Doing Something With Nothing

It seems I've morphed into the sounding board for friends taking giant leaps as they depart from the 9-to-5 towards the great unknown. The first thing that I end up blurting out is this:

"Can you deal with moments of doing nothing?"


See, going freelance is pretty much like being an entrepreneur. You are your own industry, and you sell your most valuable commodity: time and talent. As with any business, there will be both peak and low seasons to deal with.

I noticed every freelancer has his own groove. Some start off with a bang, while others gain steady momentum at a laid-back pace. Once a project has been completed, depending if there's another job pending, there is that chance of a lag time. I find that the challenge of being freelance is minimizing that duration, or obliterating it completely by packing your schedule without spreading yourself too thin.

Off-hand, there are things that can serve as temporary solutions to the excruciating wait:

1. Explore other areas that are somewhat connected to your field.
Are you a contributing writer? If magazines are booked until the next issue, try doing some side-editing for a friend's small company. Going freelance means being very resourceful. Provided that you are not selling yourself short, know the limits of your own fees and keep in mind that there will be moments when no price is too small, especially since something is definitely better than nothing!

2. Build connections and use your chat time wisely.
If you find yourself stuck with lots of time in your hands, chat friends up online and bounce ideas off each other with potential projects. If you plan on going freelance, keep in mind that establishing yourself in a good network of friends and even former colleagues provide a great source of insight and potential leads. Make full use of your time and try to create something, even in your head, and see how you can make it fly. Nothing is impossible so even the most seemingly unattractive (or outrageous) venture could prove to be potentially lucrative.

3. Turn trash to cash.
That adage "one man's trash is another man's treasure" holds true for a friend who saw a dilapidated boat in its rusting and deplorable state. He bought the boat, had it torn apart and sold as scrap metal for over 20 times more than its original cost. This could also apply to someone who may turn down a project only to benefit someone else. If you are simply at home just whiling your time away and a friend offers to pay you less that your typical hourly rate to merely sit as a receptionist for less than half a day, I say go for it. Should you turn it down, someone else shall scoot over to do the job and make full use of the fees to pay for good meals for the weekend, one month's worth of mobile bills or housing dues.

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A Laundrywoman And Her Jaguar

For many years and for the most part of her life, Michelle* was a labandera (laundrywoman). She was born to a mother who also washed clothes for a living. Because of extreme poverty, only the eldest was able to finish school in a remote province while Michelle had to quit high school in her first year and help feed the family. Today, she drives her own Jaguar, owns a large home, a battalion of dogs and lives with a large household staff.

In my career, I meet the most amazing characters, people who all want to learn English for the most incredible reasons. Entering the room warily and dressed in the most expensive brands, she somberly told me during our class, "Ngayon na may pera na ako, iba na ang mga tao na kasama ko. Pero lahat sila, nagsasalita ng English at pag may party, wala akong maintindihan at nahihiya ako. Kaya hindi nalang ako lumalabas." (Now that I'm well-off, the people I encounter are different. But all of them speak English and when there's a gathering, I can't understand anything and... I am ashamed. That's why I don't bother going out.) There is evident self-pity as tears well-up in her eyes.

She began washing clothes as young as high school, charging P3/shirt at construction sites. She later on ventured into selling bananacue along Ayala Avenue. Suddenly her eyes sparkled, she straightened up a bit and beamed, "Alam mo, pag-tindera ka at nagbebenta ka sa Ayala, sikat ka! Hinding-hindi ko makakalimutan ang tuwa ko nung na-promote ako at binigyan ako ng bisikleta ng boss ko dahil marami akong benta." (You know, if you're a vendor selling stuff along Ayala, you're big-time! I will never forget the day when my boss promoted me and gave me a bicycle as a result of my sales.)

Michelle's life today is a result of hard work because she believed in a better life. She now runs a garment company while her husband, who was a construction worker, supplies large-scale services to construction sites. She did not marry into wealth. Instead, she and her husband created their wealth based on sheer faith using whatever strengths they had to move up one day at a time.

She studied English because she wanted to somewhat catch up on the classroom time she missed out on in her youth. Also, she wanted to be able to banter well with the people in her new-found circles. Towards our last few sessions, she would come into the room, smiling, and giving me updates in her best English.

I remember the last day we had as I asked her, "Michelle, one last thing. What advice can you give me so I can be as successful as you?"

She laughed, blushed then sighed, and her eyes started to moisten again as she spoke with intensity, "Ma'am, basta gawin mo ang lahat at wag ka lang titigil. Kung ako nga pinanganak na wala, nagawa ko ang lahat nang ito. Ikaw pa, pinanganak na meron. Wala kang dahilan para hindi umasenso." (Ma'am, just do it and don't stop. I grew up with nothing but was able to do all this. You, on the other hand, were born into so much more. You have absolutely no excuse for failure.)

The sheer simplicity of her advice is what also made it rather profound.

This, my dear friends, was the day when my attitude towards success took a sudden turn and life has been so much different ever since.

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Billionaire Drop-outs

Most of the people who work for these companies are likely to have a diploma.

Oddly, though, the people who founded them never had one.

"Some of history’s greatest companies were founded by drop-outs, including Kodak, Polaroid, Famous Amos, Disney, Ford, Learjet, Bank of America, Motown Records, Whole Foods, Domino’s, Apple Computer, Netscape, Microsoft, Polo, Jet Blue, Dunkin’ Donuts, NBC, KFC, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Holiday Inn and Rolling Stone Magazine."

Also, a lot of our most fundamental items were created by drop-outs.

"Many of the world’s greatest inventions were developed by drop-outs, including the television, radio, airplanes, cars, motion pictures, the incandescent light bulb, the car stereo tape deck, the gas mask, the traffic signal, earmuffs, the game of basketball, the sewing machine—and many more."

The people with immeasurable wealth never finished school either.

"America’s first millionaire, John Jacob Astor, was a high school drop-out. America’s first billionaire, John D Rockefeller Sr., was a high school drop-out. America’s richest college drop-out is Bill Gates. Asia’s richest resident, Li Ka-shing, is a high school drop-out. Argentina's sole billionaire, Gregorio Perez, worth $1.7 billion, is a high school dropout. Spain’s richest resident, Amancio Ortega, worth $14.8 billion, is a high school drop-out."

It's quite inspiring to hear how people achieved their dreams without excuses, without limitations.

Just putting it out there :)

Source: www.millionairedropouts.com

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