Saturday, January 17, 2009

Engineering 101.


Last year, my life was all about finding balance. Toward the end of the year I fell into a state of not having any particular goals or direction, which bothered me because I have never NOT had goals before. I've been working on my goals for about a week and a half now (sometimes takes a whole month), and I'm starting to feel like what I really need is a lifestyle makeover. I've already started to outsource whatever I can (as much as I can afford, anyway), and the way that I think is changing. The following may sound crazy, but stick with me & let me know what you think:

From an early age we are taught that we should work hard and that our hard work will be rewarded. So we do. Work hard. I believed that, but now I'm not so sure.

I'm not advocating laziness, but why do we have to work hard? Can't we just plan to work smart and be prepared to work hard only if we have to? For example: can we delegate as much of the stuff that we don't want to do to people who are willing to do it, and free ourselves up to do work that we love so much that it doesn't actually feel like work? Those are things you'll probably be better at anyway, as well as put in more time because it feels like play. There are people who love to clean. If you hate cleaning, why not hire someone to clean and you do whatever it is you do (that makes you money) and pay them a portion. You've bought back your time, enjoyed it, and shared the wealth.

These thoughts are in infancy in my head right now, so I don't have any answers, but I'm doing some engineering on my own life, and if you have thoughts (even if you think I'm a lazy bum), please feel free to share. I would like to hear other perspectives.


--Nicole

4 comments:

  1. I say go for it! This is what that book the 4 hour workweek talks about. Outsource as much as you can girl. Don't work harder than you have to. :-)

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  2. It's amazing how much stuff we hold as 'truth' only to end up as miserable as the person who told it to us in he first place. Trying to hang on to $$ is noble, but true wealth=money and time at the same time.

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  3. Sounds like a great idea. I've heard people talk about this but have yet to figure out how to get a salary for some of the things I really enjoy... Back to work tomorrow morning... Best of luck. I hope it works for you. If so, ket us in on the secret of how to actually do this.

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  4. Heike--

    I definitely will. I have already hired a marketing person, I am making sure my reps have the tools they need in order to represent me to their best abilities, I hired someone to clean my apt. (stressed me the heck out), and I may start dropping off my laundry somewhere. I'm also looking into "automating" my postcarding. What am I going to do with all of this free time?? HOPEFULLY audition more, work out more, write, and produce some of the projects that I've already written.

    I'm also focusing on paying off the few debts I have so that I am not in bondage to debtors, and can afford to live better on less money.

    Stay tuned - y'all have a front row seat to this experiment...

    (Are you from Chicago by any chance? My little sister had a friend named "Heike" and that's not a name I hear a lot.)

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