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2019 is going to be my year. This is the one in which I achieve complete financial independence. And this is the year where I finally get to a stage where I wake up in the morning no longer frightened to pay my bills.
I want to get there without pain. And I want to get there with a giant smile on my face.
Passive Income
I’ve spent a large chunk of the past couple of years studying the concept of passive income. This is something a select few have mastered effortlessly. Something others among us are clueless about. And then there are those like me. I wish to explore every facet of the concept and hopefully figure out a way to finally grab my piece of the pie.
So what is passive income?
Passive income is things you do where the initial effort and continual and occasional maintenance results in money that could be earned at any moment. Forever. Essentially, it’s money you can earn while you are sleeping. A classic example in our generation might be a high-quality and engaging YouTube video. In your video description you placed affiliate links. That night you went to sleep like any other, but unbeknownst to you, the video exploded. Someone loved it, posted it online, and sent it to friends, and over the course of the night, the video was seen by over 20,000 people.
Of those thousands of people, hundreds clicked on the affiliate links and purchased products, and you woke up to find that you had an extra few thousand dollars in your bank account.
Passive income at its finest.
Yes, you worked hard to create an incredible video. And you made some initial efforts to get it out to the world. But inertia and good, old fashioned luck took over at that point.
The Success X-Factor: Luck
Certainly hard work and perseverance play an extremely significant role in many if not all success stories. But they’re often not even close to enough. Luck is really the secret ingredient to all success, so it would seem. I love to reminisce about Friendster and the Gong Show. It’s fun to watch the blank stares on the faces of anyone under the age of 30 when I mention either of these two things.
What are they? Friendster was Facebook before Facebook was Facebook. It was about a decade two early. No one used it. No one now seems to remember it. And some poor guy is eating a hot dog at a 7-11 right now wondering why he is not a billionaire. The Gong Show is the same story. It was American Idol decades too soon.
Yet Facebook and American Idol were able to revolutionize social media and reality television, respectively. Not exclusively because their product was excellent, but because their timing was superb.
Luck made all the difference.
Luck is really the secret ingredient to all success. Click To TweetAccidental Fortune?
However, accidental fortune doesn’t come to those who don’t buy the lottery ticket (the one exception). Facebook and American Idol don’t take off and make people millions of dollars without someone creating Facebook and American Idol. Hard work, perseverance, and a healthy handful of being in the right place at the right time team up to change someone’s life forever.
But…
Let’s say that luck can somehow be manipulated. Let’s say luck isn’t exactly always the accident we pretend it is. Maybe, just maybe, we all have the power, at least on occasion, to gear our “accidental fortunes” in the direction we want.
And that’s where all of YOU come in.
My Tacky Passive Income Request
How can you help make me wealthy in 2019?
Visit my blog. Share my posts with others. Comment on things. Click on the weird ads Google puts all over my pages. Buy the crap they’re trying to sell you. Be a guest blogger! (Seriously, contact me if interested.)
I’m sure there’s something on here you like. Hell, you’re reading this right now. No one’s twisting your arm. Let the world know you’ve found something you enjoy reading.
Buy my books. Review my books. Tell others to buy my books. I’m sure you know a teacher. Or someone dating, married, divorced, or contemplating divorce. Everyone could use a few friendly and comical tips and tricks. Someone learns something new… and I become filthy stinkin’ rich. Everyone’s a winner!
Upcoming Projects
Upcoming projects for this and the following years: More blog posts. More books. My hope is to write two more non-fiction ones, followed by the big goal of tackling writing a novel. A huge bucket list item for me.
Besides learning a lot more about investing, I also want to explore the world of passive income through YouTube and online courses. There is a bright and exciting future out there for me. I can feel it… sort of.
While you’re at it, my beautiful son has spent too much time with me and has caught the passive income bug. Check out his pictures. Buy them and share them with others. Heck, maybe one of these days he’ll pay part of the rent…
My Passive Income Long Game
So here I stand. The amount I’ve made so far from my passive income attempts is hardly impressive. I still can’t afford that brand new Lamborghini I’m hoping for. But passive income is for those with patience. It’s for those willing to play the long game. One day a post or a book or a video or a course of mine might go viral, and make a ton of cash. It could cause sales of my books to skyrocket, and who knows what else. And once the flow hits, it could be an endless outpouring. Every day I’ll wake up with a bit more money in the bank. All for work I did long ago.
Let’s hope. Let’s keep pushing. Maybe I will get that Lamborghini some day…
Very interesting . I will consider becoming a guest blogger.
Love the satire piece for Chodesh Adar! Great work!
To let in those of us who are a little slower and who didn’t get the joke, why don’t you re-write it from the perspective of someone who was really trying to win over an audience and be a servant of his readers?
Let’s Get Rich in 2019!
2019 is going to be OUR year.
What content can I produce for YOU in 2019?
What can my son create for YOU?
Etc.,
I know, I know, it’s a little heavy and not subtle, but you’d be surprised, some people probably didn’t realize your pseudo-self-indulgent rant was all in the Purim spirit.
Cheers!