Learning my way through life has been on the back-burner simmering away for a couple of years now. A lot has changed in our world and in my life as well. I have recently been given a forced transfer at work which will in effect reduce my income by 10 weeks a year. On the surface this is something that will make things difficult financially but that may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I am hoping to use the onset of a drop in income to force me to create a side business blogging both here about anything that comes to mind and also on all matters food on my other blog which I have just renamed The Arcadia Glutton. The name is a little nudge toward the great Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his fantastic life change British television show River Cottage and all it's spin-offs. From memory Hugh's catering company brand is called The River Cottage Glutton. Arcadia is the name of the street that I have lived in or is that on for the last 20 years and the home base from which I create my food. Arcadia is a word with Greek origins which refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. It's a nice street but the definition would have to be a little over the top.
As well as blogging I am keen to have a crack at Vlogging about life and food. The first step in that process is to spend some time giving the home kitchen a deep, deep clean and then setting up my little kitchen to invite in the world.
The final and most important part of the plan is to turn my home cooking into a profitable food stall and eventually food truck business that I can take on the road and hopefully, when running successfully, give me more control of my time and life in general.
The other avenue of income is to create a website to sell my sauces, nut butters and other products. Of course the key to this is to create multiple income streams which when combined together bring enough money to fund an enjoyable life.
So, how does it all work? How do I make time for all the components that make up the whole? For now I need to commit to sitting down and typing for at least a half hour every time I find myself with a day off from work. Starting is the most difficult part. I was listening to an audio-book the other day which spoke about the writing process. It mentioned that one accomplished writer has the approach of sitting down to write at least 1 page each day. Doesn't matter if it is absolute rubbish as long as they write that one page. Starting is the hardest part. So many areas of our lives can carry this message through in creating successful routines. Take the simple task of taking out the garbage. The task itself might take 2 minutes to complete but often firing up to do the job will take many times as long. Do you ever find yourself with a problem in your life which you push aside and think "I just need to relax on the lounge and watch some TV and then I'll get to it." The only problem is that when you are watching the TV you can't relax because your mind is still thinking about the problem. It's only when we take action that we can settle the mind and really relax.
Another area I wouldn't mind having a go at is running a food podcast. This is in a really early phase of thought on the matter. I listen to a podcast called The Sporkful which has the catch phrase "it's not for foodies, it's for eaters" and covers aspects of American eating and deep dives in various areas of the culinary landscape. The guy who runs it, Dan Pashman said he started it in his home and now makes a living out of it. Amazing what can be achieved in our modern world.
I believe there is a market here in Australia for more local content in the digital space and am hoping to cash in and by having an enormous amount of fun exploring the possibilities.
Act as if... Act as if you already have the life you want. Free yourself from the 9 to 5 and do something awesome. If fact just do something that eases the financial grief enough to enjoy your time on the planet. And of course remember to do as the good people at Nike say "Just do it"
Have a great day talk to you another day.
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