“But I’m feeling MUCH better now.”
– John Astin, “Night Court”
December was a rough month for me, and many, many thanks to those of you
that helped out. I was able to climb out of my hole and get moving again.
Losing your job sucks, let me tell you.
But you know what? I learned a really important lesson that you writers out
there would do well to take to heart. Diversivication isn’t just about
investing. You need to diversify all your sources of income to have any
real security.
Most people only have one income stream. It’s called their “job” and it’s
where they get all their money. Most Americans are living paycheck to
paycheck from just one job, and if they lose it, as I did, they lose
everything. There is no job security in America anymore, anyone can be let
go. “Sorry, we just don’t need your position anymore.” If your job
disappeared tomorrow, what would you do? Where would the next mortgage
payment come from?
I’m not going to get caught flat-footed again. II have six “jobs” right
now, and expect to land a seventh in January. Only one, actually, the
forthcoming seventh, is a “40 hour a week” full-time job, but all
contribute to my overall income. My other income streams get me $25 here,
$100 there, $200 there, ranging anywhere from $25 to $800 a week. Some
weeks I work, some I don’t. And one of those streams is royalties from my
fiction, which I hope will grow a bit once we launch Solo Media. But the
end result is my money comes from lots of different sources. If I lose one,
two, even three of them I’m still okay. Wounded, but okay. And I can
replace them fairly quickly.
My life probably seems like a patchwork nightmare scenario to many of you.
I understand. A lot of people rely on the routine of a 9-5 job for a sense
of stability. But that stability is an illusion, a rug that can be pulled
out from under you at any time. My income is actually far more stable now
than it was at CompUSA. I may not know exactly how much money I’ll make any
given week or month, but I know it won’t be zero.
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