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Diversify…Really?

 

It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket. — Elon Musk

It sounds oxymoronic but the fad in the personal finance industry is to promote diversification.

Ironically, most of us are really bad at diversification as we rely on one source of income for our way of life — a job.

The notion that diversification only applies to your finances and investment in your 401(k) is insidious unless your focus shifts from relying on your income from a JOB to sustain lifestyle.

How about retirement? More than 60% of seniors rely heavily on Social Security income and over 43% seniors would end up living below poverty level without Social Security income. And the picture looks bleaker for the future retirees as the ratio of people working to those who have retired has been shrinking rapidly.

This fact alone is a wake up call for all of us to diversify our income sources.

I am not insinuating that you quit job tomorrow and start 10 different businesses. If you can then that’s awesome but most of us can’t.

Instead, use your job to create diversified stream of income. It seems like a tall order and easy said than done cliche but it is absolutely doable if you put all your eggs in one basket and watch it like a hawk.

Passion:

I hope that you get excited to wake up and tap dance to your job. If that’s not the case then rest of what I suggest is a pipe dream. Passion is the fire that gives birth to ideas and ideas create multiple sources of income.

Be passionate to the point that it become an addiction. I am serious!

Phil Ebiner admits that he has an addiction to online teaching. When he first found Udemy in 2012, he would work at his full-time video production job then come home and spend six to eight hours working on Udemy course development. Using his video production skill, Phil now makes $5-10K per month extra. Not bad!

The idea to work on things that excite you is simple — by doing what you love spawns an idea mill subconsciously. And ideas are the new currency!

Help Others:

The natural tendency in a capitalist society is to have your interest at heart first. And there is nothing wrong to be rewarded for your hard work. But often you can benefit more when you selflessly give ideas to others and help others with your core skills.

Google is a perfect example. When you need help to find best sources for your area of interest, Google shows you best sources so next time when you need more help, who are you going to trust? Of course, Google!

Become Google in your field and there won’t be dearth of opportunities to create additional sources of income. Someone may reach out to you to build the product that requires your skills and you may be able to sell it for millions!! Just kidding but it is possible. Nonetheless, opportunities will knock your doors and you may be able to create a decent stream of income from it.

The other benefit of helping other is to earn social reputation; with the reputation, you won’t need your résumé to sell your skill; instead, your reputation will shed light on your unique talent and passion only to open more doors of opportunities.

Perseverance:

If passion is fire, perseverance is fuel that keeps flame of passion in your subconscious mind. Rome wasn’t built in a day. But if job is the only income you have today then you can wait for next 3-6 months before you give birth to first additional stream of income. And once you fall in love with your first newborn, you will be more passionate to have additional ones!

By molding ideas around what you are passionate about and around your best skills, you will not only create additional stream of incomes around your core talent but also make you an invaluable asset for the company you work for.

Believe me, it’s worth trying!

-Shilpan

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