I read your newsletter every day, one of the few that I find worthy of my very limited free time. This one struck me like a knife in the heart. As I read your newsletter this morning from my desk at work (between meetings) my son was undergoing surgery on his finger (the result of a sports injury). The surgery is relatively minor in nature and is outpatient, but the fact remains that while my 15 year old son is going under anesthetic for an operation, I’m sitting at work because of the many professional commitments I have. I have to ask myself, how did I get here?

A few years back I began reading another newsletter that I find extremely valuable; Early to Rise, by Michael Masterson. Throughout that newsletter Michael preached that in order to get yourself into a six figure income, there were certain things you had to do to make yourself worth that kind of money. At the time I was an uneducated enlisted NCO in the Air Force, a single father to two children, and living paycheck to paycheck. I saw the wisdom in Michael’s words and cut out TV and internet surfing, I began attending night school, taking classes on line, and working around a very tight schedule (usually with only a few hours sleep a night) and finished my BS degree in Industrial Engineering. Shortly after that, I was posted to the New England area and began taking graduate business courses. As a result, I finished my MBA just before I retired from the Air Force. Upon my retirement I interviewed for and was hired into a great job that put me into that 6 figure category. I thought I was truly blessed at the time, and truth be told, I still feel that way for the most part.

However, I now clearly see the cost of my decision to achieve this income milestone. The time I gave up with my kids while I did homework, studied for finals, and finished term papers is forever lost. And now I’m experiencing it again while I work long hours to provide for my family. Fortunately I’ve since remarried to a wonderful woman who fully understands my drive and motivation and is completely supportive of our entire blended family. She is the one currently at my son’s side while he undergoes what is surely a scary undertaking for him. But once again I’m missing out on the important things in life. My son will always remember his “Mom” being there for him during this surgery, but he’ll also remember that his Dad wasn’t there. How sad is that?

Of course education has opened a multitude of doors for me. I have been asked to be a guest speaker at a number of retiree functions which enabled me to network extensively. I have made some extraordinarily good part time income periodically teaching at the local community college. I continue to grow professionally and further my education while my annual income is continuing to grow at a rate that astounds me, all because I followed the advice of Michael Masterson and made myself more valuable to my employer. I continue to be the fist one in to work and the last one to leave which has led to exceptional performance bonuses. But in spite of it all, I’m not “there” yet. I figure I’ll be “there” when I can earn six figures or more while naming my own hours, setting my own terms, and defining my own professional destiny.

I guess the overall lesson here is that while it’s great to make that kind of money, be aware of the trade-off and cost required to get there. It isn’t always readily apparent, but there is always a cost.

1) A service that helps people organize items in their homes and reduce clutter.

2) A service that picks up dirty laundry, washes it, and delivers it

3) A service that picks up pets and take them to the vet

4) A food delivery service, they will go to the establishment of your choice and bring you dinner.

Of course there is a price attached to these services, but perhaps they are a better investment than a big screen TV that Mr. Burbs doesn’t have time to enjoy.

As I understand it, your article actually has two important messages:

1. Wake up people to work on their entrepreneurial development besides their job and daily cares of life.

2. It’s a great copywriting lesson. Thanks for that…

To waking up people, I can contribute something from my own experience:

Actually, my experience is that it is quite possible to get something done besides an employee job and a family and the daily cares of life.

It just needs some creativity, common sense thinking and taking action.

Some examples on what I do for more than three years now:

* driving time in the car is used for listening to educational Audio-CDs about business, marketing etc

* time in the commuting train is used for either reading educational books or newsletters or for working with my notebook with mobile internet (this is 10 hours per week!)

* my spouse and I have an agreement on blocked out time on the weekend where each of us gets equal sized blocks for our own business projects ( or other things we want/need to do ) and the other one takes care of our daughter in the meantime.
(this blocked out time is also a significant time resource)

* I do not watch TV anymore, i.e., big time waster eliminated.

* I eat healthy, organically grown food which gives me more energy, which also allows me to sleep fewer hours if necessary.

All-in-all I consistently get about 20 hours(!) of time per week which I use for building my own business and improving my entrepreneurial skills besides a full-time employee-job with long commute and a family.

It takes some patience to build a business that way but it is possible and I am making progress.

Best wishes and thanks for your great newsletter and blog,

Chris