We live in a world that tells us to keep working hard so that we can eventually retire and enjoy all of the things that we’ve denied ourselves for the years it took us to get there. The only trouble is; the kids have grown up, you’re not so young anymore and probably can’t make the most of life in the way you used to.
Alternatively, we’re told to get out of the rat-race and become an entrepreneur. The only way to have that dream lifestyle, we’re told, is to achieve financial freedom, and that can only be done by having a successful business of our own. The trouble with this one is that the majority of business start-ups fail and, the ones that do work generally take many years to build up to a level that enable you to step back and enjoy that financial freedom and dream lifestyle. Despite the difficulties, this is a very attractive option for many of us and our book shops are filled with seductive titles on how to get rich and ‘live the dream’.
So it would seem, we have two clear options available to us; work for somebody else (and make them rich) or work for yourself (and make yourself rich). Being rich would be great and we’d all like that I’m sure. I know I would. But why do we want to be rich? Generally, so we can escape the rat-race and enjoy a great lifestyle. But is being rich a prerequisite of enjoying a great life or having a great lifestyle?
If having a dream lifestyle is your objective, then there are alternative ways to achieve this, other than waiting until you are 1) Old, or 2) Rich. You do not need to wait until you retire to live your dream. You don’t need to give up your job and start your own business to own your life and your decisions. We are living in an extraordinary time that presents ordinary people with new and exciting opportunities and alternative ways to live their lives.
I believe that remote working provides a genuine alternative to these existing conventions. I love the quote from Henry Ford: ‘If I’d listened to my customers, I would have built a faster horse.’ If he’d adhered to the conventions that existed at the time then he would not have invented the motor car. In order to create anything new, you have to be focused on what exactly it is that you want to achieve and do what it takes to make it happen. Sometimes that takes you to new and uncharted territories and, often, it will involve breaking out of the current conventions that exist. Remote working offers us the opportunity to do just that.