Mike Maples
Co-founder of Motive Communications (IPO to $260M market cap), Founding Executive of Tivoli (sold to IBM for $750M)

“Tim is Indiana Jones for the digital age. I’ve already used his advice to go spearfishing on remote islands and ski the best hidden slopes of Argentina. Simply put, do what he says and you can live like a millionaire.”
–Albert Pope
Derivatives Trading, UBS World Headquarters