⚖ “Finding balance between retirement and today”

Reader Adam Hansen recently sent me his automated money flow. To view this email as a web page, [click here]() Today in The Rich Life newsletter: - [Adam Hansen’s automated money flow: “I’m working on finding balance”](#module1) - [An exercise that will help you turn your skills into businesses (from my Earnable program)](#module2) - [Oh God](#module3) []“I’m working on finding balance between a comfortable retirement and a Rich Life today” Reader Adam Hansen recently sent me his automated money flow. Adam was inspired to chart out his income distribution for the first time because he saw me share how another reader had done it. [Adam's automated system]() [Click to enlarge]() Here’s what Adam says about the process and what he learned: "The biggest benefit for me was seeing how much of my income I’m living on day to day. It made me more comfortable with how much or little my emergency fund is. It also helped me realize that I can make a pivot in my career path even at a lesser salary if that’s what’s needed ... I’d like to add some aspirational fun money savings goals too ... Even though I think I’m saving enough for retirement, I’m still concerned it’s not enough. I play the miles-and-points game to keep my costs down and get outsized value for my travel adventures. Last month, with your Rich Life challenge, I picked up a Brunello Cucinelli scarf. I found a used one from a reputable source, because I’m not in the position to buy directly yet. (It’s so soft and comfortable!!) I’m working on finding balance between having enough for a comfortable retirement and not over-sacrificing in the present. I don’t know many people who think like that." [Adam Hansen] I love that Adam is realizing that there is a balance to living a Rich Life … and then working to achieve it. Adam has also laid out a basic [conscious spending plan]() (see ch. 4 of [my book]()). I love how he is thinking both short term and long term. Way to go, Adam! Remember, I want to see how YOU have adapted my systems to your own finances. Keep sending in your charts and spreadsheets and stories. []My simple process for translating your skills into profitable business ideas In yesterday’s email, I introduced you to a process to start finding a profitable business idea. (This process comes from my program on starting your own business, [Earnable]().) To recap: - Step 1: Do a personal inventory by listing out all of your skills, knowledge, life experiences, etc. - Step 2: Ask your friends to give you a list of things you’re good at. I like to call the items on your list “nuggets.” They aren’t fully fleshed out business ideas, but they don’t need to be at this point. All we’re doing right now is brainstorming or mining for these little nuggets. If you did the exercise yesterday, you’ll have a list of “nuggets.” These are interests, skills, knowledge, traits, etc., that you could potentially turn into a business. (If you haven’t done the exercise, take a few minutes to do it now.) But people don’t buy “interests,” “skills,” or “traits.” Instead, they buy products or services. For now, we’re going to focus on services. Here’s an example of what I mean. Maybe one of your qualities is “I’m good with dogs.” That’s not something people would pay you money for. A service is something that solves a problem or delivers a benefit, like “I can help you train your pets.” Even if you don’t like animals, you know businesses that cater to pet owners. It’s key that you start thinking about business ideas in terms of services, not qualities. Most people have an approach to work that goes, “Here’s what I’m good at. Do you have any work for me?” And of course they get ignored because they haven’t taken the time to communicate what problem they can actually help solve. Here’s a tip: To check if your service is actually a service, you should be able to explain it by saying, “I can help you (some service) so that you can (some benefit).” Here are a couple of examples of qualities that can be positioned as services: Quality: Great with animals Related service: Pet sitting. “I can help watch your pets while you’re on vacation, so you can relax and enjoy yourself knowing your pet is taken care of.” Quality: PowerPoint whiz Related service: Presentation design. “I can help you create business presentations so you can save time and money while looking good for your clients.” When you find yourself thinking about your skills, always take it a step further and ask, “How can this be translated into a service?” Remember, your service should always tie into some benefit — an end result that the client would actually care about. Let’s say you’re great with Photoshop (skill) so you decide to do web design (service). But your clients don’t care about web design — they care that a good-looking website has increased credibility (benefit). And ultimately, what they really care about is the increased sales as a result of that credibility (“end” benefit). Pretend you’re the client and ask, “So what?” “Oh, you offer project management services? So what? Why would I care? … Oh, it will save me time, headache, and money? Tell me more!” This seems simple, but clients often don’t make the connection between service and benefit — you have to make it clear to them. Here’s an example of what you should end up with at the end of this step: [Potential services] You’ll probably come up with some ideas that you already know you’re never going to do — that’s totally fine. You’re not going to try to make money from all these ideas right now. You’re just getting all your ideas down on paper. After you’ve gotten ideas written down, the next step is to organize these potential services by fields. Think of fields as the industries or “buckets” that your services can fall into but that aren’t specific services themselves. Some examples of fields: - Business management - Marketing - Automotive services - Design - Personal development Organizing your business ideas into fields will make your life a lot easier later. Here’s an example of what part of your list might look like after you organized it into services and fields: [Services] You get the idea. Pretty simple, but it will make your big list much easier to work with. An added benefit is that thinking in terms of fields will help you come up with other, related services. What other marketing services are there? What other writing or pet care services can you come up with? Hint: Google “Pet care services” and you’ll find tons. This weekend, make a list of possible ideas like this. Monday, I’ll show you how to pick the winners from the list. If you’ve already got an idea that you think could work, it’s time for the next step — validating the idea and then turning it into a business. I outline exactly how to do that in Earnable. [Click here to find out more](). If you’re curious how Earnable works, my team is ready to give you a behind-the-scenes tour of the program. My student support team is giving an exclusive inside peek at Earnable today at 4pm ET / 1pm PT ([see your time zone]()). They’ll show you everything that’s included and answer any questions you have. No need to register. [Just click here today at 4pm ET / 1pm PT](). I hope we’ll see you then. []Oh God [Love is blind]() [Signature] WHAT TO DO NEXT JOIN: If you’ve already got an idea and want to know how to turn it into a business, I outline exactly how to do that in Earnable. [Check it out here](). [SIGN UP]() ATTEND: My student support team is giving an exclusive inside peek at Earnable today at 4pm ET / 1pm PT. [Click here to join](). 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