So many people are suffering under the same illusion that I suffered with for the first 35 years of my life… that the best way to achieve Financial Security is to:
- Get a degree from a good University, so you can
- Get a good job in a safe career (preferably one that offers a good pension scheme), and then
- Spend the rest of your working life doing whatever it takes to be a Good Employee, so that
- A salary payment drops into your bank account every month and you gradually pay off the mortgage.
Ha! Boy, did I learn the hard way this approach is based on a false belief… because a job is not necessarily as secure as you think.
In this blog, I’m going to demonstrate how untrue it is that Financial Security is found in a safe, secure job, by sharing my experience… and hopefully illustrate just what I was sacrificing by living life that way.
And how I have found a far better way to create ultimate life-long Financial Security, without sacrificing the best years of your life, and still be able to pay off the mortgage.
2015… the year that everything changed
I was chugging along in life, commuting every day in my open-top Porsche from my 2-bed luxury apartment in a fairly affluent part of the UK, where I lived alone, to my job running the Professional Services team for a reporting software company.
Life looked pretty sweet from the outside. I had more money than I knew what to do with…
…but no time to spend it doing what I really enjoyed (which is travelling to exotic and remote countries, taking photographs and mixing with people from all different backgrounds and cultures).
I’d been conditioned to believe Financial Security was the ultimate aim of adulthood… but pursuing it was costing me dearly
I’d always lived well within my means, squirrelling all my excess money away into a savings account to build up a safety net, just in case the Worst Happened. But even though I had a sizeable chunk of money tucked away, I couldn’t ever bring myself to spend it. I needed to know it was there to feel Financially Secure… to feel safe.
This need to feel Financially Secure was keeping me stuck. Every day was the same, going round and round the hamster wheel, working hard but not really living life… and each day, getting further away from living the life I dreamed of. Deep known I knew there had to be more to life than this mediocre existence.
But I was trapped. I worked full-time and my job was pretty full-on, both mentally and time-wise, so I didn’t have much time or energy to spare. And if I stopped working, or took time out to retrain, I wouldn’t be able to maintain the lifestyle I’d become accustomed to.
I considered taking a year’s sabbatical from work to go travelling (a friend of mine had recently done something similar). I knew it would do be good to get out of the rat race for a while, and spice things up a bit… but I was too afraid. That would mean a year of spending, to fund my travels while still paying the mortgage, but I wouldn’t be earning – that would put a huge dent in my Emergency Fund. It would take years to replenish it!
Plus, the risk of getting back to find I had no job, or was out of touch with the rapidly developing technologies felt too scary.
And besides, deep down what did I actually truly want? Really, what I wanted to was fall in love, get married and start a family. But that’s not something that money can buy, right? And surely I’d be better working on that at home, than wasting time gallivanting around the world…
I couldn’t see a way out.
I walked into work with a job, and came out unemployed
Then one sunny Tuesday in April 2015, the Worst did actually Happen – I went into work with a job, and came back without one. With no warning, I found myself a casualty of a round of cost-cutting in the company.
Immediately I sensed this was my chance to escape and break out of the loop that was keeping me stuck. Great! Halleluja!
But… now what?
I didn’t have the excuse of work sucking my time or energy any more. I’d already lost my income… and gained a whole bunch of time. I finally had the headspace to start thinking, and my Emergency Fund to support me for a little while, so I began opening my mind to explore new options that I would never have considered before.
The first thing I did was grant myself a modest budget to have some fun, and do some of the things I’d ‘always wanted to do’ but never made the time for (including trips to Scotland, Belgium, Germany, and a trip of a lifetime with my Dad to China…).
And after getting the travel bug out of my system, reality set in… “That was fun!” it said, “but let’s get real now. You can’t be gallivanting around like this for the rest of your life, Caroline!”
I point-blank refused to get another job. I’d already tried that before, that wouldn’t solve the problem… I would end up stuck in that same old loop again.
“But working as an employee is all I’ve ever known!” my inner voice screamed. It’s what everyone around me was doing, and it’s what I’d been trained for since I was 5 years old!
Seeing my Savings decreasing for the first time in my life, I couldn’t escape a feeling of impending doom. That moment when I would run out of money was, in reality, about a year away… but I could feel a deadline looming… and it was wreaking havoc with my mind. I felt really uncomfortable. My quality of life was deteriorating as I was afraid to spend money on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. And that’s no way to live!
I had to come up with a longer term plan
I refused to go back to a job, so I had to go forwards. But this time, I promised myself I was going to do things My Way.
I’d given enough of my life to working for other people, building their dreams instead of my own. It was My Time to chase my own dreams. After all, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain!
I knew the key to breaking the loop was to find a way to use the pot of money I had saved up to make more money… before the pot ran out. I needed to invest it in something… but what?
Whatever I chose to invest in, it not only needed make me money so I could support myself, it also had to do it in a way that I could live the lifestyle I’d dreamed of. I already knew money alone wouldn’t make me happy… once my basic needs were met, how I spent my time and who with was far more important.
So… the challenge I set myself was to find a way to:
- Earn an income in a way that didn’t leave me feeling trapped, like I did in my job, but still gave me a sense of financial security
- While living the kind of free & flexible lifestyle I wanted… with plenty of space (and funds) for variety, adventure, fun and travel!
- Doing work I found enjoyable and stimulating, and that would give my life a sense of purpose and meaning (rather than just drifting around waiting for Mr Right to show up!)
- Become the kind of person who might actually attract Mr Right, wherever he might be in the world
- And most importantly of all, set myself up in a way that would – hopefully one day – mean I could fit my work around what I truly cared about and would want to prioritise – a family of my own.
It was an ambitious ask… but I was determined. This was my chance!
After all, the Worst had already happened… I’d already lost my job. And guess what, I’d survived, without having to sell my flat! More than that… I’d actually thrived!
I had become more creative and resourceful, and grew in ways I’d never imagined possible.
Yes, the money worries were always there, but I learned to push them aside. As I started to spend time out of the corporate rat race, I found new influences and began to change my mindset.
One of the most important life lessons I learned that Fear is what keeps so many of us stuck.
- Fear of running out of money
- Fear of making mistakes
- Fear of being laughed at
- Fear of getting it wrong
- Fear of failing
- … I could go on (yep, I felt all of these!)
But fear is just the stories our ego tells us, to protect us and keep us safe. Fear will always be there, there’s no point trying to avoid or escape it. We just have to learn to live with it.
So instead of letting it sit in the driving seat of my life, I gently shuffled it onto the back seat of the car and politely told it “You’re welcome to come along for the ride, if you wouldn’t mind just sitting there quietly, please and thank you.”
Because the truth is, a life fully lived is a life lived at the edge of our comfort zone, not in the middle of it.
The biggest risk in life is not taking any risks at all.
What I believe creates the Ultimate Financial Security
For me, my job wasn’t secure. In reality, it was only as secure as my notice period.
When I got told my company couldn’t afford me any more, I was given a month’s notice plus one month’s redundancy pay and a thank you for 4 years of “dedicated, loyal service”. I had spent 4 years of my life, giving my blood, sweat and tears trying to build my team, grow our revenue and keep customers renewing every year… and in a month I was out on my ear, and found myself at the Job Centre signing on for the dole.
What I have discovered in the eights years since then is this:
The ultimate Financial Security we can find is in ourselves. We are our greatest asset!
I’ve adopted this as a motto:
Invest in things that no-one can ever take away from you – your integrity, your values & your education.
Barb Schmidt
Real Financial Security is not found spending the best years of our lives working hard to paying off the mortgage of the house we live in, and building up a big pension pot which we can’t access until we’re too old and decrepit to enjoy it!
Seriously… think about it for a moment. What kind of a life is that…?
(PS did you know in most company pension schemes, you’re losing potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds over the life of your pension pot, thanks to high management fees for middlemen who add little to no value… when you could be learning how to invest for yourself… but that’s a topic for another day!)
Instead, life-long Financial Security is found in learning a few key skills – skills that allow you to sell anything, to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
When you have these skills, you know you have the ability generate income whenever you need to. And that it’s in your control – because you don’t need to rely on anyone but yourself.
And when you go a step further, and take the time to discover the unique value that you as an individual have to offer the world (a combination of your unique gifts & talents, skills & experience)… and then learn how to use those new skills to package & sell that to people who want what you can offer them… that’s when you find fulfilment in what you do.
That to me is the ultimate dream: Making money, as a by-product of being yourself and giving value to others, doing what you love and are good at. Financial Security coupled with Fulfilment. Bingo!
If you want to know how I learned to do just that, then I invite you to click the button below and sign up for a free video workshop from the mentor who helped me become financially self-sufficient in under 12 months.. and then go on to gain not just financial independence but also live the kind of life I had always dreamed of:
He’ll share with you the approach he discovered to get himself out of his unfulfilling job as an estate agent and earning money online, more money than he ever dreamed of. A method through which he created real and lasting financial security for himself, and his family… and that he now teaches students of all walks of life, all backgrounds all over the world.
I count myself among his success stories. This is the guy I credit for helping me make all my dreams (and many more!) come true. What I’ve achieved over the last four years since I first watched his free workshop, is truly mind-blowing.
I’ve even met Mr Right as a result of implementing what this guy teaches!
So if you’re in any way curious, check out the free workshop now and you’ll begin to understand how true financial security can be achieved (the kind you’ll never find when you’re trading your time for a fixed salary in a job), without sacrificing the best years of your life.
To living your bestest, freest, fullest, life,
– Back to Top –
Thinking of starting an Online Business?
Visit the Get Started page to learn more about how people are following a proven step-by-step blueprint to Prepare, Launch & Grow their dream online business, and create a life of time, financial & geographical freedom doing work they love.
About The Author
Leaving the corporate world and starting my own online business was the best decision I ever made.
It hasn’t been an easy journey – it has been very confronting at times, has challenged me in so many ways, and can be quite lonely – but every day I get to wake up when I choose, work with clients who value what I offer and bathe in the sunshine in the middle of the day, because I’m in complete control of my life, I thank my past self for having had the courage to choose this path.
It wasn’t always this way. Stepping back in time to 2015, I was a loyal, dedicated hard-working employee. Without a partner or a family to come home to, my life revolved around my work… until one day I got laid off.
Suddenly I discovered what it was like not to have to set an alarm to wake up, battle with the morning commute or stumble bleary-eyed into an office every day pumped full of caffeine.
Sitting in the garden in the sunshine, listening to the birds and enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my skin, I knew this was my opportunity to choose a different path.
I started my online business training in 2019 and knew I’d never go back to working for someone else ever again. The freedom, the control, the creativity, the people I’ve met from all over the world… I’d found my tribe, and finally felt understood. These are people who share my values of living life to the full and doing work that’s meaningful.
Life is meant to be lived, not endured.
Having explored & experimented with various different business models (affiliate marketing, consulting, coaching, training), I’ve fallen into coaching as my primary business model of choice, but am also still dabbling with other income streams on the side, including affiliate marketing, consulting & selling my photographs.
My work gets me out of bed in the morning, lights me up and puts a spring in my step. I find serving people and making new connections all over the world extremely fulfilling. And even better – it pays enough to cover my modest lifestyle, while only needing to work 2-3 days a week, so I can spend the rest of my time learning, studying, visiting friends & family and playing with my camera.
– Back to Top –
