Turn Life's Milestones Into Business Opportunities

Most people think life is over when you hit your mid 40’s and early 50s.

They think that you’ve already missed the boat, are stuck in the mud, and just waiting for retirement.

But they are wrong.

And with everyone in our generation living better, and longer, this is the perfect age to start again.

And the best part is, you have years of wisdom and experience to use.

Today I will show you how you can turn life's milestones into business opportunities.

But first…

Misconceptions

First, let's dispel one big belief.

The one where people think entrepreneurship is for young people.

WRONG!

You are not too old, and here’s proof…

And this is not a new phenomenon.

In the 1700s, a guy named Ben Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, retired at 42.

He was just getting started.

From there, he went on to rack up a pretty impressive list of accomplishments.

• Invented Bifocals

• Started fire insurance

• Invented lightning rod

• Invented lightning bells

• Invented the catheter 😬 

• Invented the Franklin stove

• Invented the Glass Armonica

And as a statesman, he had a huge part in the revolutionary war. He basically talked France into joining the USA in the fight against the British which ultimatly helped the USA defeat them.

He also had a hand in authoring some of THE most important documents in history, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution

Not bad.

And that was in the 1700’s.

Now in the 2000s, it is the best time in the history of mankind to build a one-person business.

There are TONS of opportunities out there.

And you have a head start…

Your Milestones = Opportunities

Another common thing I hear is that people think they have to start from scratch.

That is not true either.

If you really think about it, you’d realize you know a lot more than you think you do because…

• You’ve been in the workforce for years.

• You have 40-plus years of hobbies and life experience.

• You lived in the pre-internet era (always an advantage over the young peeps in my humble opinion).

That is where you start mining for your business opportunities because those skills, experiences, or a combination of both are in demand.

They could be deployed in a variety of business models like:

• Business Consulting

• Coaching or mentoring

• Freelance writing or editing

• Online tutoring or teaching

• Copywriting or content creation

Or something totally new that combines your skills and experience applied to a new technology (like AI for instance).

For example, here are some of the ways I’ve leveraged my skills and experiences to create businesses over the years.

My organization, communication, documentation skills, and love of software tinkering were skills I developed as a draftsman and member of an engineering team. They are also great assets for a Google Ads manager (old skills combined with new tech).

I also learned that 17 years of experience as a draftsman and project estimator to land Google Ads clients. I could talk shop with 3D printing and industrial clients in a way most other Google Ads managers could not.

I used my love of music and guitar playing to eke out a singer-songwriter career and then into a music marketing blog that still generates a small income nearly 15 years later.

Hell, I even made money running a fantasy football blog and podcast that I ran back in 2006 through 2008. Also, the mindset required to manage a fantasy football team is very similar to running Google Ads campaigns.

With fantasy football, I’d pick and manage players to compete against other fantasy players. With Google Ads, I’m picking and managing creative assets to run against other Google Ads managers in a particular market.

Can you imagine how you might be able to do the same with your skills, experiences, and interests?

Good, now let’s take it a step further…

Two Step Formula

To turn your milestones into opportunities, you must start mining your past experiences, clarifying your wants, and looking for ways to turn that into income.

Here’s the two-step formula, that I’ve used to create this newsletter, that you can use to start your own unique one-person business:

1. Learn about Ikigai, “future self,” and your “why” - so that when you start mapping your milestones (step 2), you’ll be able to refine them. These will help you identify your strengths, what you love, what you can get paid for, etc. I covered this in-depth in my post about becoming more future-proof.

2. Map out your milestones - Write… errr braindump… everything about your work, business, or personal history. Visit your past to get clues about your future.

   You’ll gain confidence by seeing your progress. You’ll get clues about what you want in life. What you’re good at. Where you can help. This is a key exercise in succeeding. Per the book “10x Is Easier Than 2x” there is research that backs this up ( more on that in the future when I’m done reading it).

   For maximum effect, do this in public with a blog/newsletter. A quick way to get the ball rolling is to start a newsletter. That is how I started this project. I began by writing about my 19 job experiences and sharing things I know and am learning along the way.

   I’m using BeeHiiv, which is free to start and gives you both an email and a website in one. You can sign up here (by the way: that is an affiliate link which means I get a commission if you click the link and decide to upgrade sometime in the future).

Once you have gone through these two steps, you’ll have a clearer picture of what types of opportunities will suit you.

Then you’ll be able to look for ways to monetize, and before you know it you’ll have your own business.

Want to talk about it? Book a Kickstart Consultation. Start here.

Music To Kick Ass Too

At first, I was going to discuss Ben Franklin’s glass harmonica in the music portion of this post. But I decided against it for two reasons:

1. Maybe it’s just me, but the instrument just isn’t very pleasant sounding. That is not how I want you to feel after reading this post.

2. Second, the story behind it is kind of weird. Evidently, the instrument is considered dangerous (per this video).

Instead, I wanted to leave you with a good taste in your mouth by getting you jacked up your potential and the future opportunities you are about to experience.

So I chose a song that ALWAYS gets me jacked up.

It’s a cover of the Twisted Sister song “Stay Hungry” by a band called Fozzy.

The original version is good, but the crunchier distortion on the guitars on the cover turns up the intensity.

Check it out…

🤘 

Well, that should do it. Thanks again for reading.

Have a good one,

Corey

Oh and before you go…