One of the tasks I have been assigned to work on during the morning is the creation of an employee handbook. I labor over how many vacation hours an employee at my company can earn so that he can see his daughter’s Christmas play at school or take the family to the country. Oh the poor suckers who must stick to these rules and regulations that I enter onto my screen!

My boss is at the gym, buying large elaborate Starbucks beverages, and taking time to look beautiful for the day while I work. …while it hits me. She won’t have to follow any of these policies. I’m getting paid by the hour to make up rules for myself and co-workers. Working for someone else feels like a loss of freedom.

I know that the best thing that I can financially and economically do right now is to continue writing this policy manual and following the commands of my employer. But I’d like to generate more income.

An employee finds a second job. An entrepreneur finds an opportunity.

My weekends are tied up with an out-of-town investment project for the future. Yet the rest of the week?

My current schedule Monday through Friday:
7 to 5:30 spent preparing for work, working, loading the dishwasher, and not really feeling productive in my personal development. Sure I feel that my boss benefited from my day, though I’m not sure if I have. So I’m left with the rest of the evening. Aridni articles are being written. The daily tasks like laundry, dinner, and bills are being paid. But what about the rest of the time?

I have set a goal: develop supplemental sources of income that are capable of generating enough money to pay my half of our monthly housing expense, $400.

Questions I am asking myself as I prepare this journey that you should consider for yourself:

1. Why have I chosen my goal’what’s so important about it? And what is the purpose?
2. What nonessentials am I willing to cut from my life so that my goal can happen?
3. What’s my deadline? Or am I even setting a specific deadline?
4. If my goal isn’t achieved by one strategy, will I give up or will I try another strategy?
5. What types of resources and support systems do I need to tap into?
6. Is my husband willing to stand by me, listen to my ideas, and encourage me? And when he isn’t there to fuel my tank, can I still survive?
7. Where am I going to hang those little sticky notes of motivation in my house?
8. What are those stick notes going to say?
9. Every night, ask myself: What did I learn today that can make my performance better for tomorrow?

How does the idea of having more money than you need make you feel? Take out a pen and paper and write this down:

I want to be wealthy so that I can ______________________.

To reach my goal, I am willing to sacrifice the following: _____________________.

My husband and I often discuss these two questions to better understand our mission and keep ourselves in check:
We want to be wealthy so that we can ‘point blank’ enrich our lives and give back to the community. We believe that each person has a responsibility to give back to society. My husband wants to make a positive contribution to alternative energy, more intelligent use of resources like wind, and ideas like the electric car. In other words, he wants to work against the major oil companies and car manufacturers; which obviously translates into low-paying work. At the same time, he wants to support our family, we both want to get more education, and we want to travel (he’s from Germany. What could we do to even afford live there a few years?). I think of all of the volunteer activities I’d like to do, all of the really cool but no money jobs I’d like to try, pro bono work I want to offer, and how much time I want to devote to my future family the way my mom dedicated herself to me.

Can a person hold wealth and still hold integrity? Your thoughts establish the role of money in your life. I only hope that through Aridni, we can help readers establish a positive, ethical means to their ultimate dream.

For question two, my husband and I figure we are risking only two things with our investment strategies: security and time.

If we or you feel fearful, uncertainty is going to take control. If you feel good about yourself and the efforts you are making, your positive ideas can cultivate more change and more satisfaction. I hope that Aridni generates more people like my husband who want to find a way to dedicate themselves to change our country desperately needs. With fuel prices alone, I’m sure you can agree. All I know is that I had more cheaters in my college business ethics 400-level class than any other class. How can we live that way?

Pull out your piece of (recycled?) paper one more time and answer the following:
Do you make/want to make money by creating for other people or by competing and cheating other people?

Do you devote yourself to the highest good, not just for yourself, but for as many people as you can touch?

Would you get satisfaction signing up for multiple rewards cards from companies who don’t catch your trickery because it means more money for you?

Do your methods of making money imply selfishness and greed in the eyes of others?

Does every dollar that you make equal a dollar that another person loses?

And finally, years from now, if you were to teach a thousand people how to become wealthy the way you did, would you have done these people and society a disservice?

In your quest for wealth, remember to give. Exhaust yourself in personal sacrifice.

I told Aridni that I didn’t know anything about getting wealthy. I didn’t know anything about money and finance and that stuff. They said that I did. I started writing article ideas over and over for today’s Aridni guest article, and that’s when I realized that maybe I do know something about money–that we all do. It’s all a matter of if we take time to recognize our money status and direction. And if we take time to keep learning more.

I set a goal for myself: I will make money while I sleep.

Not sure how to fully achieve this goal. I’m not good at the stock market. So I admit that, and I start researching. Some ways to make money while you sleep:

-Commissions
-Home ownership of an appreciating property
-Network marketing
-Royalties
-Marketing consulting or something where you get a percent of the revenues that come later

I commute to work every day and it drives me insane. When you work for someone else, you are only making money when you’re at work. You stop working at the end of the day, and you stop making money. I think that idea is silly. I’m tired of doing it. Almost everyone in America does it. Why do we do this? Well it’s easier. It’s less risk. And you know what? It’s stupid. Make money while you sleep. Now we’re talking. Then hire other people to work 9 to 5. Their work gives them a set pay. Everything above that is profit for your pocket.

Our guest writer this week is Alex the Great. Well Alex admits to not being great quite yet… but Alex is working toward greatness. Add Aridni to your resume, Alex! And if you know anyone who might be interested in writing for Aridni’s Saturday Strategy column, let us know.

Well I’m back to Montana right now, and on the three day drive, I learned a couple important things about traveling long distances alone. Some of it more useful knowledge than others, but still here they are.

Record your thoughts – While this is a good idea even if you aren’t driving across the country, this keeps them from evaporating. There are a limited number of ideas that your brain can hold before it clears them out for the newer ones you think up. So while it’s hard to write things down, perhaps you should get a voice recorder or do it at the next rest/gas stop.

Bring plenty of music – I had to listen to the same few cds the whole trip. While it was things I liked, but there is a limit to the number of times you can listen to anything. As Gnarls Barkley asked me plenty of times, “Does that make me craaaaaaazy?” The answer is yes.

Record your thoughts- You have no idea how fast you can lose your million dollar ideas if you don’t record them or write them down. No matter how brilliant, no matter how great the idea is, it is still floating around in your grey matter and is subject to the elements whatever they may be. See you already forgot that this was point one, too. Should’ve written it down.

Take the Scenic Route – Driving across the state of South Dakota on the I-90 is brutal. It’s boring as heck. It’s the worst 400 miles in the world. The only things you will find there are open plains and billboards.

Record your thoughts – Oh yeah–if you have to take the boring way, make some use out of the time by recording the ingenious things you think of on your way.

In case you couldn’t tell, I lost a couple great ideas on my journey. While they are still partially around in fragments, the grandiose portion is gone. Don’t let that happen to you!