When you’re up to your eyeballs in debt, and stuck in a job you hate just to pay the bills, living your passion can seem like something that will never happen. Believe me, I’ve been there. Five years ago, I was sinking in over $40,000 of debt and more payments than paychecks.
I wanted to be a movie director, but with all the work I had to do just to service my debt, I couldn’t even think of it. It took creativity, hard work, and the plan I am about to present to you to get me to Hollywood.
The All-or-Nothing Plan
If you are a creative type who wants to make it in your chosen field, you have two choices. 1) The all-or-nothing plan, or 2) My roadmap.
The all-or-nothing plan involves diving into your creative passion without thinking about where you are going to get the money to pay your bills. If you want to be a musician, you just play music and hope that someone will pay you to do so. If you want to be an actor, you just act.
The problem with this approach is that most people in creative fields don’t start making money for a very long time after they have started. This can mean a wall of debt and utter misery.
I can’t tell you how many starving artists I met when I worked in the restaurant industry. They’ve all got the same story. They just want to create, but no one is paying for their creativity. The more debt they build, the more they have to work, and the less they can create.
My Roadmap
This isn’t a get rich quick plan. It takes a lot of hard work in addition to creativity in order to succeed. It might be years before you can actually start to live your passion.
The good news is that if you follow the plan, you will eventually be able to practice your passion whether someone is paying you or not! You can spin your wheels forever in the all-or-nothing plan, or you can guarantee yourself eventual happiness by preparing for your future.
The other nice benefit is that you will be building long-term wealth and multiple income streams that will provide you with abundance for the rest of your life!
The examples I use below are just one way this scenario might unfold, but the possibilities are endless. I assume that you want to be a movie director, but you could substitute any creative passion that suits you.
Stage 1
If you are like most people in North America, you are starting off in this stage. You spend most of your waking hours working a job that doesn’t even cover your expenses, and make up for the gap with credit cards. Since you are spending more than you make month after month, I don’t have to tell you that this is a recipe for disaster.
In the diagram below, the left axis represents how much money you make. The taller the rectangle, the more that activity makes.
There is a red line that crosses this axis about 2/3 of the way up. This is the cost of living line. It represents the amount of money you need to pay your bills, feed, clothe, and entertain yourself.
The bottom axis represents all of your available time in any given month. If a rectangle were as wide as the entire axis, that would mean it takes up all of your time. If it is skinny, it doesn’t take much time.
To get out of stage 1, you have two options: 1. Lower your expenses, or 2. Increase your income.
The most powerful of the two is lowering your expenses because it frees you from needing to work for money. If your ultimate goal is to live your passion, you need to get rid of any obstacle in your way. Most creative passions don’t pay much at first, so you can’t be spending all of your time trying to make money to pay for your lifestyle.
Either way, it will require what I call the crowbar, which is a short burst of energy that gets you from one level to the next. In this case, it means sacrificing for a couple of months by living without a few luxuries and working in your spare time.
Increase your income by taking on overtime or a part time job. You can do it, it’s only until you can pay off enough debt to get your expenses below your income line.
Lowering expenses is easy, most people just don’t want to do it. Think of all the excess you could live without for a little while until you got your life under control. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Get rid of your new car that is costing you several hundred dollars a month and trade it in for an old car that is paid for.
2. Go without Cable TV/High Speed Internet/Home Phone Service for a year. When I did, I didn’t even miss it.
3. Sell one car and share with your spouse/partner. My girlfriend and I have lived with one car for two years now.
4. Get Blockbuster Online or Netflix instead of going out. $15 a month could save you a ton at the bar or buying theatre popcorn.
5. Sell anything you don’t need on eBay and use the money to pay down credit cards.
Stage 2
Getting here is an accomplishment in itself. Pat yourself on the back. You are no longer heading for bankruptcy! Now that you are making more than you spend, you have a new freedom that you didn’t have before. You’ll have to decide what to do with the extra money.
Now you can concentrate on getting rid of that job you hate; but first, you’ll have to build up some extra income to give you the padding you need to take a more exciting, but less paying job.
In this stage, you use the extra money you are making above your cost of living and put it into income-producing assets. Ideally, these assets will require a low amount of maintenance after the initial crowbar.
Stage 3
This is where it starts to get exciting. You have built up enough monthly income flowing from your income-producing assets that you can quit that awful job and do something that you actually care about. Maybe you were making $25 an hour shipping boxes around town, but you really want to be in the movie business. Since most entry-level movie jobs are basically minimum wage or less, you could never make this leap until this moment.
Instead of getting a job, you get a trade. A trade is a job within the field of your passion. You might work for someone who is doing what you want to eventually do. By doing this, you are gaining special skills that you will use to build your passion.
You take a minimum wage job getting coffee for a movie producer which doesn’t sound that great, but is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done. You get to be on set, where the magic is made, things get blown up, and the stars live. The information that you are absorbing is priceless compared to your meager salary. (If you really are interested in the movie biz, read How to Break Into the Film Industry.)
Best of all, your new trade only takes up 60% of your time instead of 80%. Movie jobs only last a few months. You choose to take a month off between each job to relax and get your passion cooking.
In your down time, you take a little bit of the money you are making over your cost of living and put it into your passion. Maybe you have a movie idea of your own. You buy a little DV camera and get a few friends together to shoot some shorts.
You spend that extra time shopping around your work at film festivals and shooting more work. You put some clips on Revver.com and start to get a trickle of income.
The movie business is tough work, but you’ve got the time and the energy. This stream of income is much harder to grow than your bulk candy vending business, but it’s worth it because it’s your passion.
Stage 4
This stage is every creative person’s dream. When your income-producing assets plus your now part-time trade are kicking off enough income to cover your cost of living, you are almost financially free. You have enough flexibility to work your passion full time and reduce your trade to part time. You have the freedom to create your art the way you want it because you are not depending on it for money.
Stage 5
The ultimate stage is when both your income and your passion individually cover your cost of living. You have an abundance of money and you have multiple streams protecting you in case one dries up.
In my life, I am personally at stage 3. It took me three years to move through stage 1 and 2. I’ve written quite a bit about the different forms of extra income that I am involved in.
My trade is working in the film industry. I have worked on several movies, and currently I am producing behind-the-scenes podcasts for Nickelodeon. I’ll be sure to show you when Nick releases them to the public!
I am a firm example that it can be done. I have more freedom now than I ever have before. I have the comfort of knowing that no matter what happens to my film career, my financial future is secure. That comfort gives me the freedom to create work that is my own.
I hope this roadmap has helped you. If you are already at the higher stages, congratulations! You are the type of person we all could learn from.
Good luck on your journey!
Damn fine post youve got here. And thanks for the link about vending machines I have been wanting to learn more about this business.
Also, I agree that you should invest in what you love. Did you ever become late on your accounts? Sometimes I think people are not like you—they would rather forget a debt–then handle it straight up.
80% work seems high.
[…] with money, but also offer tons of step by step advice on finding a new path out of debt (like this excellent article by Brian of Geniustypes), finding additional income streams and changing how we view money. […]
Fantastic ,great information thank you and I for one have learned a lot that I can use too,Well done! For online success this other site giving away a free cd on creating Marketing Roadmaps and how to do it, check it out Marketing Roadmap
Hi Brian,
Think I have read just about all of your articles so far, and been recieving your mailers since around September, hoping to find more ideas that can help move us further down this road.
Having done stage 1… like most people, we have been making some good progress in what I guess is stage 2 of your roadmap, doing the obvious stuff like cutting back where possible and beginning to invest in things for the home that further reduce our outgoings.
The way I’m looking at it, investing in small things like energy saving bulbs, and gradually building up to larger things like our wood burning stove all help to increase the amount of money above our ‘cost of living’ line, that can then overflow into other diversified investments, be they solar panels, stocks or gumball machines. It’s just another alternative to getting a second job, or where overtime is not an option. Just remember to pay yourself.
Either way is good to provide that buffer ready for stage 3, whether entering stage 3 is a concious choice or a result of other factors in todays climate 🙂
Looking forward to your future posts, and any other great ideas people may have to share.
I largely agree with the road map. Yet we must also endeavor to live within our means.
This is an excellent post, I hate 9-5 and love to create, very inspiring and love the graphs, well done! Thank you.
[…] Types: A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion. It takes a lot of hard work, but this article provides a 5-stage roadmap to getting to where you […]
A really great and useful article.
The way you think is really impressive.A person have to stop for a while and create his dream in the canvass of his mind. Remain here until you figure out what your dream is.This is such a great article that people will love to read again and again.
As you begin to excel in doing what you love, excellence will position you where money will find you. Do no give in to the temptation to follow a short cut to financial freedom. Simply discover yourself and use your head to follow your heart. The rest will become history.
I like the way you think, Ed.
In Stage 1 #4: Better yet, skip Blockbuster and use the local public library. At mine, I get to reserve movies online, and when they show up, I get an email telling me they are holding it. The $5 a year I pay in late fees, is well worth it.
An excellent article! Got tons of useful information here.
A person have to stop for a while and create his dream in the canvass of his mind. Remain here until you figure out what your dream is. Imprint this image in the canvass of your mind, and never let it go away. But of course you have to put it in reality.
Hey Denis.. Thanks for the great comments!
Excellent article Brian! I’m probably about another 2 years from moving to stage 3 and can’t wait.
Keep up the good work
Thanks for the tip, Ton! I’ll put that on my list.
The stuff on this web site is really witty and cool wise
Brian,
This is an excellent piece of work in that it outlines and reassures us that there is a practical way forward for the dilemmas that cofront us. I particullarly liked the treatment of the lower paying higher value earned income section as it is in line with the necessary mindset change to passive income.
[…] A Roadmap From Debt To Living Your Passion by Brian Lee […]
Excellent article! its about time that we free people from the corporate trap and let them live!
I would like to add that anyone can start his or her own website at a very low cost and turn that into money generating machine, its very hard work but it just might pay off in the long run
I love the graphics and the simply way you presented this. I think more people would understand if they saw it this way. May I share it with my readers?
[…] Have a look how to change your life from 80% work to 5% work and check it out here. […]
You have done a great job at explaining how to move towards the realization of your dreams. Well done!
[…] development as well. These are some of my favorites: See Money Differently to Attract More A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion Rebuttals for Ten Reasons You Think You Need a Credit Card Passive Income Five Ways to Create […]
Brilliant! Straight to my bookmarks! I’m a visual learner and the diagrams really get the message across.
love your post.
wisdomofgettingwealthy.com
Thanks, May!
[…] Types: A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion. It takes a lot of hard work, but this article provides a 5-stage roadmap to getting to where you […]
[…] I don’t use it for art very often any more, but it comes in handy for sketching graphs like those in A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion. […]
Awesome post Brian! I’ve never heard the process explained quite this way before. You’ve managed to put some insightful perspective on it, and a unique spin that helps it really sink in a make sense. Personally, I’m at stage 2 and have been for many years.
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Money is an un-tangible idea, we can just print more.
Personal Development Radar – 24/02/2007…
Hi everyone, and welcome to this week’s edition of Personal Development Radar!
……
A good job at planning for the future. It may require a lot of time. But think of the end result. There’s nothing like living your dream.
Great post. I’m thinking of trying the automated Ebay business. What products have you found to work the best?
I started by cleaning out my closet and selling anything I could live without. Doing this gives you an idea of what things will go for.
Right now, I have a deal with a screen printer and I am trying to sell T-shirts. There is a ton of competition, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Steve Olson’s wife sells books. There is a section on eBay called “Wholesale Lots” where you can buy stuff in quantity and sell it individually for a profit.
The idea is to find one product, make the listing and automate the process as much as possible. All the work is in the setup.
Hey Brian,
Great writeup, you make some excellent points. Love reading your stuff.
I like your focus on passive income – that’s what we’re always focused on as well.
Congratulations on the Nickelodeon gig, that’s big time.
It’s interesting… the major video sharing sites – YouTube, Google Video, Netscape Video, MySpace Video are always looking for content. I think these places are a great opportunity for “getting discovered” while pursuing something that you are truly passionate about.
Have an awesome day!
Dan
it just….makes me ill. haha. My dad used to say that he’d quit jobs when people started to irritate him at work, saying that people were giving him a headache; so that meant that he was ill and was unable to work. Maybe I’ll try that today. Anyway, read this blog over at geniustypes.com. Really made me stop and think about all that. [IMG] Update: the pregnant women are now talking about tanktops and boobs. [IMG] And I’ll end with a conversation I had at Pizza Hut the other day
INTERESTING POSTS How To Learn How To Learn by Brian Kim 5 Simple Ways To Make The Most Of Your Intelligence by John Wesley 5 Reasons Why Relationships Should Be Your Top Priority by Donald Latumahina A Roadmap From Debt To Living Your Passion by Brian Lee Lessons Learned From 30 Days of the Lucid Dreaming by Alvin Soon That’s all I’ve got for you today! Let me know what you like about the Radar, and what you would like to see in future editions.
Craig Harper: The Art of Completion. Don’t start something you can’t or won’t finish. Change Your Thoughts: Breaking Through Your Goal Barriers. Gives you the “Breakthrough Method of Achieving”.Genius Types: A Roadmap from Debt to Living Your Passion. It takes a lot of hard work, but this article provides a 5-stage roadmap to getting to where you really want to be.Scott H. Young: Set Worthy Challenges. Difficult goals inspire more action than modest ones.