I don’t know (or care) if the title of this post is gramatically correct, but the subject is one that really floats my boat (man!)

I’ve just taken the family for a break from work up to Whitby on the North East coast of England. It’s a small fishing town with a history in whaling and seafaring (Captain James Cook of ‘Oh look I’ve found Australia’ fame learned his trade there), and I absolutely love it – out of season when it’s cold, wet and blustery.

We stayed on a pretty but remote headland overlooking the bay and spent the days seal-watching and walking on deserted beaches (spookier than you might think) and the evenings drinking in front of the fire after the kids were tucked up in bed.

We had a great time.

But what does my personal life have to do with Internet Marketing?

Well it made me realise that IM is by no means the only way of living an alternative lifestyle. Whitby seems to be a magnet for all kinds of hippy, drop out (I mean that in a positive way), clued up and chilled out people that you could ever hope to meet.

There are SO many people in the world who have decided to do things their own way, and live how THEY want to live.

The common factor?

Not ONE of the people I met worked for someone else. There wasn’t a 9-5 in sight.

We met a bloke who was a songwriter, had lived in New York and Italy for a while and now made his living brewing the best espresso coffee I’ve had for a long while in his little sea front shop. He didn’t seem to make masses of money but that didn’t matter as he chatted with us for a long time and made our children ‘babycinos’ which are like cappucino coffees but made from frothed milk and choc sprinkles.

Then there was the man who lived in a tiny rented cottage with probably one of the best views across the bay EVER and went out on his little boat three times a week to collect the lobsters he’d caught in his pots, and then sold them to expensive restauarants. The rest of the time he spent with his family. Again not much money but does it really matter?

Then there was the man who bought a cottage and rents it out in the holiday season for around £600 ($1200) a week while he travels the world with his family, and comes back to spend the winter in the bay because like me, he thinks it’s the best time of year. We met him as he was preparing to set of for Goa in India, knowing that the rental income from his cottage would plop into his bank account each month, after the agent who handled everything took their commission.

In fact when I explained what I did for a living it seemed that I was the one tied to work!

Ten years ago my wife and might have said ‘It’s not for us – we need security and a house, but the weirdest thing happened when we had kids. We stopped wanting security and started wanting TIME instead, and so we happily leave home for weeks, months at a time to travel whereever we fancy.

We’ll be in France for a month or longer in summer. As long as I can get to an internet connection then we’re fine.

There is no security in life.

None – Nada – BUGGER ALL,  guys.

Lightening, buses, cancer, heart attacks, sharks, large breasts (so I’m told) all finish off a certain number of people every year without fail. So whatever age you’re at I urge you to ‘work backwards’ now.

Find out what you want from life – what’s your ideal lifestyle?

Waking in the morning, having a long coffee while I check my email then doing some admin and some writing. That’s pretty much my ideal work life because I love it. Combine that with a great view of the sea or of the French countryside and things couldn’t be much better. Add the wife and kids pottering about the place and I’m in heaven. This is possible because I’m a full-time internet marketer.

So if your ideal is waking up, doing some gentle gardening, a bit of admin then running a market stall three afternoons a week, work how how to do it. It’s much easier when you have the goal in mind. Can you sell up and buy a small plant nursery?, even if you have to live in a smaller house or have less money?

Or if you’d rather travel the world, you’d have to do it as an Internet Marketer, travel writer or something similar. Could you rent your house to fund it?

Get the picture? – outrageous dreams are only outrageous if you don’t follow them. Once you start looking at the nitty gritty and get brave enough to give up a little of what you think of as security, you’re onto a winner.

In my view a job isn’t security – it’s a sentence. Every time I’ve lost a job there’s a been a sense of panic – closely followed by a feeling of utter freedom.

I’ve wandered off on the hippy trail again – sorry. But it still holds true – think about what you want first, then work backwards to try to work out how to get it. The lifestyle that appeals to me won’t appeal to everyone, but vive la difference eh?

oh – and what does all this have to do with Internet Marketing?

er……. well I got a blog post out of it 🙂

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