|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Saturday, 18 February 2006 |
I am a professional smart person. The fact that you are reading this right now means it's so. You are paying me not with money, but with your time, to give you my opinion. A professional smart person is someone who is smart enough to become rich without ever having to do anything that feels like actual work. You can't just sit on your couch though. The keyword here is "feels like." It will be more work than what most people do, but you'll be doing it because you want to. Being a professional smart person takes a special breed of cat.
The most successful people in business have zero ability to concentrate on any one thing. At first this seems like a huge disability, until you realize how it works for them. They have to be doing multiple things at once. They're inherently more productive than everyone else around them. If they have a goal, they will be doing multiple things to meet that goal at one time. They're expert jugglers. This is a key component of being a professional smart person.
Being a professional smart person means you do most things better and quicker than the majority of the populace. It means you pick and do what you want, and then get paid for it. Some skills may get used more than others, but if any of your skills stops being profitable you just pick up another one. It's all about being self-reliant, and insulated from the world. Having a diversified portfolio is an essential investment strategy. If you're investing in yourself, it's nice to have the security of multiple skill sets. It's not enough to be good at 1 or 2 things and then alternate. A professional smart person has so many skills, and is good at so many things that they just pick and choose. The world really is their oyster.
The Business Model
I decided early on that I had to be rich. Everything is so much easier when you have money at your disposal. A car breaking down quickly becomes not an issue when you have 3 more in your garage. You're insulated. You can afford redundancy. You're less dependent on those around you. It feels better to be able to experience the world on your terms. People wait for their tax return every year so that they can live it up, and spend it on something big. That is sad behavior.
As a professional smart person you open yourself up to a whole wealth of possibilities. People are a lot more willing to hire you when they don't have to pay you a living wage, and they know you will produce better work, faster. By stacking a few of these up it's possible to have a better life than most people ever hope to have. It's possible to be happier than most people, and it's possible to not ever have a long-term daily grind.
Maybe it is because I'm so young that I have such an aversion to the 9 to 5 lifestyle, and middle-class culture. I could change my mind on this whole thing once I hit 30, but there's no downside to being a professional smart person. By the time you feel like settling down you will have probably been successful at enough ventures to take it easy for a while.
I could never imagine myself at any sort of assembly-line. Whether it be figuratively or actually, I think that would be death. Not death in a literal sense, but death in terms of opportunity and spontaneity. The people who are part of those assembly lines will never be rich. They will never be poor, they will survive, but they will never thrive. I have too many skills to let them all go to waste. What could have been would be gnawing at me my whole life. Instead of trying to capitalize on one, why not go for all of them?
Acting On It
Professional smart people are born, not made. If you're not already doing it then you probably won't. People tend to forget about the things that they already do. People who make music tend to make music. People who are artists tend to be artistic their whole lives. Very few people pick it up late, and then make it their thing. There's a difference between wanting something, and actually wanting what it entails.
I would love to be able to play the guitar, and so I bought a guitar when I was in high school. I played it for a little bit, and then I stopped. Instead of sticking to my guns, and saying I still wanted to play guitar I examined why I stopped. I stopped because I didn't like it. The proof was right there in my actions. It needed no explanation. I can't play the guitar because I don't like to actually play the guitar. I would love to be able to, but that gets me no closer. There was nothing stopping me from playing that guitar while I had it. I just didn't do it. It's important to value the things we already do, instead of striving for the things that we think we would like to be able to do. Chances are, we're already doing the things we really want to do anyway.
Being a professional smart person is this way. You're either doing it or you're not. If you're reading this, and you're not already doing it then chances are you won't start. If you are doing it and reading this then I hope it gives you courage. I hope you work like hell, and become as rich as I hope to be. Then maybe we'll cross paths someday. The beginning is the hardest part, but karma and the great magnet reward those who work their asses of it. Do it in a smart way, and the money will follow.
I wasn't born with the drive to play the guitar. I was born with a thirst for knowledge, and a passionate desire for success. By devoting myself to it, I am a professional smart person. I'm not sure exactly what I would have been if I had not been born in this age of information. I credit the internet with most of my knowledge. I learned to educate myself early on without ever leaving my room. I fear I might have been one of those penniless artist/philosopher types made famous only after death. Thank christ I won't be.
|
