JST 187 – Working fewer days for the same money

Photo courtesy of Hamza Butt and Flickr

“Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of mental laziness.”
– Tim Ferriss

This week is the third in my series of articles about transitioning from employment to doing work that’s more fulfilling and on-purpose for you (I find that most people who want to make this move don’t have a clear sense of exactly how they’re going to do it, and what it’s going to look like). We’re walking through the five main “transition strategies” involved in starting your own venture, and highlighting some of the key advantages and disadvantages of each. As you read through the five strategies, you’ll start to get a sense of which strategy (or combination of strategies) makes the most sense for you.

Transition Strategy 3 – Negotiated Transition
Negotiate with your employer to reduce your workdays by (for example) one day per week, ideally while keeping pay constant (I’ve coached a couple of people who did that, believe it or not.) This “buys” you an extra day per week to work on the new venture. Then two days per week, and so on.

Pros / Advantages
– Provides steady or even increased income.
– More time for your new venture / fewer days spent at your job.
– Allows time for developing your skills and growing your new venture.
– Job provides funds for training and development of new venture.
– Encourages development of the entrepreneurial mindset you’ll need for your new venture.

Cons / Disadvantages
– Good social skills / negotiation skills needed to agree this with your employer.
– High level of effectiveness and focus required to deliver sufficient results to your employer in fewer days per week.

One of the people who’s done this is Malachy Donaghy. He was doing a full-time job when he started working with us. While he was on our Clarity Trainer Training Programme, he had some big insights into where security comes from and the results were pretty impressive. First he negotiated a four day working week with the business he worked for (previously, he never thought that was something that was possible for him). Then he signed his first large client, a training and consulting contract that generated £18,000 for him. When he told me about this, he said, “I’m starting to see the beauty in life again.” It’s no surprise to me that when people say how much better things are going financially, they also comment about how they’re enjoying life a lot more. In almost every case, the enjoyment, the security, and the peace of mind comes first followed by the bigger financial results because it’s all about grounding, which starts with you.

Next week we’ll be looking at Transition Strategy 4. By the way, if you’re looking to transition, I’m researching something new, and I’m looking for the right group of people to take part in it. Here’s how you’ll know if you’re right for my experiment (and vice-versa):

– You are currently in full-time employment, but…
– You want to transition from your job to something more fulfilling and “on-purpose”
– You sense that it’ll probably take 1-2 years to complete the transition, but…
– Your goal hasn’t been getting much closer; it seems to stay the same distance away
– You want to make progress, but lack clarity about either the ‘what’ or the ‘how’
– You know that if you were clear on those, with a solid plan, you’d do what it takes to make it happen
– You’re coachable, and willing to stretch yourself

If that’s you, reply to this email and tell me a bit about yourself. Change the subject line to “Project Jupiter” so I know what it’s in relation to. I’ll be choosing people in the next couple of weeks,

Big love
Jamie

Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach

PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:

1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Keynote” in the subject line.

2. Apply for the 2017 intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme
If you want to be part of the class of 2017, this year’s intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts in September. You can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/

3. Join the Profitable Coaches Group
Join the Profitable Coaches Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at https://www.jamiesmart.com/profitable/

4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power. Stay tuned for details… If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.

PLUS: check these out :

Get your free Exponential Practice Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecar

Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast

Listen to Your Exponential Practice Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pod

Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults