Part 2 of the series looks at the motivation to increase your income.  My motivation is to eventually be unemployed.  Oh Horror!  Unemployment is good.  I don't want to work for the man anymore.  I want to do what I want to do BUT I still want to make money at the same time.  I'm very fortunate that I have skills in an area which can be very lucrative.  I can build software including web sites.  This is my main plan for increasing my income.  I want to be unemployed and build web sites.  For who?  Not for an employer in the classical sense but for other people.  These other people will use these sites because they add value.  So I'm going to build web sites for the general population.  The general population will use the sites because the sites will give them some type of value.  I will make money from the add revenue and various other income producing faculties of these sites.  So the users of the sites get some form of value from me and in return I get something of value from them.  It's a win-win situation. 

I think it's important to have multiple streams of income but I think its also important to leverage your existing skills as optimally as possible.  You only have so much time.  So should I use my time to learn about the stock market or should I use my time to become a more proficient web developer.  I think the answer is obvious.  I know how to make money with a web site.  I'm not so sure I know how to make money in the stock market. 

I want to leverage my existing skills to make money but I don't want a job.  A job is a bad idea for many reasons and unfortunately it has become the default option for young people in this country.  After reading this article about why you should never get a job I thought some more about my goals.  I want to build web sites and make software.  I enjoy that.  I don't want a job.  My solution?  Build web sites that I can make an income from.  I need to free myself of the shackles of a full time job so I can concentrate on what I do best - writing software. 

Another reason for us techy types to go jobless is the hope of winning the buyout lottery.  I believe that good software is not written in large corporations.  It is written by independent shops and purchased by large corporations.  Paul Graham has a good essay on this whole job thing and why innovations happen in startups. 

So the motivation shouldn't be about laying on the couch and drinking beer all day (that would get boring wouldn't it ;> ) but rather about the most efficient way to create value for other people and getting rewarded for what you do.