J.D. Moyer

science fiction author, beatmaker, against fascism

Category: Money/Personal Finance Page 7 of 8

The Expensive Cheese Test (When The Happiness Curve Stops Rising)

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On February 23

In Metaprogramming, Money/Personal Finance

The pinnacle of wealth-derived happiness.

The other day I read this post on Cal Newport’s Study Hacks blog.  Cal describes a pattern that can be observed among many twenty-somethings, the quixotic quest for the “perfect job” or career that, if found, will result in happiness and satisfaction.

Cal makes a convincing argument that the attitudinal and work habits of an individual are more closely related to happiness than finding one’s dream job or “following your passion.”  He contrasts himself to 4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss, who he quotes as saying:

“But if it’s tolerable mediocrity, and you’re like, ‘Well, you know it could be worse. At least I’m getting paid.’ Then you wind up in a job that is slowly killing your soul.”

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Why Do Record Labels Still Exist? (Horse Poop and Easy Street)

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On February 18

In Creative Work/Career, Money/Personal Finance, Music Business

These days you can sell the stuff.

Imagine that you are an entrepreneur in New York City in the early 1900’s.  Your company offers a single service — cleaning up horse poop.

Business is gangbusters.  There is no shortage of horse poop.  Every buggy needs a horse (or multiple horses) to drag it, and every horse poops multiple times a day.  You can’t hire horse poop shovelers fast enough to keep up with demand.  In fact, despite your best efforts, the entire city is covered in horse poop.  New York City’s 100,000 horses are producing 2.5 million pounds of poop every day.

One day, you notice a weird-looking contraption in the street.  It’s buggy, but it has no horse.  It’s a horseless-f*cking-carriage!

It’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever seen in your life.  It will never catch on.  You go back to counting your poop-shoveling money.

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Distillation — Figuring Out The One Thing That Matters

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On January 5

In Creative Work/Career, Metaprogramming, Money/Personal Finance, Writing

Distilling Japanese whisky (not what this post is about).

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the idea that in every field, art form, or “area of life,” there is ONE thing that matters above all else.  One thing, that if you get it right, success in that area is inevitable.

I’m naturally a detail oriented person, so it’s a constant challenge for me to zoom out and see the big picture.  I know from experience that focusing on the wrong details is just a waste of time.  I easily fall victim to the “all tactics, no strategy” trap.  I’ll make myself long lists of things to do to achieve my goals, without taking the time to deeply consider my overall strategy and approach.  I’ll endlessly try to fix things that should just be discarded.  I’ll make judgment calls based on details that I personally appreciate, instead of details that are truly important.

In order to hone my “big picture” skills, I’ve been conducting the following thought experiment: pick one field, art form, or “life area” and try to distill all my knowledge and experience of that area into a single simple idea, the one thing that matters more than anything else in terms of effectiveness, fulfillment, and success by any measure.

The experiment has yielded a number of “Aha!” moments.  I don’t expect you to agree with my results (or care about the same areas), but conducting the same experiment yourself might yield an epiphany or two.

Here are some of my questions and results, in areas that are relevant to my own life:

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Creating a Personal Economic Plan

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On December 17

In Advice for Young People, Creative Work/Career, Money/Personal Finance

This post is a continuation of What’s Your Personal Economic Plan?

What Can You Do? What Suits Your Temperament?

Now there's a plan.

There are a few ways to make money.  There is passive income, which involves no effort beyond cashing checks.  This could be from investment income (interest and dividends), rents (if rents exceed maintenance expenses), passive ownership share in a profitable business, and royalties (from music, books, and performances).

There is the possibility of having a job, with salary and benefits.

There is freelance, or independent work, where you charge a client for services delivered (on a job, hourly, or daily basis).

There is the entrepreneurial route, starting, or gaining an ownership stake in, a profitable business.

Your spouse, significant other, or family might be willing to support you, but this can mean sacrificing a lot of economic autonomy.

There’s also crime, but in the end crime doesn’t pay.

Part of creating a strong personal economic plan is understanding your own temperament.  What are you suited for, and more importantly, what are you not suited for?  The big “traps” in my opinion are as follows:

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What's Your Personal Economic Plan?

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On December 15

In Advice for Young People, Creative Work/Career, Money/Personal Finance

College grads circa 1892.

I clearly remember the excitement and difficulties of my first year or two out of college.  There was one day in particular — I remember feeling things couldn’t get any worse (which, I now believe, is never true, things can always get worse, and conversely, they can always get better).  That particular day in 1993 I had no job, no car, and nowhere to live (I was staying at my mom’s place in Berkeley in a spare room).  My recently completed undergraduate degree was in Rhetoric & Communications — not exactly a fast track to a lucrative career.  My prospects were poor, and what I remember about that particular day was that two different girls dumped me.  Should I even try to explain that?  I don’t think so.  At the time it felt like icing on the cake — my cake of personal misery.

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