Principles for Building Wealth Slowly

Most articles focus on the quick fix, gimmick plans to strike it rich and live a life of fantasy. This is not one of those articles.

When I graduated from college, I had a few small goals: (1) no suits; (2) no 9-5 jobs; (3) no resume builders. I am impatient. I hate the idea of spending 20 years working to get the job I want today.

There are easier career paths than the road less traveled, which I happened to take. But, for those with creativity, a free will and a disdain for the status quo, here is a small map toward building wealth slowly, while living life as it happens.

Develop a Skill

Following your passion takes guts. Becoming an actor, a fashion designer or a professional basketball coach is not all glamor, glitz and million-dollar contracts. Instead, it is a lot of months figuring out how to pay the rent. To pay the bills without forfeiting the dream, develop a useful skill, preferably one in demand.

My skill happens to be writing (although I have dabbled as a Spinning instructor - get paid to workout!). For the last year, while trying to find my next professional coaching job and starting an online business, I have survived almost exclusively off the sales of my books: Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development, 180 Shooter and Hard2Guard: Skill Development for Perimeter Players.

There are more lucrative skills than self-publishing books in a niche market, but fortunately I have minimal needs and unfortunately I majored in American Literature, not Computer Science. The older brother of a friend attended barber school between high school and college. He paid his college bills by cutting hair in his dormitory as a licensed barber. The younger brother of a friend got certified as a personal trainer before he started college (now, any personal training certification earned without a degree or any academic background is somewhat dubious, but at some gyms, that is all you need) and worked part-time as a personal trainer while in school. Learning to be a great waitress or bartender could be a skill, just as web design or accounting. Most importantly, the skill should be something that does not require full-time work and that can either be done on one's own (cutting hair in the dorm, designing web pages) or is easy to find a job when necessary (waiter, bartender, personal trainer).

The purpose is not to have a job, but to have an income source during the down periods of your career ascension. A full-time job pays more, but it also requires time and energy which you want to focus on your real ambition. If you have a skill, you can always find a gig, make enough to pay the bills and save time and energy for the real goal. This is not about a back-up career; developing a skill is like financial insurance for the rough times. If you use your college education wisely, you can develop a useful skill for the future: take the requisite classes to become a math tutor; master a foreign language and become a translator; learn to design web pages; take SCUBA classes and become a SCUBA instructor. Universities have limitless opportunities which are oftentimes far less expensive than in the real world and most people ignore them. There are always part-time jobs for people with a skill, whether it is as a one-time guide for someone with rock climbing experience or a Mandarin interpreter. Those without a skill end up in temp jobs answering phones or substitute teaching for $10/hour, where a Spinning instructor can demand $30/hour and a great waitress/bartender can make even more.

Cost/Time

Whenever I am unemployed - which officially is most of the last five years - people encourage me to get a job. I search through job sites and try to find something interesting that pays well. Apparently, Craig's List is not the place to search for these jobs. Every time I find a possible job, it pays $9.00/hour. Not to be snobby, but with three certifications, a Master's degree and six published books, I am not working for a dollar more per hour than I made as a waiter 15 years ago unless the job offers something beyond a paycheck (learning a skill, gym membership, free dinners, etc).

I make money writing. I am by no means a professional writer and I do not write for the lucrative magazines. Men's Health will not even reply to my inquiries anymore and I stopped waiting for Sports Illustrated to call a couple years ago. However, I do write a couple columns. If I make $150 for a column, I could spend 15 hours writing the column and still make more per hour than the minimum wage jobs on Craig's List. I do not spend 15 hours on a column, so I come out ahead. That leaves me time to focus on my desired career path - training basketball players.

When I look at jobs, I evaluate the cost/time benefit. Again, these are tools for staying afloat while trying to make it in an ultra competitive field with occasional work. Occasionally, a lousy paying job is worth the time investment because it could develop into a skill, which provides financial insurance. For instance, when I was in college, I was an Intramural official. I made less than I made in high school as a kids' soccer referee. However, had I taken the job more seriously, I probably could have convinced the department to pay for me to get certified as a high school official because it would have helped the department's credibility. High school officials in my area make $67/ per game and the officials do back to back games. Working one day - 3-4 hours - per week would pay my rent and leave oodles of time for pursuing my other interests. So, beyond the cost/time analysis, decide whether a potential gig could lead to an acquired skill.

Short term verse long term income

The beauty of books is that they keep selling. I spend the vast majority of my time now on work that generates revenue over the long term. This month, for instance, I paid my rent primarily with money made from a book I wrote in December 2006. In April, I have a weekend gig that will pay my rent through the summer that I got because of a book I wrote in April 2006. Even writing for Associated Content pays off long term, as each month I get a performance bonus check whether I publish an article or not.

I can take a month off and not work a second and pay my rent with book sales from previously published books. That frees my time to pursue other opportunities to further my desired path. I can afford to take an internship to learn more and develop new skills because I know I have the income stream from previous work. These, in my opinion, are the best jobs to do, especially for those who follow their muse. When a book that took three weeks to write pays your rent over a year later, those three weeks appear far more useful. While the short term benefits may be small, the long term benefit may make such a gig more beneficial than taking the first part-time job available. When you work a part-time job, you make the hourly wage and that is all. However, if you create something with long term earning potential, the immediate benefits may be small, but the long term benefits may be much higher.

These three ideas help one pay the rent while trying to follow his dreams, rather than becoming another lawyer. However, once the rent is paid, how do you make it in the world?

First, never turn down a job/role in your desired field. Every job/role is a learning experience and could lead to meeting someone who can further your ambitions. I went from coaching a men's professional team to coaching a tiny high school girls' team. However, long term, the contacts I made at the high school level, by chance and by luck, could do more for me reaching my goals than anyone I met while coaching professionally. If you're an actor and you pursue acting because you love the craft, you should find enjoyment in the acting process whether the role is in a terrible movie or a blockbuster. One never knows which second director on a lousy film is about to make his big break and take you along for the ride.

Second, keep your eyes on the prize. My friends email me job openings in the NBA, believing that working for a year in an NBA office would lead to my desired coaching jobs. Actors often get sidetracked into other work in the entertainment field - I met Kal Penn (Taj from Van Wilder) when I was a script reader and he managed the script readers while we were both at UCLA. He wanted to be an actor and eventually left the production company because he was spending too much time working for a production company and not enough time acting, auditioning and trying to become an actor. Working in an office is not going to make me a better coach, just as working in an office is not going to make you a better actor. Just being close to the action is not being in the action. I don't want to work for the NBA; I want to coach.

Third, never ignore alternatives. I coach because I like to work with athletes. I want to help them achieve their goals. I want to be the voice that tells players they can make it when other people try to persuade them to find a more practical goal. I also coach because I see developing a player as a challenge. I feel it is a lot like problem-solving. So, when a friend approached with a business idea that was not coaching, but was a challenge, involved major problem solving and creativity and offered the opportunity to work with hundreds of athletes, I jumped feet first. It is not exactly coaching, but it did not violate any of the principles on the list thus far. It was a creative alternative which may enable me to meet all the goals above. A musician may want to be in a rock band, but if a brand wants you to write and perform a jingle for a commercial, it might be a positive alternative. A friend wanted to be a writer, but found he was better editing copy than writing it and now enjoys assisting the final product of well-written material as much as he ever enjoyed writing his own material.

In the world today, most people follow the standard career path. Few people follow their dreams. When I was 18, I read a quote by Henry David Thoreau that shaped the way I live. He wrote: "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." I vowed never to fall into that trap.

I cannot guarantee monetary or career success with these principles. However, I wake up every morning and pursue my two biggest interests - writing and training basketball players - and have plenty of time for hobbies - currently kickboxing, reading, cooking, traveling and more. I view my life as a success and know that I am building wealth slowly by laying the foundation, while following my desired path, never working 9-5, traveling the world and enjoying the challenges of the present day.