Funding My Dreams

In the previous post, I outlined 8 goals that define what I want to do with the time I have remaining. Each goal requires funding, however goals 1, 3 and 8 require funding beyond what my current income and benefits support. Subsequently I need more. But how does one earn extra income, or, more precisely, improve income levels to the point where they suffice to meet one's goals? I've asked this question many times. Unfortunately, my answers have not yet yielded the results I'm looking for. In my quest, I have investigated a number of ways, from working a second job to monetizing a blog. Each has had only modest success. 

Working a second job reliably provided additional income. But investing time in a pursuit I didn't particularly care for, left me physically drained with little to show for it. Monetizing a blog gave me the opportunity to learn much about building websites and quite a bit about using the Internet to market a service. I enjoy crafting sites and managed to build a number of them for clients. But I failed to successfully leverage that experience. What I did learn, however, is that the Net is the most powerful marketing medium ever invented. And, how I go about leveraging that medium to make money is what really matters now.

In the past, I followed the advice of pundits who offered strategies to drive traffic to my blog then capitalize on that traffic with clever content and advertisements. After spending a small fortune on this online marketing 'education', I realized that unless I drove thousands, possibly millions of people to my blog, I wouldn't succeed. It wasn't that their strategies were wrong, I was trying to peddle information in a saturated niche that had plenty of people trying to do the same thing.

After additional research and conversations with many successful Net entrepreneurs, I know now that what I should have been doing is either selling my own product or someone else's.

Middle-Aged Reboot

I've had an interesting life so far: good beginnings in Winston-Salem, a good family, an excellent education and a few extraordinary experiences. I'm a father and have been married once.

I am old enough to remember Sputnik, segregation in the U.S., Muhammad Ali in his prime and when Beirut was called the 'Paris of the Middle East'. I am young enough to understand the value of social media and still believe that I can make a difference.

Along the way, I've developed deep interests in information design, visual communication, history, culture, travel and try to combine to combine those things as often as possible. I've worked in healthcare IT, web design and shipping. I currently earn my keep with a part-time supervisor's job at UPS Worldport and as a part-time web consultant based in Louisville, Kentucky, US.

Even though I've had a good life to this point, it would be a stretch to say that I'm happy. There are many things that I could have done and done better. But rather than belabor missed opportunities or my shortcomings, I'd rather be optimistic. So I focus on what I can do to improve.

I call it 'Middle-Aged Reboot'. I guess you could say that I am conducting experiments in lifestyle design.

In 'rebooting', I do much to increase my personal energy levels. I eat better now, exercise a little and read (and write) a lot. I try to sleep as much as possible but that's difficult when you earn your primary income at night. When managed well, these go a long way to keep my mind-body fit and functioning. Most importantly, I surround myself with culturally diverse, tolerant, energetic and honest people. Nothing drains me faster than monolithic, selfish people without integrity.
 

I work to increase my energy because I value my life and, at 58, still imagine what it might become. What I attempt takes energy and foresight…so I have a plan. Eighteen months ago, I put together 8 goals…things I’d like to accomplish before I die, G-d willing. It wasn’t easy to uncover them or easy to orient to new habits. But my life revolves around them now. Without getting too deep yet into the whys of seeking change, for now I’ll tell you the change I seek.

1. Find my genetic history. I am of African descent, but from where?
2. Become agile again. Requires core strength, flexibility and good nutrition.
3. Build a portable income to experience at least a year as a digital nomad and travel the world again.
4. NEVER retire, happily working until I die.
5. Mentor more young people, including my son, Benjamin.
6. Replace my amalgam fillings. Mercury is poisonous, you know.
7. Father another child. A stretch, but may require living in a culture that respects aging.
8. Create an institution to survive my death.

Each of these requires commitment and funding. The stories that follow, chronicle just how I'm doing with both.