Hola from Barcelona, Spain! I have been traveling Spain for the last 4 days and have enjoyed it so far. The food, the people, and the night life has made this trip enjoyable. The best part is, I am still able to work while experiencing a new culture. As an entrepreneur, you literally can work anywhere and for an X amount of hours as well per day. You are in control of your own destiny and how much money you want in your bank.
Earlier today, I read a blog post by a great friend of which I mentored over the years. She stated the following...
I used to quote the mantra “work hard now, play hard later” to justify my work ethic. Fuck that motto right in la culata. I want to go back in time and slap myself silly every time I uttered that sentence.
When you are growing up, a lot of people to tell you to work hard now and play hard later. Why not do both at the same time? Working hard is also an indefinite situation over the years. Do you work hard until you hit retirement or do you work hard over the next 5 years? Play hard later is also an under statement to me as everyday is a difference experience.
If you are 22 years old you experience life's enjoyment differently than someone that is at the age of 33. What if you worked hard now, then you got a family - how hard can you really play, since your time investment is for your family? I believe in work hard and play hard, but not "work hard now, play hard later." The reason is the first statement (work hard, play hard) has no time barrier, while the status quo does (work hard now, play hard later).
For example lets say I have hit a 15k profit in one of my affiliate campaigns or product campaigns over the past week. I am definitely going HARD this weekend at the clubs, casino, sky diving, or where ever I want to put my life enjoyment at. I am not reserving 60 years to enjoy the next 10, it is just a bad business move and bad investment.
Currently, I am traveling and I am writing this from a penthouse I am renting via Airbnb. The best part is I am just couple miles from the beach and I am in the center city of Barcelona. I am living proof that you can work hard and enjoy it at the same time. For example, the image below is a mind map and to do list of what I need to to do to reach a goal of $1 a month. This is a goal for my company and I believe I can attain this within the next 6 months.
This is written on the glass door covering the kitchen, don't worry its erasable. The owner won't even know we wrote on his walls. Anyways, I take part of my days to go over things and write them on the wall and when I am in a go mode, I break a lot of things down. This shows that you can enjoy life and still work.
After I write this all down I either start walking around Barcelona, or take my scooter and get lost somewhere. One day, I took a half day to just work on a funnel and chat with my outsource team and do what I need to do to get things done. Then later in night, I went out and had a blast with new people I met at the club and on the beach. It is a reward for the days end while being on vacation!
I also work about an hour or 2 a day at a tapas bar and catch up on email with my other partnerships and ventures while watching tourists try to find their way around Barcelona. If I am back at my apartment, I check my computer and look at stats and emails. Having an internet business is very easy to maintain once you have a full structure of the business.
Now, the old saying of work hard now to enjoy life later is utter disgust to me. I always argue with the person that says that to me because it just doesn't make sense. If people look at life like a business game, they would see things a lot differently. If they did this, they would see life becomes an investment game. If you have a girlfriend, you have to invest time with her. If you have a child, you invest a good 18 years with them. So it becomes a strategy and life is a game especially if you want to get the best out of it.
When working hard you can reward yourself the same week as long as your 'hard work' leads to a positive ROI for your 'play hard' theory. Again it becomes a numbers game and ever since I got into this business that is how I look at life now. For someone to tell someone to work hard now to play hard later is just being ignorant and doesn't know the benefits of both.
This comes back full circle to my dream of traveling the world. I enjoy traveling a lot. I love meeting new people, learn a new language, embrace culture, and just see how the other side of the world is different from one another. Life is meant to be enjoyable, if you don't enjoy it then what is your purpose? Stop being scared, enjoy life!
