Saturday, February 14, 2009
Saturday, June 21, 2008
First fork in the road.
11 days on and the enthusiasm has waned slightly. Not from reality biting hard, nor a lack of interest. This is all about L.I.F.E rearing its often ironic head.
In the past 2 weeks I have returned to work with my broken ankle and had a harsh reality check the day I returned to sign my new contract. I have been put on a fixed term 6 month contract with zero chance of continuation at this point in time. To top it off, I have suffered another harsh salary cut to add insult to injury. Finances being the single biggest constraint holding me back from leaping headlong into property, it really hits home how immensely arduous our task will be to raise enough capital to garner our 15% deposit for the first (of many - yes please!!) investment properties.
A chance encounter with a colleague of mine revealed a number of glaring oversights in our grand plan - permanent full time employment with decent rewards. In the past 18 months since graduation from my undergraduate degree I have struggled through months of job seeking and have come to the inevitable conclusion that in the field of Environmental (albeit any) Science - you simply can not demand respect and attention without either A) being a genius and B) biting the bullet and going the whole hog and completing a PHD. Both seem fairly insurmountable as I type this.
However, knowing zilch regarding postgraduate training and qualifications, the more I explore the option, the more I come to enjoy entertaining the idea. What could be so bad about spending 3~4 years working on an entirely selfless project that furthers the field I enjoy... well slipping back into the cruisy university student lifestyle does seem attractive at this point. But 4 years... that's a long time. The market waits for no man. PHD certified or not.
I have 6 months to weigh up my options as I continue my employment with UTS. I only pray that's enough time. I will let you know I guess. However the potential rewards are undeniable. The salary I can command with a PHD will definitely assist when it comes to acquiring the funds needed for the deposit and associated costs. But by then the ebb in the market will have passed and prices will be rocketing once again and we will most likely have missed the boat for this decade cycle. If only I had started down this path a few years ago. It would have made all the difference. The burden of hindsight I suppose.
In the past 2 weeks I have returned to work with my broken ankle and had a harsh reality check the day I returned to sign my new contract. I have been put on a fixed term 6 month contract with zero chance of continuation at this point in time. To top it off, I have suffered another harsh salary cut to add insult to injury. Finances being the single biggest constraint holding me back from leaping headlong into property, it really hits home how immensely arduous our task will be to raise enough capital to garner our 15% deposit for the first (of many - yes please!!) investment properties.
A chance encounter with a colleague of mine revealed a number of glaring oversights in our grand plan - permanent full time employment with decent rewards. In the past 18 months since graduation from my undergraduate degree I have struggled through months of job seeking and have come to the inevitable conclusion that in the field of Environmental (albeit any) Science - you simply can not demand respect and attention without either A) being a genius and B) biting the bullet and going the whole hog and completing a PHD. Both seem fairly insurmountable as I type this.
However, knowing zilch regarding postgraduate training and qualifications, the more I explore the option, the more I come to enjoy entertaining the idea. What could be so bad about spending 3~4 years working on an entirely selfless project that furthers the field I enjoy... well slipping back into the cruisy university student lifestyle does seem attractive at this point. But 4 years... that's a long time. The market waits for no man. PHD certified or not.
I have 6 months to weigh up my options as I continue my employment with UTS. I only pray that's enough time. I will let you know I guess. However the potential rewards are undeniable. The salary I can command with a PHD will definitely assist when it comes to acquiring the funds needed for the deposit and associated costs. But by then the ebb in the market will have passed and prices will be rocketing once again and we will most likely have missed the boat for this decade cycle. If only I had started down this path a few years ago. It would have made all the difference. The burden of hindsight I suppose.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
This is where it starts...
On Friday 6th of June 2008 my partner Chris and I went and watched a movie we had been anticipating for the longest time - The Sex & The city Movie. The single resounding emotion I felt throughout and that lingered afterwards was pure and simple. Envy.
Yes - it's a movie about women, for women, and yet the lessons gained from this one movie cemented the frustration I have been experiencing for such a long time. As corny and cliche as it was, all of the girls had 'made it'. They all had smashingly stellar careers, great lifestyles. Essentially everything we wanted, and everything we did not have. Yet.
My desire to break the mold and tread my own path was proving stressful. The pressures of reality was ever-imposing on our finances and future prospects. Bills were inevitable, going to a job we hated was inevitable. Work was simply a means to infinite ends. However, since moving away from home nearly 8 months ago it has become ever clearer that the 9-5 rat race just is not meant for us. Aimlessly grinding our adult lives away to fulfill others dreams and financial prospects was a dead end. We are smart. We are clever. We can do better. Much better.
So late the following Sunday evening at precisely 10:02pm we had a sudden epiphany. Money is out there, surrounding everything we do. We have been educated to believe that money is ever-elusive and only people who are lucky, insanely smart, or born into wealth can be rich. But if relatively average people could become millionaires, then why can't we!? A fair question that certainly warranted further investigation.
And so we did. We quickly brain stormed 7 short goals that we considered important to our future success, no matter what the endeavor proved to become.
Yet there was one that caught my eye titled "How you could build a $10 Million Property Portfolio in just 10 Years" by a supposedly rich guy named Peter Spann. Well, the guy on the cover looked kind of eccentric - a trait most radical billionaires seem to inherently exude. Plus the glasses were a nice touch. Smart guys can be trusted.
So I bought the book and that was that. Now the hard part, actually reading it and staying motivated. Things are looking great. For once in our lives, we have a clear and consciously inspired goal. To succeed, and succeed well!
Let us hope Fate has grand plans awaiting us very soon.
Yes - it's a movie about women, for women, and yet the lessons gained from this one movie cemented the frustration I have been experiencing for such a long time. As corny and cliche as it was, all of the girls had 'made it'. They all had smashingly stellar careers, great lifestyles. Essentially everything we wanted, and everything we did not have. Yet.
My desire to break the mold and tread my own path was proving stressful. The pressures of reality was ever-imposing on our finances and future prospects. Bills were inevitable, going to a job we hated was inevitable. Work was simply a means to infinite ends. However, since moving away from home nearly 8 months ago it has become ever clearer that the 9-5 rat race just is not meant for us. Aimlessly grinding our adult lives away to fulfill others dreams and financial prospects was a dead end. We are smart. We are clever. We can do better. Much better.
So late the following Sunday evening at precisely 10:02pm we had a sudden epiphany. Money is out there, surrounding everything we do. We have been educated to believe that money is ever-elusive and only people who are lucky, insanely smart, or born into wealth can be rich. But if relatively average people could become millionaires, then why can't we!? A fair question that certainly warranted further investigation.
And so we did. We quickly brain stormed 7 short goals that we considered important to our future success, no matter what the endeavor proved to become.
- Be uniquely successful;
- Discover a sustainable niche;
- Provide a service/product we love and enjoy;
- Work for ourselves;
- Reach financial sustainability through independence;
- Get ahead by mastering our skills by conquering other peoples mistakes and effectively dodging pitfalls and traps;
- and most importantly: to enjoy the thrill and excitement of shaping our futures.
Yet there was one that caught my eye titled "How you could build a $10 Million Property Portfolio in just 10 Years" by a supposedly rich guy named Peter Spann. Well, the guy on the cover looked kind of eccentric - a trait most radical billionaires seem to inherently exude. Plus the glasses were a nice touch. Smart guys can be trusted.
So I bought the book and that was that. Now the hard part, actually reading it and staying motivated. Things are looking great. For once in our lives, we have a clear and consciously inspired goal. To succeed, and succeed well!
Let us hope Fate has grand plans awaiting us very soon.
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