As usual Gordon, you're too modest...

Hiya Simon!

Thanks for your suggestions.... I see your style as being a bit like the wise sage in some of these kung fu movies.... There's wisdom lurking within.... :)

Regarding the projects I'm involved in, actually, I've narrowed the problem down to one which isn't making me too happy.... BUT I'm learning a lot for now, I'm just wary of being "trapped" by it getting stuck doing something I don't want to do.

I'm learning a lot from someone (offline), but I've realized now that it has pitfalls as well as bonuses, because he is selling his TIME, and that's something I'm trying to avoid. :) (I prefer to trade, or sell products, rather than sell my time....)

The reason why I'd *personally* prefer not to sell my time is because, time is a limited resource.

Everyone only gets 24 hours a day (or about 16 hours after sleeping), no matter how rich or poor you are.

So, if your money-making is dependent on you having enough time (eg. by selling your expertise), that puts an upper limit on what you can make. (Of course, you can employ people to make up for that, but anyhow, moving on for now....)

If you are making your money, however, from how much CAPITAL you have, there is no "natural" limit, unlike with TIME.

As an example, I purchase shares on the stock market (as I've mentioned before). Let's say I make a return of 30% per year. If I start with $10,000, that means I only made $3000 that year. But if I start with $1,000,000 , then I made $300,000 that year. However, the TIME to make that money -- whether $3,000 or $300,000 -- was the SAME, since the key to it is capital, rather than time. This is the type of busines I prefer....

Chatteling also falls into this category, in my view.... If you buy and sell skateboards, you might be able to make $10-$20 (maybe?) per skateboard. But if you buy and sell cars, you can make several thousand bucks per car....

The difference, again, is the capital you have to put into it.... While time is a small factor with chattel, the biggest factor is capital, rather than time.

Anyway, there are several ways to make money.... Being an EXPERT is one of them, but in most cases, making money by being an expert means selling your time. I prefer to try to avoid that in the long term, and sell products rather than my time if I can.... With a particular project, I'm worried about getting caught where it is hard for me to stop selling my time, rather than products....

I think that's the source of my anxiety, which has to do with a particular offline activity I'm involved in, which has the danger of trapping me into selling my time as an expert. I'd rather avoid that in the long term - but now I realize it can give me a nice source of cash in the short term, as long as I don't get trapped there forever. :)

So what I think I'll try to do is continue what I'm doing with that activity, and learn these skills of selling my time as an expert.... BUT also make sure I always have a way out. (Selling my time as an expert can be lucrative for me at this stage, as I build up my own personal capital reserves for further investment.... and do chattel trades when I see the opportunity....)

- Dien