There’s a common saying that if you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs. When you are employed by a company, you could be fulfilling a passion but the biggest part of being employed means you are helping other people’s dreams come to pass.

Judith had been a radio presenter for seven years. During that time she discovered a love for beauty and beauty products. She went to the internet and taught herself how to do makeup.

A few years of preparing and teaching herself, she resigned from radio and started a beauty spa. She capitalised on the friends she had made during her time on radio and experience earned from marketing businesses and products on her show. She brought that mastery to her new business. I recall her urging people that give little time to their side hustle, to turn that into the main hustle since there are times when the side hustle brings in more money than the main job. As 2020 begins if there is anything I wish for each of us it’s some sense of financial freedom. 

Mainstream employment is a great thing, it gives one the kind of experience that would come in handy when they branch off on their own. It is also meant to act as a gateway to bigger and better opportunities or personal business. It is never meant to be the alpha and omega of income generation. 

The late Miles Munroe advised people to work in the morning; go to that job and then in the evening work on their own business. Work on your work! He discouraged watching TV because one’s future is built after 5pm for those with an 8 to 5 job!  After 5 o’clock is when we ought to have and work on our personal dreams. 

The money being earned today should not be fully spent; instead, it should be laid down as the foundation of the future we are constructing. Time comes when one is too frail to be someone’s servant. And as people grow and become more aggressive, as technology advances, the future looks like one where there will be more young bosses and older subordinates. Who wants to be pushed around by a 24-year-old when they are 65? 

As a way of seeking financial freedom, it helps to work on a personal brand. That’s beneficial whether you are employed or self-employed, it’s an identity. Work so hard at your job, get better at it each day, generate those income statements, negotiate with clients as nobody else does, be the person suppliers seek and competitors fear!

Is there a crisis at the organisation? Be the person the other staff count on. Let your name and brand go ahead of you. It should be your goal this year to build and invest in YOUR PERSON. It may not give you tones of money, but will certainly create avenues for you to make enough money. As I said earlier, a semblance of financial freedom is what we are looking for if total financial freedom is hard to attain. We toast to an incredible new year.