Everyone keeps telling you it’s time to stop doing shit you hate. You should drop the stuff that isn’t meaningful to you, and do epic shit that matters to you.
If you’re a reader of my blog, you know The 4-Hour Workweek is still required reading for leading a kickass life. But along comes The Zero Hour Workweek!
If you ever wanted to figure out what you’re passionate about and learn how to create your own dream job, Jonathan Mead has shared a brilliant ebook that you need to download right now and read. And it’s free!
Jonathan is the incredibly compelling author of Reclaim Your Dreams and blogs at Illuminated Mind. In The Zero Hour Workweek he tells his own story of how he liberated himself from a traditional job (which you know I’m all about) and started getting paid to be himself.
Society typically defines “work” as the stuff you don’t want to do, but have to do. Most people don’t know why this is the way it is, and they don’t take the initiative to question that assumption, so they accept that work is supposed to be a chore. But Jonathan recognized at an early age (like I did, like you did) that work and play shouldn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
“For a long time I didn’t know it was possible to stop participating. I didn’t realize that I could choose that, or something different. That was until I started testing this convention: the cultural consensus that work must not be fun.“
Jonathan figured out how to make work fun though, and that it is possible to get paid to exist! He’ll show you how to figure out what you’re good at and passionate about, and how to make money doing what you love.
“You have to choose your purpose. You have to choose the way you contribute value that is meaningful to others. You have to find a way to pay yourself for the value you share. “
He will show you how to create a clear, remarkable message that people resonate with. He will tell you why it’s important to use things like blogging and Twitter to find your tribe and build a community of enthusiastic people who share your passion.
You’ll learn how important it is to focus your time and your energy on the activities that will have the biggest impact, and build relationships with a core group of people who can hold you accountable to your goals.
If you want to get paid to be you, the key is that you have to find a way to provide real value to others while you’re doing what you love: maybe through selling an ebook or information product that you created, building a video training site, leading workshops, doing coaching, teleseminars, or consulting, for instance.
You’ll hear inspiring words of wisdom from folks who are are striving to live an authentic lifestyle, providing value doing what they care about: Danielle Laporte from White Hot Truth, Chris Guillebeau from The Art of Nonconformity, Glen Allsop from PluginID, Nathalie Lussier from Raw Foods Witch, and Charlie Gilkey from Productive Flourishing.
I was sincerely gracious to be a part of these Zero Hour Case Studies myself! I’m overwhelmingly honored to be included among these really remarkable people in the book.
When Jonathan asked me to contribute to his book, I thought to myself, “I don’t consider myself the next big lifestyle guru or expert.” I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s a long hard journey—one that I’m certainly still in the early stages of and one that I will always be on—because building your life around providing real value and what you’re passionate about is not a destination, it’s an evolving, changing exercise in personal growth. But Jon had some really spectacular questions for me that I thought you would find useful:
Why the World Needs People to Do What They Love for a Living
“People who love what they do simply do it better than people who are ‘just doing their job’! I don’t know yet if a world where everyone truly loves their work is possible, but I know that the individuals who make the biggest impact in the world and move society towards positive social change definitely tend to enjoy their work so much that they work 60-80 hour weeks. It doesn’t feel like work for them!”
If I Had to Start All Over
“I find that there are things you are good at, things that you enjoy doing, and things that you can get paid for. There is a small area where they overlap, and that is where your business will be most successful. To be honest, I got my start doing things I was good at and could get paid for but that I wasn’t that excited by. So it can be a struggle to reposition yourself and focus more on the things you enjoy. Try to remain focused on the things that you really enjoy and are passionate about from the very beginning and you’ll be on the path to getting paid to be you!”
On Empowering Your Tribe
“Build your community wisely. Use tools like Twitter and Facebook to connect with like-minded people. Answer comments and emails from your website. Be helpful, answer questions (LinkedIn Answers, Twitter search, and Yahoo Answers are good for this). Address complaints and misunderstandings amicably. Find and empower the biggest influencers in your community—let your followers shine!—and continually, graciously thank and reward your True Fans!”
Those are just some of my thoughts on the Zero Hour idea, just to give you a taste of how much Jonathan’s philosophy resonates with my own. But don’t stop there! Jonathan’s writing, ideas, and advice are about 17 times better than mine, and he’ll key you into finding your “secret weapon” for Getting Paid to Be You.
“Getting paid to exist is about eliminating the lines between ‘work’ and ‘life.’ It’s about demolishing the disconnect between the value you create for others on the one hand, and the passion and natural talents you have on the other.”
The Zero Hour Workweek will reframe your definition of work: it doesn’t have to be a chore, it’s the exchange of value with others. So what value will you share with the world?
Steal this ebook: The Zero Hour Workweek: How I Liberated Myself from the 9 to 5 By Getting Paid to Be Me
Feature photo by Diego Cupolo.
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Ah, I love the Zero Hour Workweek. Definitely one of my favorite ebooks (and in no small part because of the great people that Jonathan brought in to say their piece on the subject!). The arguments are really fantastic, though, and it’s very well-written and easily digestible.
Looking forward to your interview with Gary V, too! Seems like a hell of a guy, and I’m sure you’ll get some good stuff out of him.
Great post Cody. The Zero Hour Work Week is one of the best ebooks I have read lately, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t checked it out yet.
I am also going to do my best to wake up early for your interview with Gary Vaynerchuk, good luck with it!
This is a great e-book. Thanks for the refresher Cody! I’ll also try to wake up for the interview on Thursday!
Alan
You are doing great things Cody. Connecting with cool people and making a difference.
Thanks for the review of Jonathan’s book!
I really enjoyed the Zero Hour Work Week, one of the best reads I’ve seen in a while.
I’m looking forward to the Gary V. interview, I love that guy! Definitely worth getting up at 7 a.m. for that.
ZHWW (and yes I am coining that acronym right now) was a great ebook. I definitely suggest to all folks in the lifestyle development world as well as the regular 9-5′ers who are looking to change their life ASAP.
I can’t wait for the Gary Vaynerchuck Interview tomorrow. I already have my alarm set for 3:45 am. Going to be an early morning but well worth it. Notepad and pen are ready!!!
Dave
LifeExcursion & The Minimalist Path
Hey Cody!
Yep, I’ve already read Jonothan’s 0 Hour WW and I thought it was very inspiring. Of course, it is much easier said than done, but it gives a great indication of what is possible and definitely motivated me to keep going!
I have a couple of affiliate websites that I’m paying some more attention to now, I really need to bump up their rankings in google!
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers
Diggy
I have yet to download Johnathans ebook, but will do so immediately. Glad to see so many great contributors working together! We can never have enough inspiration and motivation in this line of work.
Thanks for taping the Gary V interview for us West Coast-ers (and props to @Nate & @Sean for getting up at 4 in the morning!). I just read Crush It yesterday…good stuff there. Who else is in the line-up for the new interview series? Looking forward to it!
Hey Brittany, how’d you get your hands on an advance copy!?
Unfortunately the Ustream co-hosted recording didn’t get both of us, it just got my side of the broadcast today. Super bummer that I blew this big opportunity. We had a few cool people on the line for the live discussion, which was fantastic conversation! Adam Baker from ManVsDebt and David Turnbull from Barefoot Geek for instance.
Anyway, I’m working with Ustream and Gary’s PR guy from Vaynermedia to see what else we can do so hopefully I will have something tangible to share with you all here soon.
Won’t be relying on Ustream again for interviews though. Dodgy! I’ll do my best to get set up with the right equipment to record through Skype. A few folks that I’ve spoken with in the past few months: Pam Slim (Escape from Cubicle nation), Clay Collins (Project Mojave), Jonathan Mead (Illuminated Mind), and Matt Kepnes (Nomadic Matt).
Hi Cody
I loved this book! And kudos for promoting Jonathan’s great piece of work. I had the privledge of a complimentary 1-on-1 coaching session with Jonathan a few months back, and I can say that he knows his stuff. I’m definitely going to be promoting this on my site.
And I’ve also heard of google chat, can you record conversations through that? I used it when talking with Jonathan and its nice and clear
Hey Cody,
I read and loved Jonathan’s 0HWW too – definitely makes me think
I think that part of Tim Ferris’ book is actually very much in line with Jonathan’s take on it though
. Like I thought the whole point of 4HWW was to minimize the excess “junk” and just focus on providing value
Jonathan takes that to the next level though – what if all you do is provide value, and enjoy doing it. Great concept, and I think it’s possible for more people now than ever before.
I read his other book as well, Reclaim Your Dreams – really enjoyed that one too!
Hi Cody,
It’s my first time on your site though I don’t normally leave a comment on non-dofollow blogs, I intended to leave one just to give you an applause for such a great post that is very insightful.
Haven’t read the ebook 0 hour workweek yet but I’m about to download it as I type this comment. Getting paid for something that you love doing than something that you’re forced of doing is a reward made in heaven.
BTW, I got here because I saw your comment at 9rules and I totally agree with you. I can’t find a reason why they rejected your blog when in fact their so called “list” are full of crappy blogs that nobody even reads! Your blog is great and you know it. Good job!
-Mathdelane
Hey Cody, this is my first visit to your site and I’m wondering why I haven’t been here before! Love everything that you’re doing. Keep up the great work! I’ve read the Zero Hour Work Week and it’s a great find. Thanks so much!
Laura-Jane