The Online Investing AI Blog

John Grogan was a hard-working writer.

He rose up through the ranks of journalists, winning lots of awards and recognition. The pay wasn’t bad either–by journalist standards. But it certainly wasn’t enough to fund his real dreams–those aspirations that bubbled under the surface. The ones that his friends and families probably rolled their eyes when he mentioned. The ones that “didn’t pay.”

John wasn’t deterred, though.

John worked hard and wrote a tale about his attention-deficit dog, Marley. The book–Marley and Me–and the movie based on the book became blockbusters and the financial freedom opened up new career paths for the writer, including his dream of becoming an editor of an organic gardening magazine.

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Dreams Come True, Money, Online Investing AI, Success aspiration, dream, employment, inspiration, job, John Grogan, marley and me, work

PBA World Championship

Last Christmas, Tom Smallwood found himself in a position that millions of Americans are now facing.

After years of loyalty and hard work, he was laid off from the General Motors plant. That was bad enough, but the layoffs timing–right before Christmas–was just salt in the wound. He quickly applied for conventional jobs, but never heard back from the companies.

Tom, his wife, and his young daughter faced an uncertain future.

But Tom had a  secret weapon: bowling.

Tom believed he was a good bowler; he even won a few local tournaments. With his wife’s blessing, he tried out for the Pro Bowler’s tour. And made it!

Then he won a major tournament. Tom pocketed $50,000 during a championship match–making more in a single event than he ever earned in a year working at a conventional job.

So, if you’re laid-off, or worried that you will be laid-off, just remember: you can always bowl. At least in the allegorical sense. Maybe you can’t bowl, but, like Tom, you have talents and knowledge that can generate new careers and new sources of income.

You can even follow Tom’s method:

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Dreams Come True, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy bowling, dreams, financial freedom, hobbies, job, jobless, part-time, unemployment

Flickr (Creative Commons)

You have to wonder sometimes: do you think the guy who tests rides at Disney World wakes up and says, “Crap… It’s Monday… I have to ride the friggin’ roller coaster.”?

Does the staff photographer at Playboy say, “Stupid 8 a.m. photo shoots,” when his alarm clock rings?

Wonder if the buyer for Macy’s gets up on Monday and thinks to herself, “I can’t believe I have to buy all those purses.”

It wouldn’t surprise me.

The bureaucracy and office politics of the workplace can suck the fun out of the most creative, most meaningful work, turning it into… a job. And jobs are full of micromanagers, non-existent managers, backstabbers, risk averters, and the ilk who seek to commoditize inspiration and who turn the thing you were born to do into the thing you are bored to do.

Fortunately, technology and new business models offer us radical options. The world can be your workplace. You can even keep your current job while you experiment with some of the following options, designed to refresh your inspiration and give you an opportunity to transform your job back into your passion.

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Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Internet, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy boss, consult, freelance, fun, job, mission, nine to five, occupation, Success, work, writing

Mondays stink.

Unless, of course, you develop residual streams of income. Then, Monday is just another day to earn money.

Residual income is derived from products and services that you work on once and they continue to generate income–perpetually. The internet has opened up more residual income streams than ever. Before, rent and royalties were about the only types of residual income stream available to the common person.

New residual income products and services include:

• eBooks
• Affiliate sales
• Blogs
• Web advertising
• Contextual ads
• Invention royalties
• Video and podcasting seminars

And there are a lot more. To learn more, you can check out the following sites, all of which specialize–in one form or another–in the creation of residual income.

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Business Strategy, Internet, Money, Online Investing AI, Success blogs, ebooks, freedom, job, monday, Money, personal finance, personal financial freedom, residual income, royalties, wealth singularity, work

This week I went to hear Dan Pink (of Johnny Bunko fame) share his ideas about motivation. It was actually the first time I ever heard a writer give a talk. It was pretty interesting. I guess Dan enjoys it because loves connecting with his readers. He even answers my emails!

Dan Pink at TED

In his talk, he shared with us his big idea about motivation, the subject of his new book Drive. He says that motivation can be broken down into 3 levels:

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Business Strategy, Great Books, Success carrot and stick, dan pink, drive, employer, job, motivation, purpose, Success, TED

Amazing photo by Zara @ Flickr

Despite the prodding of Tim Ferriss and Jonathan Fields, some folks don’t feel comfortable about quitting their day jobs, starting their own businesses, and traveling to Thailand to learn Thai stick fighting techniques.

We even talk about escaping the cubicle life.

That’s cool.

But the one thing that is true in the Wealth Singularity and the thing that drives us to create advanced Automated Trading technology is that lifestyle design is lifestyle design. You don’t have to shed your job. You don’t have to travel to exotic locales. You don’t have to become an Internet marketer.

You approach life on your terms and no one else’s.

If you’re ready to move toward lifestyle design, but aren’t prepared to dive in head-first, here’s a way to test your lifestyle design skills without a lot of risk.

I call it the 10 percent self-employment solution. Here’s how it works:

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Accelerating Technology, Online Investing AI employment, financial, Investing, job, jobless, Money, personal freedom, saving, unemployment, wealth singularity

Now is the time to make the time,
Hope is still in sight.
Let us not go gently,
To the endless winter night.

– Rush, Red Tide

I don’t know about you, but I love to plan. Plan the day, the month, and most importantly, the year. Most people are running around shopping like crazy, but I think now is the most important time to stop, think, and plan.

The end of the year is a great time to evaluate this year, and think about what we want to happen for next year. I like to ask myself the following questions:

Am I better off now than at the beginning of this year in the following categories:

• financially
• emotionally
• with respect to my relationships
• with my body and health
• in my career or business

If I have one most important goal in life, what would it be? How much progress did I make toward it this year?

Here are some more questions that are great to ask:

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Accelerating Technology, Dreams Come True, Success goals, happiness, health, holidays, job, planning, Success, work

Frozen Economy by lrargerich @ Flickr

The Fed’s Beige Book business survey, which reported that the economy is improving “modestly” the last few weeks. (You can read a report on the Beige Book at Forbes.)

The survey looks at economic condition in 12 markets. A total of eight of those markets are starting to show signs of increased economic activity.

That’s a little silver lining. The report also indicates that hiring remains weak and may not reach past levels in six to eight years.

That’s right: six to eight YEARS.

“But wait,” I hear you say, “I thought you said there was a silver lining. People losing their jobs and struggling to find work isn’t good news.”

You’re right. It’s not good news. At all. But, bear with me, because there is positive news in this trend.

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Business Strategy, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy beige book, economy, fed, job, jobs, reserve, unemployment, work

AndYaDontStop @ Flickr

There are more than 6 million people looking for work. The rest are looking at work and seeking signs that their job is safe.

The truth is that no job is safe. Jobs will become less safe because the confidence in the economy has crumbled and business leaders have become business leaners, hanging back and trying to predict the next move instead of driving that move.

That attitude is a  business disaster-in-the-making as the winds of creative destruction begin to turn into a hurricane-force gale, tossing non-performing companies into the dustbin of economic history.

Your job leaders will never tell you that they’re worried about the future and warn you to begin looking at other employment options. But you can tell it’s going to happen.

It’s called organizational panic. In the individual, you can see signs of panic. Sweat. Fingernail chewing. Shaking. Screaming. An organization is different. You have to look for other signs.

Here are some signs that panic has set in at your place of work.

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Business Strategy, Money, Online Investing AI, US Economy economy, employment, job, occupation, organizational panic, panic, unemployment, work, workplace

R. S. @Flickr

The official unemployment rate bounded above 10 percent recently.

But, that’s the official rate. Some economists say that rate is deliberately doctored to make it sound better for politicians who earn their keep by promising us prosperity and endless economic opportunities. These economists say the rate is closer to 17 percent.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re one of the 10 percent, or one of the 17 percent, if you were cut from your job, you’re going through some financial and emotional upheaval. This sense of chaos and loss can lead to depression.

But, like any challenge, it can be the trigger for positive change that can create stunning success. Here are some tips to beat the unemployment blues and make this a situation that leads to real, honest change for the better.

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Dreams Come True, Great Books, Money, Online Investing AI, US Economy blues, depression, happy, inspiration, job, job loss, unemployment