What are you dreaming of? It has long been my goal to work for myself. In my early years, I’d been trained that a person got up before the sun, went to work for eight or nine hours and came home beat. For this, you got a paycheck at the end of the week, or two, or a month. All the fathers on our street did the same. When our growing family needed more income, my mother traded her nights tor work in a thankless factory. All my life, one model: Trade your hours for money.

My dad was suddenly laid off when typesetting became obsolete. After two years he found another job, and he began dreaming about creating his own business. After a few years, he partnered with my brother. Their slide duplication business did alright for many years, but they didn’t foresee desktop publishing.  Business dwindled and dad again found himself again trading hours for dollars, working with my brother in a different manufacturing industry.

Along the way, some mega companies and corporations buckled and folded. The idea of being totally loyal to a single entity began to sound too much putting all your eggs in one basket. You could give a lifetime to a company and instead of retiring fully funded, you could lose your pension, retirement benefits and health coverage.

My dad often spoke about another business model, one I had not really seen up-close. Multiple streams of income. Creatives are largely familiar with this model as they pursue their artistic endeavors. Office jobs, food service, collections, or those jobs that pay a tiny hourly wages but make up for it with tips or commissions. Also they pursue their passions until it financially overshadows the main source of income. Teach your craft to someone not as far along as you are creates another stream.

There are pros and cons of each. As a hustler, you’re responsible for everything including billing, paperwork, marketing, and the next paying gig. As a creative, not wanting to be defined by hourly work, I always had a side hustle and occasionally, the side hustle carried us through between hourly jobs.

How to develop three streams of income? Or four? Or more? There are far more forward thinkers than me. Lots of great people to read, learn from to help you gather steam while stoking your own fire. Ideally, income streams that could be checked on every now and then and earn money without constant attention. In essence, making money while doing other things,  these things allowed you to multiply your efforts.

My goals were simple. I wanted to help others in some way, double my income and stop trading hours for dollars, working by the project for a pre-named chunk of money. My next stream of income will not only pay for itself but pay me.

It comes down to this: Just start something somewhere. Begin. Take a leap of faith, the next step and then figure out the  one after that. My dad went on to other dreams and started other businesses. He and my brother launched a second business that my brother runs to this day, a decade after our dad passed. His products have traveled the globe. After a few false starts with various enterprises, my intellectual property has graced four countries. I’m pleased with the progress. It seems one idea leads to another, dreams like strings of lights.

Write down all that you dream of doing. What can become an income stream. Choose one. It doesn’t have to be the easiest, but maybe the one you’re most excited about. What’s your next step?

If you want to share, I’ll cheer you on.