Motivation: To "___" or Not to "____"

Its funny, when I officially decided to pursue self-employment, my motivation was two-fold:

- To be financially self-sufficient and to achieve at least moderate wealth
- To be able to do what I want, when I want

The second motivating factor has been a double-edged sword, for sure. If you begin self-employment with the goal of being able to do what you want, when you want - it is safe to assume that you're the type of person who already has a hard time with boundaries, procrastination and timely deliverables.

Therefore, my second motivating factor is also a pretty substantial barrier in achieving my own dreams.

Odd.

Just yesterday, I went to a matinee movie. It was wonderful, liberating and just what I've always wanted to do! However, it took up and unexpected 4 hours of my time. Prime working time. I don't really regret it, because I haven't gone on many daytime excursions since I quit my job last summer and it was a movie I really wanted to see.

But it does make me wonder how can I do whatever I want, when I want if its also going to take away from the very thing that's supposed to financially support me doing whatever I want, whenever I want?

I certainly need to achieve some balance - fortunately for me, the work that I do is endlessly entertaining to me. However, I am going to continue to work towards automation in my daily work. I want to get all of my money working for me such that I actually don't have to work daily if I don't want to. I think my conundrum is caused simply by me not achieving my first motivational goal: complete financial self-sufficiency.

Quiz: Which Billionaire Tycoon Are You?

These quizzes BuzzFeed cranks out are a dime a dozen and I usually don't bother to find out which Growing Pains star, Sandwich, Crayon Color or Gum Flavor I am. But this one, definitely made me want to share! So aspirational!

So, which Billionaire Tycoon Are You?

Is Overnight Success an Unbearable Burden?

The news of Flappy Bird's, demise has hit some fans pretty hard. The game was overnight success, much to the surprise of its designer. One of the hardest game apps on the market, the challenging nature of the game drove some users to contact the game's maker, Dong Nguyen, directly on twitter complaining of addiction. Apparently the pressure of creating a wildly popular and addictive game caused Nguyen to crack (pun intended) and take the game off the market.

Flappy Bird was reportedly earning over $50,000 a day in advertising revenue. Earning $50,000 a day in America would make one quite wealthy - just imagine what that kind of wealth equates to in Vietnam where the average annual family income is about $1800.

I can't decide what to think about his decision. Was it brave, wise or naive?

I do admire the man for knowing when he was in over his head. You have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Plowing onward blindly can cause far more harm than good and it seems certain that Nguyen felt out of control of his product.

If one isn't mentally prepared for success, its highly probable you could crash and burn pretty hard. With young adults claiming "affluenza" as a legitimate defense in court, one has to admire him for shying away from perhaps having too much money for one's own good.

While we don't yet know what made up his final decision to turn down such financial success, it does seem that he suffered mostly from a major moral dilemma regarding his customers' self-reported addiction to the game.

Which also makes me wonder as an aspiring inventor: Should one take responsibility for how your customers use your product? There are loads of companies that make household products that are used by drug addicts. Those companies continue on regardless of these known alternate, illicit uses. So, if you invented a game that "ruins" someone's life because they play it to their own detriment, is it your place as the maker to remove the game from the market entirely? World of Warcraft and Everquest makers certainly don't think so!

As an American Entrepreneur, constantly chasing financial freedom and success in business, I don't understand his decision to cease sales of his most profitable product. But, I do admire his restraint and arguably over-the-top empathy.

Sometimes Grit does Quit?

Investments - ETF's

I'm excited - I just added a few new Vangaurd ETF's to my Daily Paycheck Strategy in my Rollover IRA account. I saw that I was a coming up a little short in a few sectors and stock types, so I ditched a few stocks to reinvest more heavily in Small Cap funds, International stocks and the Tech sector.

The stocks I ditched were making me dividend income, but were also losing value overall. I definitely want a "Daily Paycheck," but I also want my capitol investment to stay intact. Cash, can be a smart position to hold, in my opinion.

We'll see over time if these were good moves or bad! One way or the other, I want to be an active investor and never want to look back and say, "I don't know what happened, its just gone, all gone!" Gritty Entrepreneurs watch their money closely. We don't outsource our future, am I right?

Ditched:
WTR
COP
CSCO
O

Added:
VGT
VBR
VT

Bulk Trash Pick-Up Week - The Entrepreneurs Are Out!

Here, in our neighborhood, the bulk trash is picked up once a month. This week is pick-up week. Looking out my front office window, I saw that same Gritty Entrepreneur from a few months back! I was reminded of my past post about this guy and how I admired his grit.

This week he had quite the haul - looks like he hit the "junker" jackpot! Sometimes I envy the simplicity of his business structure as I stare at the multi-page tax packet my CPA just sent along. Sometimes, I'd rather sort through other people's trash than complete my taxes. Just going to have to "grit" and bear it, I suppose.