31: Work...The Turning Point

This level of The Hero’s Journey is called “The Turning Point”. We’ve all been here before. This is the moment when you actualize something new in your life. For example, if you’ve ever picked up a new sport and struggled at it for a while, then after practice you starting getting pretty good. Then, one day -- all your hard work pays off and you’re no longer mediocre. You’re actually pretty good at it. That’s The Turning Point. It’s the moment when you become solidified in your new role. In other words, there’s no turning back now. In The Goonies, for instance, it’s when they are so far already on the treasure hunt that they can’t turn back. For Neo in The Matrix, it’s when he chooses the red pill over the blue pill. He is no longer in ignorance and see’s a whole new reality. It’s impossible for him to go back to his old belief system. I know that, for a lot of people that I’ve interviewed, a turning point for them was when they saw the lack of freedom they had in their career. There’s a whole new movement in the future of work. The key element? Freedom. Here are three examples of ways you can experience more freedom in your work. Once you taste the freedom, there’s no turning back. By freedom, what I mean is that you build your work around your lifestyle, instead of the other way around. Traditionally, we’ve all worked jobs and then built our lives around it. I know when I was graduating from college, a lot of my family members gave me advice like, make sure you choose a job that supports the kind of life you want to live. Which, I guess is good advice, but I haven’t met too many people who work 9-5 that wouldn’t want more freedom to choose when they work. Now, because of the internet and global connections, the 9-5 is becoming moot. 1. Digital Nomads. There is an almost underground clique of people who are called digital nomads. They travel the world and work from where ever there is a wi-fi signal. At the beginning, most were website designers who contracted out their work to overseas clients. Now, I’ve met digital nomads who podcast, write, create courses, create online products, conduct virtual training sessions, run Etsy shops, and the list goes on. 2. Freelancers. There are also those who don’t travel, but work full-time as a freelancer. And here’s why. Traditionally, most people work for one employer and get one pay check. That’s okay until you are let go from that job. You’re then left without the money you need to survive. Freelancers have flipped this upside down and shown me that if you have a skill, you can market that skill to potential clients. Whatever your skill is, you can then have a portfolio of clients. Say you have 10 clients for instance and one contract ends or you end up losing that client for one reason or another. If that happens, you still have 9 more paychecks coming in. Now, that sounds like pretty good job security to me. 1.Entrepreneurs. It’s pretty incredible how someone can make money these days. I just interviewed Jason Zook and this guy has made money doing things like selling each page of his book to a sponsor or offering a company to buy his last name. He’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever met. One great benefit for many is that in the future of work since you can make money so many ways, it’s possible to bring your most creative desire and turn it into a profitable income. That’s incredible