I know these blog titles are not exactly click-magnets so far. If anyone ever actually reads this article you must leave a comment and tell me how on earth you landed here.
As I kick of this blog, I thought I’d quickly document who I am at the moment. I’m at a kind of at an interesting point in my life, and I think it might be enjoyable to look back 5 years from now and relive it.
I’ve just turned 30, just been married, and just learned I’m going to be a Dad. I’ve also just stepped away from exclusive full-time commitment to my first business, and have just become an employee in someone else’s company for first time since University. I count 5 “justs,” and all them have taken place over a couple months. It looks like I’m at a new beginning.
I would have liked to have a bit more success with the last phase of my life, but I’m excited about the next. This summer has taken a screeching 90 degree turn though, and I will admit that on occasion I have felt like I’ve been flung right out the door and scrapped face first along the pavement.
For the past three years, 95% of my life was dedicated to being a young founder/CEO of a dot-com startup. That business, while not becoming a huge financial home run, has reached the point where it runs pretty much on its own and doesn’t need me full time.
More importantly, family and personal income have suddenly become important to me. When the baby comes, my mother-in-law is also coming from China to live with us. That’ll place me as the only one in a 4-person household who’s available to earn an income. So I have to say goodbye to the days of carefree bootstrapping. Actually, I say good riddance to those days. I think more responsibility will be one of those shake-ups that guys like me look back on and say “that’s just what I needed.”
I’m now spending my 9-5 hours as a business analyst and doing graveyard shifts at an old-folks home on the weekend. It’s taken some adjustment, but it gives me a chance to learn how to work for someone else, and the graveyard shifts provide a great distraction-free time for stuff like this. Plus, I still have a lot of time and flexibility with my other business.
I’ve also got an itch to start a side-project. My commitment to this itch will be to put in at least 8 hours per week on this blog and active exploration of the single-person opportunities for income in the online world. I’m imagining a collective “ha-ha” from all the other fathers out there who remember being so naïve with their free-time expectations. But the graveyard shift works to my advantage in this situation. In fact, I think I’ll even log the time I spend on this and maybe even post it.
So this is it, the next beginning! I feel like I’ve just finished putting down my soldiers in a new game of Risk. Fun times!
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I landed here by looking you up haha! That’s a lot of change in a short time. You’re smart, talented, and extremely hard working and I bet the next big thing for you is just around the corner. When you find it let me know and I’ll jump on board!