News By Tom Brownsword

Yes, it’s finally official; I want an Internet based business. And I am stating my intention today: Monday, September 29, 2008.

“Do or do not”, says Yoda, “There is no try”. OK, I’m doing. No more Trying. And although I can’t find the source of the idea now to save my life, I read something earlier today about how people who want something just go out and do it. They don’t let anything stop them; they find a way to get it done.

So I decided today that I want a business instead of a job.

So what happened? Did a horde of hungry fire ants happen to find the backside of my pants today or something?

Not quite that…

Tomorrow or the next day or The Day After That I’ll be mentioning a brand-spanking new product that I’m working my way through (I got a pre-release copy) and am quite excited about. I’m also working through another business challenge at the moment; it’s going well, too. That, when combined with a mastermind, a renewed commitment to setting and obtaining goals, and possibly a full moon (haven’t looked out the window yet tonight, but I just noticed that I need a shave), has pushed me over the edge.

“You may be right — I may be crazy — but it just might be a lunatic you’re looking for…” (thanks, Billy Joel!)

All that — and an employer who wants to… well… treat me as if they have a job for me to do or something… (fade from previous song, switch to “Only The Good Die Young”…).

OK, my employer is pretty good insofar as employers go. No, they aren’t pretty good — they are VERY good. I even like — no, make that LOVE — my boss and his boss and his boss and… (Yeah, I’m kissing feet! So what?) They pay well, get you training so you can do your job better and advance your career, and for the most part, leave you alone to provide top quality services for the customer. And with one minor exception (which, apparently, they told me about; you’d think by now that I would pay attention when somebody wants to give me money), they always pay on time — and do so quite generously for a J.O.B. But I have to go to work when they tell me to go to work, take holidays when they tell me to, ask permission to take a vacation… and can spend money faster than they can pay me.

And tonight was the catalyst (and no fire ants were harmed in the creation of that catalyst, I might add). I want control of my schedule. I want to be the one who decides when I’ll work and where. If I want to work for three months in Fairbanks (Alaska) in the middle of winter, I want to be able to do it. If the middle of the Utah salt flats looks appealing in July, then so be it. I’ve finally decided that I do not want anybody else to make those time and place decisions for me. I am no longer willing to have somebody else make those decisions for me, so I need to do something NOW to put myself into a position where I have those options.

Yes, I was just told that I can’t take Columbus Day off this year because the company has decided to give two holidays at Thanksgiving. AFTER making plans for my wife and mine’s annual pilgrimage to the birthplace of our relationship (in a tiny Polish village that has literally disappeared from the map. Thankfully they ran out of eraser before they got to the roads and buildings…).

I think Thanksgiving is the best concept of a holiday we got going for us, but with a wife from Poland, me on a 100% raw vegan diet, and a curiosity for football that can be satisfied after glancing at the scores for 2.7 seconds — and absolutely ugly prices at local stores because our country’s leadership can’t manage monetary policy and keep one dollar worth one Euro, I don’t really care all that much about having a traditional Thanksgiving celebration. Sure, we’ll all jump in and do the prayer of Thanksgiving part — but I’d really rather have Columbus Day off because that day *IS* special to my wife and me. You see, it just so happens that my wife’s birthday is October 11, our relationship started on an October 11, and that day — which always falls within spittin’ distance of Columbus Day — is just a little special to us for some reason…

But not this year. Yeah, I’m mad, but after firing off a “we need to talk” email to my boss, my wife calmed me down — and that’s when I made my decision to REALLY get my business going so that I have the option to quit my job (and don’t worry, Blushok; “It’s all good”, as you like to say… ).

By the way, I scared my wife to death when I told her this. She said that I should basically just “suck it up” and be happy I have a good job because thousands of people are losing their jobs (like last week in New York City). Hey, I am happy about my good job; don’t get me wrong. But if people are losing jobs, doesn’t it make sense to put myself in a position where I don’t have to worry about losing a job? Why would I want to rely on something like that for my sustenance if they are that easy to lose? Besides, as soon as my business can support me, I’ll be in a position to give my job to somebody else (in a manner of speaking). My replacement will be happy, as will I — and I’ll once again have control of my calendar while my “replacement” figures out how to get by on 10 days of vacation a year — one of which is not Columbus Day.

Columbus Day just got more special. I will have the option of quitting my job by Columbus Day of next year (and if I don’t, I sincerely hope that everybody reading this post leaves nasty, taunting comments on my blog to let me know what a LOSER I am!).

Sweet.

Thanks for listening,
Tom