Work Harder or Smarter?

So here’s the age old dilemma… do you desire to work harder or smarter?

A lot of you reading this know me quite well and are aware of the sort of hours that I sometimes do. I often work straight through nights, I very rarely take holidays, and on the outside to most I seem like a classic workaholic.

Well, maybe I am but that is because I have known the value of work since a very young age. I have always associated effort with reward because that is what has been the case in my life, and as my whole family were involved in small businesses when I was growing up, I know that the work never ends, 7 days a week is just the way it is.

My mate Justin Herald has a theory that a lot of people have an issue with that there is no such thing as work life balance if you are a business owner, that is a concept that only works for employees. The business owner will never switch off, he will always be thinking, learning, listening and looking for the next big idea. That is what an entrepreneurial spirit is all about.

However, because I am the ‘boss’ and I am able to work remotely, I am able to work anywhere & anytime (as I am today. drafting this blog post the going fishing).

***Update – to check out how we went at fishing, click the image….***

Now over the last couple of years, I have been looking for ways to lessen the impact of me taking some time off in our business, and we have done a great many things toward that. One was writing my book, one was getting some online properties that make us money up and running. We now have a good percentage of our business income on passive, however nothing will ever replace the feeling and exhilaration I get from completing a challenging project. As it says in one of my favourite books of all time, the Richest Man In Babylon “I am glad that work is not reserved for slaves. Were that the case I would be deprived of my greatest pleasure. Many things do I enjoy but nothing takes the place of work.”

However, I am looking to find ways in 2010 to make the passive side of our business even greater, not so I can go and sit on a beach, but so I can grow the production side of our business rapidly, without spending all of our cashflow on the growth.

So how am I going to do that? Well First thing I am doing is attending the Productisation Masterclass with the legend Leela Cosgrove and here partner in success Thor SalesWarlord, so they can help us identify some other areas we can productise and turn on the passive cashflow. If you have never thought about this in your business or are not sure what IP you have that could be turned into a product, then you need to attend this seminar. Check out Leela in action in the video on below.

I already know all the technical stuff and how to make info products, I have been doing that for years, but I believe we can always learn something. If you think you know it all, then well done, I hope you are enjoying your retirement… ohh not retired yet? Then clearly you don’t know it all.

The masterclass I am attending may not be for every one, but if you can’t find the $97 to attend the Saturday course.. you are not serious about finding passive income. Simple as that.

You can book tickets for that by visiting www.productiseordie.com

Just so you know, I am not getting any money or kick backs for promoting this seminar, I am just doing it because it is the first of it’s kind I have found where the people teaching are also doing it, and that counts for a lot in my book. Plus Leela & Thor ROCK!

This year I am making a promise to myself, I am going to continue to work hard it’s what I do… but I am also going continue to find ways to work VERY SMART. So work harder or smarter? My answer is – BOTH!

I am more of an AND person any way…

Hope to see you there.

Rich