I’m finished with The Jump manuscript!

The book will launch on September 28th, 2019 in honor of my wife (it’s her birthday) whom the book is dedicated. 

You can preorder The Jump on Amazon here. If you purchase the physical copy, you get the Kindle edition for free so I recommend the print option.

I’m also giving away a free digital copy of Path of the Freelancer to those who purchase the new book. Fill out the form on this landing page for details on how to redeem. 

It happened. We’re now over halfway through the year 2019.

Unlike last year, I’ve pulled back from the pace at which I reflect back and look forward (at least in writing them on this blog). This created space contributed to my focus on finishing the repayment of our student loans, and the completion of my next book.

And, it allowed me the energy to work on writing out my second longest article ever (The first being this one about the Last Jedi) as I reflected on the college repayment journey.

This student loan completion step is part of the creation of our new life. On top of rebuilding my career and building a strong financial foundation (while writing two books,), we’ve also bought a house, purchased a minivan, had two MORE kids (five total), and switched churches/communities.

This was done in five years, which is a bit baffling (and awesome) considering we were financially starting from scratch to make it happen. God was doing a great deal of the heavy lifting, and I'm super grateful because it's been hard even with His direct and indirect influence.

For the remainder of this checkpoint update, I'll revisit the initial goals set up for the year in January, the progress I've made (or not made), and a series of quotes I've been collecting. Let's start with the completion of a major financial milestone.

It's done.

We made it happen.

Our student loans are now paid off.

$154,771.83 In Ten Years.

• Base Loans: $95,993.38
• Capitalized Interest (while attending college): $13,028.59
• Accruing Interest (post graduation): $45,749.86

We’re incredibly grateful for the people, opportunities, lessons, and development that have been a part of this journey towards greater financial freedom in our life. 

But, this complex journey comes with a bit of anguish.

"I don't want to live anymore!"

Those were the words, Matthew heard from his younger sister. It was a milestone moment he'd later recognize as part of the tragic unfolding over the following decade, ultimately leading to the death of his younger sibling. As part of my inspirational people interview series, I explore Matthew's story in this discussion below.

It has arrived!

As you'd expect, I'm super excited to receive my first physical proof of The Jump: From Chaos To Clarity For Your Striving Small Business. 

In the Greek mythological story of Sisyphus, the king of Ephyra is punished by the gods for overly promoting himself as powerful and vital, and for his greedy and deceptive nature. For eternity, he's forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down when it nears the top. For all time, he's cursed to push and re-push the rock up the mountain.

And, I can relate. When owning and operating Noodlehead Marketing, I felt this burden, specifically when it came to our new project sales. To survive (make payroll, among other things) required a large amount of effort each month. But at the start of the next one, we had to start over from zero. It was brutal, and a process that consistently overwhelmed me.

Interesting enough, accepting the reality that this is how life works, is our stepping stone out of the curse. For visionaries who hate the mundane, this drudgery is the path out of the eternal cycle.

After launching a small business, and effectively tackling freelancing, I've discovered a powerful way to position a business from strength. Not wanting to build another company was the constraint that illuminated this strategy.

Debt is a great parallel to this reality. When we buy things with it, we are doing so with a short and long-term disadvantage. Not only do we pay interest, but when we finish paying for it, we start from scratch financially. This usually perpetuates us leveraging debt to get what we want, causing us to pay significantly more for everything. It doesn't have to be this way, and you don't want to start your business from this position.

In this guest article for StartupNation, I explore how I'm uniquely positioned now as a freelancer to build a strong business (even though I don't intend to), and how you can learn from that dynamic to do the same. Or, to discover how wonderful freelancing can truly be.

Click here to visit their website and read the article.

Ideally, we prevent a chaotic and rogue oriented business from ever happening in the first place, but the reality is most of us won’t. And, sometimes this rogue approach is the very thing needed to pioneer in an uncertain and competitive marketplace.

But, it should be our mission to translate that chaos towards a state of order. That is where to find the value, and where we maximize profit. 

Explore the four pillars of a strong business missional strategy

On the horizon of possibilities, visionaries see all of the potential visions. And this is their Achilles heel. They see all the paths they can take, but they struggle on the choice of which one to take. Starting everything (with good intentions), and finishing nothing is their hallmark. 

They are chronic abandoners, with a wake of broken promises on their path. They seek to shape reality as opposed to accepting reality for what it is. And the great clash ensues.