Conventional thinking prompts us to think about money very narrowly.
Many times we think about our salary and assume the only way to increase our financial outlook is to get a promotion or maybe win a cash prize. Those are not the only solutions.
You can create multiple streams of income —which simply means “extra, legal activities that generate additional income.” Remember your employer determines your salary but you determine your income.
However, you might say, “I want to do something else for extra money, but I just don’t have the time.” But are you really that pressed for time?
Think about it this way, the presidents, kings and CEOs of the world have the same 24 hours as you do.
They have a lot more decisions to make than the average person and they have less time to execute their tasks. So time should not be an issue for you.
1 The first things you need to do is stop making excuses. Excuses paralyse you and inhibit you from taking the necessary steps to create change in your life. Excuses foster limiting beliefs within you that put a cap on your potential and your ability to achieve. Ridding yourself of excuses and taking personal responsibility for the outcomes in your life is necessary if you want to create multiple streams of income.
How do you stop making excuses and start taking personal responsibility?
You need to be honest with yourself. Being honest with yourself comprises asking yourself hard questions, such as: why am I really saying I have no time? You begin to realise that it probably was not the issue of you having “enough time”, but how long you think a project will take to accomplish, how difficult the process will be to succeed at a venture, or it can be that you are simply afraid of failing at your new endeavour.
The beauty of telling the truth to yourself is that it frees you to ask other questions that can be geared at finding a solution and not continuing the problem. When you discover that your inability to start a new project has to do with your pre-occupation with how many people have failed; maybe you need to ask the question “How did others succeed?” But you will not get to that solution if you hide behind the excuse: I don’t have time.
2 You need to ask yourself the question: what am I good at?
Are you good at photo-editing? Programming? Designing? You must locate your strengths and passions before you decide to monetise them. People will only pay you for your mastery of a subject.
When you have located your strengths, search the internet or ask friends if there is a demand for the services that you can provide and begin to market and supply your services.
3 Stay away from get-rich-quick thinking. A lot of people begin a part-time income generating job outside of their daily work and believe that everything is going to happen immediately without a lot of work and effort; that is not so. Many of the success stories that you have heard about have been the result of years of passion alongside unseen pain and perseverance that create the success you witness. Creating massive wealth will take some time.
4 Don’t let the creation of multiple streams of income hinder your day job.
Jon Acuff in his book Quitter tells the story of Leonardo Da Vinci, who was regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. According to Acuff, Da Vinci still had a day job while he pursued his passion, which made him a lot of extra money.
You may not be the next Da Vinci, but if you are, you should still follow his model.
Protect the job you have by working hard during your shift and maximise the rest of time you have available to generate extra income.
Make the decision to create multiple streams of income today and secure your financial future.