I don’t ever expect to be rich, but I do intend to be financially free, and by that I mean having enough money not to worry about it. It’s not a pipe dream, but something I expect to happen in the not too distant future. I’ve been reading up on ‘intention manifestation’, and I intend to manifest enough wealth to do the things I really want to.
I’m not talking about buying a yacht or a beach house. The things I plan to do require time that I just don’t have in my ‘working’ life. When I have enough money, I’m going to leave my job and develop my hobbies. First and foremost, I’m going to spend a good part of each day on my websites. They will be my primary source of income, but I definitely won’t consider them as ‘work’. I’ve been programming since I was six years old, so web design is something I would do even if there was no money in it.
I’m probably very unhealthy. I eat too much junk food and don’t do enough exercise. I’m also really thin; I weigh about 56kgs but I’m 6ft tall. So, I’m going to start exercising regularly and watching what I eat, that is I’m going to try and beef up! I’m also going to start jogging. Our new house is right by a golf course so running around the course under the cherry blossoms should more of a pleasure than a chore.
A couple of years ago I got a saxophone. Although I’m not particularly talented when it comes to music, I’ve always wanted to play the sax. Unfortunately, just buying one wasn’t enough motivation to learn it. I couldn’t practice in the apartment because the neighbors would complain, so I took it to my school. I thought I’d find time to play it there, but when you’re at work you’re at work and you just can’t whip out a saxophone and start playing! When I’m financially free however, I’m going to start taking it seriously.
I’ve been doing ballroom dancing for nearly a year now and I’m, well, I’m crap. I take one lesson a week, and never practice between lessons. And just like my little English learners, once a week is not enough! So I’m going to start dancing everyday, even if it means practicing in the living room.
When I first came to Japan, I studied Japanese all the time. I guess I spent as much time on that as I do now on the internet, i.e. a lot! After I passed level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, I just suddenly stopped. Level 1 seemed to be an unreachable goal, and after three years of study I just didn’t have the heart to keep going. That’s all changed now, and when I have a job-free schedule, I’m going to take lessons again and push for Level 1.
English teaching. I won’t just give up, but I’d like to teach selected classes. I especially enjoy teaching kindergarteners and old ladies! I think those two groups have the lowest expectations and therefore enjoy learning the most. Teaching English full-time can drive you crazy, but doing just a handful of classes a week should be great fun!
Next year I’m going to be a daddy. The working title for our baby is ‘Peanut’, though we might change that as he or she gets bigger. It’s been six weeks since Peanut’s conception. Here’s a picture of Peanut….cute or what?
Peanut will be half English and half Japanese, and the only English he or she is going to hear will be from me. So whether I’m financially free or not, I’m going to need to spend a lot of time with Peanut, otherwise he or she will only speak Japanese (and only be recognizable as ‘English’ by his or her huge nose – blasted DNA!).
So why am I so confident of having enough money to quit my job and sit around the house all day? Well, that’s because I know how much money I need to do this, and I know it’s just a matter of time before I’m earning that. I base that on the performance of my websites in the last year. They continue to grow and more and more people are visiting every day. The more people that come, the more people they tell, and then they come, too. It’s a J-curve. Slow at the start but then the growth is rapid. To achieve this, you’ve got to have websites that are useful. If you have a website that makes it easier for somebody to do something, then word of mouth will bring in the visitors.
There’s no point in dreaming, hoping, or playing the lottery. Decide what you want (be rich, have more free time, be thinner, etc.) and the steps to achieve it will manifest naturally. I’ll end this post with a quote from Steve Pavlina:
Do not ask the universe for what you want. Declare it. Don’t ask. This is very similar to prayer, but you are not praying FOR what you want. You are praying WHAT you want. You are simply saying, “Here it is. Make it so.†It is like planting a seed in the ground. You do not say to the ground, “Here is the seed. Please, can you make it grow?†You simply plant the seed, and it will grow as a natural consequence of your planting and tending to it. It is the same with your intentions. Simply plant them. There’s no need to beg.
Click here to read the whole of Steve Pavlina’s “Cause-Effect vs. Intention-Manifestation” post.
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!