There are only two ideal sustainability models I can pursue in order to do what I want to do effectively.
- I live of support from patrons.
- I build wealth through an ideal job and save for financial independence.
Entrepreneurship is not very attractive to me right now because it requires an amount of focus and attention that robs me of the time and energy I need to dedicate to what I want to do: insight-generation. Entrepreneurship can work if I perform the duties of an owner rather than a hands-on startup founder.
Right now, I am using the day job model to sustain my research activities. I could use my day job to pivot to financial independence, which frees me up to pursue insight-generation without the need to grow profit.
A middle way from the Day Job model to financial independence is the patronage model, which attracts me. a patronage model is best for an independent creative mainly because it helps the researcher focus on his main goal: to produce insights and test them through prototypes, not really to earn profit.
However, since I don’t have enough career capital, I need to bootstrap my audience. I need to pursue Sharing and connecting to build and cultivate relationships first that I can convert into patrons in the future.
I need to be ready with the possibility that no one will support my research financially, because it is too niche or its value is not easily seen, or it is too “selfish.” And this is why maintaining a day job and improving my financial life is so important for me.
Now
- Part-time work
- Keeps expenses low
- Saves and invests
- Builds ideal life and career intentionally and freely
- Retire by age 55 to 65.
Option 1
- Part-time work
- Keep expenses low
- Saves and invests
- Builds income streams not related to passion to increase income
- Build ideal life and career
- Retire early
Option 2
- Part-time work
- Keep expenses low
- Saves and invests
- Builds a career that also provides money
- Retire early
Option 3
- Sames
- Build an income stream tangentially related to your passion