Long time listener...

[jruberto]

...first time caller. Hi all!

I've been self-employed for about 6 years and haven't looked back. I find a lot of inspiration and validation on the blog here. If you haven't, I'd recommend checking out the recent "How to Make Lots of Money During a Recession" article. While it meanders around the topic, it's a pretty great summary of some of the strategies and ideals that can lead to a successful journey, especially the "A Value-Centered Career" part where you really need to make a non-ego based, honest assessment if you are creating real value or not.

I have disbelieved the family-instilled, culturally ubiquitous notion of "get a good job and you will be happy" since I finished college, but it did take me a good ten years to gain the courage and insight to really go for it. To my credit, I did have a really great job with a small family owned software company where I quickly earned a senior position and did enjoy some of the benefits of business ownership, but that only stoked the fire more. I currently make substantially less than the near-six-figure salary I made at the time, but I am much more in control of my destiny.

It took a long time to ditch the ego and emotional attachments to money, even though I have always been more focused on "the work" itself. I have structured my life such that I can be very comfortable with a pretty meager income; so when the big windfalls do occur it is pure profit (and joy) and frankly, I use that money to buy more equipment, books, materials and other things which increase my ability to do my work better and faster.

Not that its all sunny... Reliance on self requires some pretty intense personal work: an ability to objectively assess yourself, the discipline to not get lazy when you have a big pile of money in the bank, the ability to manage emotions, to communicate wants and needs clearly and without reservation... all things that do not come free.

Such investment in self has led me to new levels of competency and confidence, which has led me to bigger and better gigs, which continues to be an upward spiral of making more money overall, getting even better at my trade, being able to be more choosy about who I partner with, and getting better hourly rates. I use the better rates not to make more money, but actually to "work" less and spend more time on my projects. If I bill 10 or 12 hours a week, I am golden.

This, I suspect, is why all the people around me constantly mention that I seem like I'm so happy all the time. I hope we all can experience some of this.

Cheers,
j