The Joy of Diversification and New Endeavors

Five years ago, I made the decision to leave my teaching position at ASU at the end of the semester. It was time. But how would I replace my income in the months and years ahead? Leaping before looking isn’t exactly wise. In this post, I’ll describe my strategy for the next phase of my career.

Conferences and other speaking gigs at the start of COVID were tenuous at best, although I had landed some webinars in mid-2020. My book sales were decent, but not James Clear-level. To keep the lights on, I eventually needed to add at least one more plank to my platform.

At least one.

Moneyball Lessons

I took a page from the Oakland A’s. Star slugger Jason Giambi had departed for the Yankees for $120 million in 2001. Data-savvy general manager Billy Beane knew that his decidedly frugal employer lacked the budget to sign another high-priced stud. Instead, he acquired several cheaper players who would, in theory, replicate Giambi’s individual production in the aggregate. Watch this related clip from the movie Moneyball.

The ingenious strategy worked. The A’s lost arguably their best player and won more games.

Parallels and Benefits

It turns out that Beane was on to something. I’m glad that I aped his approach.

Yeah, I still write books and speak, but most of my income today stems from new sources. I’m wrapping up another successful ghostwriting project via my publishing outfit Racket and have wowed my clients. I now develop bespoke Notion tools and and sell templates, including my pièce de résistance RacketHub. I’ve also created several courses. In the aggregate, these new lines of business have more than replaced my ASU income.

Yeah, I face more risk, but in return get far more flexibility and autonomy. (The Oakland parallels only go so far. For instance, ASU didn’t pay people like me Giambi-level salaries. I’m not its football coach.) Just as important, these new endeavors increased my professional joy. Forging my own path gels with my personality. My stress level at work is infinitesimal compared to five years ago. Today I’m a happier dude.

Why You Should Read Ghostwriters’ Previous Books Before Hiring Them

What You Need to Know

Leaving any position entails risk and tradeoffs. If you’re going at at it alone, here are five tips:

Ensure that you can pay the bills for a year.Consider several adjacent lines of business in lieu of one big bet.Be open to new ideas as they present themselves.Don’t expect immediate results. Rare is the product or service launch that immediately blows up.Be humble but enjoy your success. You’ve earned it.

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