The hidden danger of staying stagnant

Candidate,

One of my favorite phrases from one of my favorite TV shows, West Wing, was when the President would say:

"OK, what's next?"

He got the point. He didn't need to discuss it more. He'd made a decision and was ready to move on.

"What's next?"

I love this phrase for the complexity beneath it. When you say, "What's next?" you're not deliberating or belaboring a point. You've made the call, now you're ready to move on.

You're also looking forward instead of looking backward.

Notice that in every area of life, the very best keep looking ahead:

Exercise: "I added 75 lbs to my deadlift. What's next?"
Job: "Got a 40% raise. Now what?" (Btw, it doesn't always have to be about more money.)
Creativity: I finally wrote that e-book I've always been talking about. What's next?"

This isn't the kind of thing you really talk about publicly, or you'll get comments like, "Candidate, things are good. You should just be happy."

I am happy. But I'm not satisfied.

Not many people know this, but when I co-founded PBWiki (the Silicon Valley collaboration startup I did before IWT), I was consulting on the side.

I freelanced for venture capital firms and a few other organizations.

Why?

Not because I couldn't pay my bills (although the side income helped).

Not because I was unfocused. Not even because of that old cliché about "putting all your eggs in one basket."

I did freelance consulting because it gave me OPTIONS. And it can do the same for you.

Got a great job? Freelancing shows your boss that you're a go-getter. (It also gives you a little extra leverage for your next salary negotiation.)

Run an online business? Freelancing not only generates capital to reinvest in your business, but also lets you peek inside other businesses — so you can brainstorm new products, or get ahead of trends before your competitors do.

So what's next?

Answering that question is the most important thing you will do this month.

So do me a favor. Click on the button below, spend 5 minutes learning about Earn1K, and DECIDE whether now is the time to build a side business that adds an extra $1,000+ to your bottom line next month.