Living Free is about creating a
lifestyle that is as simple, free of laws, rules, restrictions,
limitations, encumbrances, covenants and other forms of control over
how you choose to live as possible in a very complicated world. It
does not, however, mean living for free, being fiscally
irresponsible, without obligations, not being accountable for your
actions or in any other way trespassing or infringing on the rights
of anyone else.
You must be responsible and accountable
for your own well-being and welfare. If you have a family, you have a
responsibility to look out for your spouse and children. So, living
free does have some limitations that must be defined according to
your individual circumstances. Financial responsibility is a
necessary part of living free.
Here are several possible scenarios to
be considered.
The first is that you were fortunate
enough to be born into significant wealth that provides enough
financial resources to live comfortably at the lifestyle you have
chosen. There is only a small percentage of people who find
themselves in this situation.
A second possible scenario is that you
have worked very productively during part of your lifetime and are
financially independent and can live comfortably at whatever
lifestyle you have chosen. Again, this is a circumstance only a small
percentage of the population can relate to.
A third possibility, and one that more
people identify with, is where you (or both members, in a family or
domestic relationship) are gainfully employed, earning an income that
may or may not be enough to satisfy you and is likely controlling
your lifestyle. Most likely you’re barely keeping up with the bills
and may have accumulated some debt. In this scenario you may consider
yourself a wage slave. This simply means you probably don’t enjoy
or gain much personal fulfillment from the work you’re doing, but
must retain the job to maintain the status quo.
Yet, another scenario is when you are
employed in work that is truly fulfilling on an emotional,
intellectual and professional level, but may not provide compensation
adequate to cover your current lifestyle. The work may require too
much time, allowing little or no time to enjoy other aspects of a
balanced life.
And, of course, you may be like me, led
or driven into businesses you created for yourself. This scenario may
be one of the most difficult to disparage since you may have, in
effect, created your own employment “prison” and become a wage
slave to your own dream.
Your own scenario may be similar or
perhaps, a variation of those I’ve mentioned.
We’ve created a number of labels to
describe this process by which we generate income to support our
chosen lifestyle. Words such as work, job, profession, vocation,
career, practice, occupation, employment, grind, labor, work hand,
artisan, craftsman, drudge, rat race, salt mine, rut and others find
their way into our vocabulary when referring to this facet of our
lives.
You’ll seldom hear anyone describe
what he or she does to earn his or her income as an avocation. That’s
probably because an avocation, as defined by the Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, is a subordinate occupation pursued especially for
pleasure or . . . a hobby.
There are three words in that
definition that catch my attention. First is the word subordinate
as an adjective to the word occupation. An avocation places “work”
in a lesser place of importance in our life. The second is pleasure.
One does something that is enjoyable and provides pleasure. The third
word is hobby. A hobby is a pursuit or interest one engages in
for relaxation. Wow! Imagine doing something that is subordinate to
other activities, pleasurable, relaxing and generates the income you
need.
Let’s examine the differences between
a vocation and an avocation more closely. You engage in a vocation,
occupation or profession, typically, committing 50 to 60 hours each
week including commuting, lunches and arriving early and staying a
little late to complete the requirements of the job. This activity
cannot be considered a subordinate part of your life since it
requires the single largest block of your time each week. It’s
likely not pleasurable nor does it provide relaxation.
On the other hand, you engage in an
avocation because you have a specific interest in whatever it is.
Additionally, you experience pleasure and relaxation from it. If you
can generate an income from the avocation, could it be any better?
There are certainly a percentage of
people who do earn their income from activities considered avocations
by other people. The list of activities considered by some people as
traditional work and by others as avocations is long. The difference
is the frame of reference. Most people frame activities utilizing a
skill, education, specialized training or some labor related process
used to earn money to support their lifestyle as work or a job. There
are other people who love and are passionate about certain activities
and realize financial compensation from them. They get to enjoy doing
something pleasurable, relaxing and financially rewarding. Again,
could work be any better?
Vocation or Avocation?
So, which sounds like the better choice
to you? This should be a no brainer for most people. The avocation is
the way to go. Compare these two scenarios and answer this question
for yourself.
Scenario #1 – you wake up everyday on
a schedule prescribed by someone else, grudgingly get out of your
comfortable bed, commute to and from some appointed location through
traffic and congestion and do your current job because you “love”
the work and the people you serve so much. Then, you attempt to
squeeze in all the other activities, both domestic and pleasurable,
in the limited time available after your primary job commitment.
Scenario #2 – you wake up on your own
schedule with the thought in mind that you “get” to do whatever
your passion is again today for as much or as little time as you
choose to commit to it. You determine the time to commit to your
avocation based on other activities you enjoy doing. You love your
avocation so much you’d happily do it for free. Actually, you
probably were doing it for free when you were able to squeeze it into
a life that was based around the more traditional, industrial
revolution model.
If you selected the second scenario as
the life you’d prefer, then you need to do some serious
contemplation.
Believe it or not, there are many
people who feel work isn’t work unless it’s defined as work by
society in general or, as I’ve called it, the “Committee of
They.” Work is frequently defined by what we were taught by our
parents, teachers, college professors and others still resigned to
the antiquated, industrial revolution model. The idea that
individuals can control their own time, do something they enjoy doing
in a pleasurable and relaxing manner and earn an income doing it is
an “impossible dream” to most of the population of the developed
world. Then add that the individual can actually be passionate about
whatever it is and blend their income-producing schedule into the
rest of their life rather then blending the rest of their life into
their job schedule.
To most this doesn’t seem realistic.
This is what I’ve always described as “employee mentality.”
Another term I’ve seen used recently is “wage slave.”
Do What You Love . . .
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| Speaker/Author Al Walker recording an audio book in his home |
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| Ed Helvey directing and recording Al Walker's audio book |
From this point forward you’re
putting the traditional, antiquated, industrial revolution, vocation,
professional, career model behind you. It’s time to focus on
pursuing an avocation to support your ability to live free. You’ve
probably heard the statement before, “Do what you love and the
money will follow.” Well, it’s true. However, there are always
conditions attached to everything. Selecting and pursuing an
avocation doesn’t mean you won’t have to put forth some effort.
Here’s another old saying you’ve heard, “Freedom isn’t free.”
Don’t ever forget that. Living Free should never be confused with
living for free. There are no free lunches.
The first thing I suggest is that you
obtain a copy of an out of print book that’s been a primary
inspiration for my living free concept. The book is, Working Free:
A Practical Alternative to a 9 to 5 Job by John Applegath. I see
used copies listed on Amazon regularly. It was published in 1982, so
it’s dated. However, the ideas and concepts are just as valid today
as they were back then. It’s full of examples of people who threw
out the antiquated industrial revolution job mentality. They
discovered what was important to them. They determined how much
income they required to live the life they wanted to enjoy. Then they
found the “avocation” to fit that lifestyle and live on their own
terms. I searched for the author for 20 years and finally had the
opportunity and privilege of meeting John Applegath and getting to
know him in late 2007.
Here are four important processes in
fulfilling Step #7.
1. You must determine your personal
definition of living free and create an image in your mind of
exactly what your life will look like and what you’ll need to do
to live free. Here’s a hint, Step #7 is deeply entwined with the
other 11 steps.
2. You must determine exactly how
much it is going to cost to create and sustain this living free
lifestyle.
3. You must create a list (yep,
another list) of the various avocational interests, talents, skills
and abilities you have, prioritize them in the order of your
love/passion for each and then evaluate if one or more of them,
starting with the one you have the most passion for, can create a
revenue stream that will be meaningful in your quest to live free.
4. Finally, you must create a plan to
turn this/these avocation(s) into the income producer for you to
live free.
There may be other considerations in
developing your plan, but these four are the most basic and
important. Consider your age? Are you old enough to retire or take an
early retirement? Retirement is just a word people use to describe
when you’ve left your “recognized” occupation or career. It’s
often identified with a prescribed age. In fact, you can “retire”
at any age for any reason. Retirement is often used to loosely define
what I call living free. The difference is that retirement usually
has some age, financial position and, often, an employer determined
stipulation attached to it. Living free doesn’t have any external
prerequisites. Living free simply means not conforming to the
standards and conditions typically accepted by the vast majority of
the population, the “Committee of They.”
Next, consider these questions. Do you
have a significant traditional or Roth IRA, a 401K or other
retirement instruments? Do you have pensions that will be available
from an employer at some prescribed time? When can you begin
withdrawing from your various retirement and pension accounts without
penalty? When will you be eligible to receive Social Security and
Medicare benefits? How much will these benefits amount to each month?
None of these are required or necessary in deciding to live free.
Depending on your age, they may, however, be of some assistance in
your transition to living free.
How much savings do you have? Do you
have funds in investment accounts that generate dividends? How much
are these dividends? Will you be downsizing and liquidating assets
worth sizable amounts of money? The assets could include your home,
extra vehicles, a boat, one or more vacation properties, expensive
jewelry, an airplane and so on. After you downsize and pay off your
liabilities and become debt free, will any of this money be available
to subsidize you until you can generate an adequate income from your
avocation(s) to sustain living free?
I stated earlier that every step of the
12 Steps for Living Free is integral to the other steps. As you
proceed through each step, you’ll discover opportunities and
possibilities you likely never considered before. An open mind is
important. Never say never! Just because you have not considered
something before doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.
I also said that 12 Steps for Living
Free is a process. A few people may decide to go “cold turkey”
and change their lives overnight. This may work for some people. I
strongly recommend against being overzealous. Making a change as
drastic as living free is not easy. It is stressful. It is
emotionally charged. It can take a toll on your physical well-being.
It will require changes to almost everything you’ve based most of
your life on. It will require a rewiring of your concept of work and
how it integrates into your life. Your avocation is an important part
of living free, however, it is not going to define your life as your
vocation did when it controlled the largest block of your awake time
each week.
The Perfect Blend
Creating a balance of having time to
pursue all the activities you want to enjoy through living free and
pursuing avocations to generate income to live free is what I call
the perfect blend. While I’d like to say that creating this blend
is a simple process, I’d be kidding you.
Remember, earlier in this series of 12
Steps for Living Free, I said that life is all about choices. Now is
an excellent time to focus on the word “choices.” Choosing to
reinvent your life to live free is one of those choices. Each of
these first seven steps has required you to consider numerous
choices. You’ll be making choices through the last five steps as
well.
Here is another important thing to
remember. You can’t have everything. You can dream
about what you want. You can include it in your plan. However, like
everything else in life, when the rubber meets the road, you’ll
come to intersections, detours and obstacles that will require more
choices. Some of these choices will require compromise. Compromise is
an important part of living free.
So, how can you create this “perfect
blend” and balance and live free? Setting aside some issues we’ve
already established, like whether you’re a single individual or in
a relationship of some kind (relationships require consideration of
the other people involved and some compromising) you can do some
speculating and contemplating.
Your definition of living free, dreams,
desires and objectives is personal to you. I don’t know what is
going on in your heart and mind. As an example, I’ll use myself.
It’s important to understand that I’m a work in progress, just as
everyone is. Because I’ve made and acted on some of the difficult
choices doesn’t mean I’m where I’m ultimately heading or that
many of my earlier living free definitions, dreams and desires
haven’t and aren’t continuing to change and evolve. That’s part
of the process.
Transitioning from Vocation to Avocation
You already know that I’ve been a
serial entrepreneur since I was 12. I learned business basics and
what customer service meant right from the beginning as a newspaper
delivery boy and developed a good income as a 12 and 13 year old.
I earned an amateur radio license at 14
and had my introduction to electronics, radio and broadcasting. At
16, I wanted to be a Baptist minister. I earned a Bachelor’s degree
in Industrial Arts Education certified to teach Kindergarten through
12th grade by 22. I earned a Master’s degree in TV and
Radio and by 23 and at 24 I was teaching television production part-time
on a college level.
Over the years I’ve owned numerous
businesses, too many to go into great detail here. Once I discovered
the recording and sound industry during my freshman year in college I
finally had a direction. I was doing live sound for national touring
performers, starting my independent recording and by age 20 I was a
member of the international Audio Engineering Society. At age 24 I
had been approved for a very large six figure venture capitalization
to build a multi-media production and duplication center in Central
New York State. Unfortunately, this was at the peak of the Vietnam
War. So, in order to avoid being drafted into the Army, I found
myself a job in the recording and broadcasting field with the Air
Force in Washington, DC. The venture capital deal, obviously, fell
through.
During my professional recording and
sound career, I’ve done just about everything anyone could do in
that industry including: location recording, recording studio owner,
record production, high-speed tape duplication, independent audio and
video production and voice-overs to mention a few. Additionally, I
created and published an international audio magazine, was involved
in multi-level and network marketing, owned a book publishing
business, have done professional speaking and consulting in various
fields. This only touches on some of the facets of more then 50 years
in business ventures.
Needless to say, the list is long.
Everything I’ve ever done has dovetailed from one thing into
another. Opportunities appeared and doors opened. It wasn’t unusual
to be running several businesses at the same time. Most of my career
I operated independently and contracted or outsourced certain things
to others. Several businesses required as many as 25 to 28 employees.
Here is reality. During my 48+ years
since my introduction to the recording industry in 1963, my life went
from relatively simple to extremely complicated. I literally created
my own jobs (yes, plural because I was often filling multiple
positions) and my own self-imposed prison. I was a wage slave of my
own making. I certainly didn’t start out in business to end up in
that situation. However, reality is reality and that is what I
created.
Considering in my late teens and early
20’s I had a very similar dream to the dream I currently have of
living free, I certainly took some significant detours and off-road
trails. Some of those detours took me out of my way and the off-road
trails were often very rough.
Now, compare your own life to mine.
Perhaps you’ve been in business for yourself. You may be able to
relate to this snapshot of my life. On the other hand, perhaps you
spent your life employed by one or more employers. You may have
prepared to enter one field, and then strayed from that path due to
circumstances and reality. The important point is that whatever roads
you’ve traversed, you are the sum total of all of these
experiences.
In my case, most of what I’ve done
during my lifetime began with my main love and passion for recording.
Would things have turned out differently had I become a Baptist
minister, received the venture capital at age 24 and not had to
enlist in the Air Force? Probably! But, such speculation is folly
since reality and life happened and can’t be reversed. Woulda,
shoulda and coulda don't count. The same is true for you.
While there were some businesses I wish
I had never been involved in, the reality is that I did take the road
and despite any other consequences, I gained considerably more
experience and knowledge. But, how does this apply to creating income
from some avocational pursuit at this time in my life? Watch this
process and see if you can transfer and apply it to your own quest to
live free.
I’ve gone through the 12 Steps for
Living Free (and continue through them, a life long process). My life
is much simpler then it has been in years. I’ve downsized and
eliminated the major tangible and much of the intangible assets and
“stuff” that no longer serves me. I’m virtually out of debt.
I’ve evolved my definition of living free over the past few years.
So, what are my passions? I still have a passion for facets of the
audio and recording industry. I love to travel. I’ve been writing
all my life, but mainly for business. Now, I realize that I love
writing. I always loved teaching and helping others and speaking in
public is a continuing passion.
So, my new life allows me to do the
occasional audio project for a few, select clients who I enjoy
working with and gain personal enjoyment and fulfillment from. I have
personal audio and video projects I am pursuing. I’ve done
photography, often for business, so I can take pictures during my
travels and after careful selection, I can offer them for sale
through online image services. I’m blogging and writing books that
will ultimately be available through Amazon and other outlets. I can
conduct seminars, workshops and in depth retreats to teach, guide and
coach people in their quests to live free. And, my passion for travel
will take me across the U.S. and Canada by motor home as I do all of
the above.
Will any one of these avocations
provide an income adequate to sustain living free? I’m not counting
on it. However, I’ve reduced my overhead to approximately 20% of
what it was just three and a half years ago. I’ve reinvented my
lifestyle to enjoy living simply, frugally and as a minimalist. I’m
freer and happier then I’ve ever been. Thus, I fully expect the
income from these various avocations to provide all the income I need
with some left over for a “rainy day.”
Of course, there are some aspects of
pursuing these avocational pursuits that I’m not interested in
doing myself. You’ll probably feel the same. Maybe you won’t feel
comfortable with marketing or fulfillment. Perhaps you don’t want
to deal with the bookkeeping, accounting and finances. You may feel
inspired to create the ideas and designs for some product ideas, but
would prefer not to deal with the manufacturing and delivery of the
products. All of these can be resolved through partnering, virtual
assistants and outsourcing. Sure, there will be some cost involved,
but the most important part of an avocation is that you get to do
what you love, are passionate about, enjoy and are relaxed doing on a
schedule you establish.
This will not be accomplished
overnight. The process I’ve described in this step, just like the
other steps, is an ongoing process. As Lao Tzu said, “The journey
of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” I’ve managed to
find just about every way to complicate my life and imprison myself.
Unraveling this lifetime of detours and off-road trails is no easier
for me then it is for you. Perhaps, it’s even more difficult for
me. The most important thing is that if I can do it, you can do it.
Life is all about choices. You can choose to accept what you have and
where you are now. Or, you can choose to take another step toward
your dream of living free.
by Marsha Sinetar. After reading this book, I bought copies for
everyone I cared about. The second book is, 
by
Barbara Winter. I’ve also had the opportunity and privilege of
meeting and attending a workshop with Barbara. Barbara left the world
of the traditionally employed to follow her dream of being “joyfully
jobless.” Today she conducts seminars and workshops that provide
people with the tools they need to reinvent their lives.