Boundless #19: 🙃 Surprising self-employment upsides 1️⃣ spot left in digital learning experiment 🌠 Tony Triumph on carving his own path
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10 Surprising benefits of self-employment
There is a lot written with a fear mindset around the future of work about the crappy pay, the limits of contracting relationships and lack of a safety net for people who are self-employed. But a lot of research shows many people are much more satisfied with life despite these downsides. I tried to reflect on all the surprising upsides I've experienced from self-employment. This won't get clicks but I hope sheds some light on why people are carving different paths:
Here are the ten things I came up with:
#1 Doing things that matter with an “opportunity mindset”
#2 Being forced to define my own success
#3 Not Being In A Rush
#4 An escape from the inevitable insanity of corporate cultures
#5 Detaching from the self-importance of career and embracing vulnerability
#6 Instant connection & camaraderie
#7 Being able to “ramp down” my paid work
#8 Re-framing money
#9 Unlocking creative energy
#10 Healing & becoming a nicer person
To read the full essay => here
1 SPOT LEFT - Solopreneur Shift Digital Learning Experience
We have a great mix of people and I'm excited for this! If you are interested, lets chat today or tomorrow as I'l likely close the registration by Friday.
Alternative workers and full-time workers are more likely to agree with this statement
"I am increasingly looking for alternative ways to develop skills outside of traditional educational institutions"
More and more options outside of Academia are popping up. Seth Godin has his altMBA which is a 30 day alternative for $147,000 less than an MBA. Lambda school is offering free tuition to help you learn how to code and don't worry about paying them back unless you land a good job. My friend Jeff is bringing people to Guatemala for hands-on learning projects as part of his CareerX accelerator.
I have been doing a lot of 1-on-1 coaching over the last year of people who want to carve a different path and I have pulled these materials together as part of a four-week digital learning experience I am launching in July. This will be community-driven, hands-on and aim to help people who are curious about becoming self-employed, want to take their solo journey to the next level or even full-timers who want to change their mindset of how they think about work.
Learn More & Join The First Cohort
BoundlessPod - Tony Triumph on growing up entrepreneurial, moving to NYC with $300 and building incredible relationships
Tony grew up around entrepreneurs but did not use the label at the time. At age 19, he was going to college in Maryland and felt the pull to something bigger. He decided to move to New York City with $300 to his name and started modeling to pay the bills. He got a lot of pushback from the people in his life about the move but knew he had to take the leap. Despite many setbacks and almost running out of many several times, he kept his head down and stayed in the city, saying to himself “you cannot leave.”
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Support Boundless Through Micro-Donation
Since going out on my own, I have been averse to the idea of "building a business" and "monetizing" my work. I am driven by helping others and try to devote my energy to being generous and creative - wherever that takes me. When I create tools like the Freelance Target Income Calculator, I want to get it into as many hands as possible.
I have embraced Patreon as an experiment for people to support me in continuing to do this work. Think about it as Kickstarter for creators, but focused on supporting one's life.
If you want to offer a gift of $1 a month, I will blast your name at the top of the next e-mail!
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Tools! - WTF Do I Need To Make?
Over the last couple of weeks, I developed a "Freelance Target Income Calculator" that factors in self-employment taxes and taxes by State. I reverse engineered the taxes to determine estimated tax ranges for the post-tax income, which took a bit of excel Ninja work. This should help you get a rough estimate for the question "wtf do I need to make to afford this life?" Please share widely!
Download excel tool => Here
#ICYMI - Links, articles, and content from past weeks
Writing
Podcast Episodes:
Rohan Rajiv on 3500+ daily blog posts
Luke Kanies on his journey from commune to CEO and why people hate working for big companies
Candace Moore on building a global yoga brand
Stephen Warley on self employment & the future of work
Nita Baum on how to be "free" and self-employed (Episode 18)
Damien Peters, financial blogger, on building a remote business from Spain (Episode 16)
Connor Gillivan on entrepreneurship, selling on Amazon and working with freelancers (Episode 15)
Jen Morilla on breaking plates and traveling the world with purpose (Episode 14)
Romy Rost on leadership, freelancing & coaching as a skill (Episode 13)
Tanya Alvarez on resilience, entrepreneurship & community (Episode 12)
Pauri Pandian – Tennis as a career, coaching & healthy masculinity (Episode 11)
Free Tools:
Career Transition Playbook: A 50+ page workbook that will help you take action on a massive change in your career and your direction