What was so epic about this article?

This reminded me of my harsh reality check on full-time blogging. There are too many of us falling for the dream and wanting to be “our own boss.” Do you really want to be your own boss or do you just hate your job? I find that it’s usually the latter. We hate our jobs so much that we want to quit and work for ourselves.

Do you realize how tough it is to be your own boss? When you’re the boss you can’t pass the buck, leave early, take it easy, or be stress-free. Everything is now on you. You can’t blame Steve in Accounting for the money problems. Everything is on you.

What’s the best part of this piece?

“Someone can sell you a product to give you that motivation, but guess what happens after you’ve failed at going at it alone for 2 years?  You have one big gaping hole in your resume and a lot less money.  Meanwhile, the person who sold you the dream of quitting your job has your money and is relaxing on the beach, thank you very much!”

This is so true. I also must admit that I’m guilty of this. I’ve consumed far too many products on how to work for yourself and be your own boss. I’m just enamored with the idea of making money on my own. I love making my own money. I love helping others. I love being compensated for my passions. I do however realize that there’s a lot of delusional people out there that want to be full-time bloggers because they hate their jobs.

I must argue with one point. Sam goes off at the end about how starting your own business and quitting your job could lead to disaster. I do agree with some of his points, but I don’t think that it’s that bad. The worst case scenario is that you have a few empty years on your resume. I think that beats the feeling of regret that would come with not even trying.

Before we part ways for the weekend, I also wanted to remind you of another piece from here about calling it quits. There’s nothing wrong with giving up on something that’s obviously not working out.

I also wanted to give out two additional mentions. First I want to think Matt About Money for this weeks Carnival of Personal Finance: Words of Wisdom Edition. This carnival has been a staple for finding new blog readers in the personal finance field ever since I’ve been around. I feel that it’s important that we all continue to link back to this carnival that has helped us out over the years.

Next I wanted to mention Canadian Finance Carnival #72 and Personal Finance Basics: Spend Less Than You Make from The Canadian Finance Blog. Tom has been doing this weekly roundup for a while now and I hope that we all take the time to show appreciation and link back to Tom’s site. I also had the privilege of meeting Tom last year and we ended up chatting for hours as he turned out to be a very cool dude.

Let’s check out the epic M-35 shiz for the week…

Green Panda Treehouse:

You Can Creating Something Spectacular In Your 20s.

What Are Some Investing Risks Worth Taking?

Intelligent Speculator:

So Apple Let Me Get This Straight.

The Dividend Guy Blog:

If You Want to Know Where the Stock Market is Heading, Read the Following.

Experiglot:

Whether to Hire an Employee or Not.

What do you think about the articles from the M-35 network? Have you had a chance to check out the other blogs offered by M-35?

What’s so epic about this article?

The article touches upon the fundamentals. You’ll never improve your finances and have more money in your pocket until you learn how to take care of the basics. The beauty of this series is that it’s going to cover many other topics. If you want to kill your finances in 2012, I highly suggest you follow the series.

Do you have anything that you would like to share with us. If you write a remarkable article, please send it over to thefinancialblogger at gmail dot com.

What’s so epic about this piece?

It’s funny to think that desks, huge machines, and business cards are a thing of the past. This article really reminds me of how the freelance industry has changed and how many individuals are earning an income through new means. Think back to how many were earning a full-time income from the Internet just a few short years ago? This number has dramatically increased.

What’s the best part of this article?

“Thank goodness times have changed and now literally anyone with enough drive and ambition can be successful, often in a very compressed period of time.”

That’s the truth about the freelancing landscape moving forward into 2012. You don’t need the best education in the world to make it.

Are you a freelancer? What tools have you dropped in the last year or so?

What’s so epic about this article?

The article follows the usual format of being very detailed, practical, and full of examples.

What’s the best part of this piece?

Great search engine optimization boils down to writing great content and SEO friendly blog posts. That’s pretty common advice, but I think too many people think about it after they launch their seo campaign.

What’s so epic about this?

It’s a break down of the costs involved with trying to turning blogging into a source of passive income. Corey breaks down the exact costs involved with trying to turn blogging into tasks that can be outsourced.

I love to look at numbers. We need to see empirical data once in a while. Every online guru tells you to follow your passions. Well that’s lame. I want real advice. This post gives real advice.

The best part of this piece?

“To make a long argument short, if you can find a dividend stock beats a 22% annual return, sign me up. I will admit that I am new to investing in dividend stocks, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that you won’t make that kind of return in any traditional dividend-paying investment.”

I encourage that you check out Corey’s project. He wants to retire by 27 and he’s tracking his process.

What’s epic about this piece?

Sean takes accountability for the past year and confesses to what he wishes he did better. After reading through his mistakes I realized that I need to improve on my use of Facebook, content creation, and doing more interviews. I’m thinking of doing a similar post.

What’s the best part of this article?

“Discipline will be extremely important, and if I want to take things to the next level I need to up not only the amount of content I create (in various forms) but that quality as well.”

I love to take action and I’m a big fan of always pushing things forward. If you don’t want to take things to the next level then why even bother with working on it?

What did you suck at in 2011?

What’s so epic about this article?

Jeff Rose is a cool dude and he shares exactly why and how he made a difficult decision. Jeff had to decide if it was worth being filtered. Jeff ultimately made the decision to work on his own and no longer have get his actions approved by a compliance department.

What’s the best part of this article?

“I’ve always believed that if you have the potential or the capabilities to do what you love, to do what you’re passionate about, to be able to wake up in the morning and go do what your dream is, then you have to go after it.”

Where do you fall? Have you ever struggled to deal with a compliance department? Are you sick of following rules?

I’ve been investing my money since I was in high school and I want to read something a little more than just throwing your change into a jar  or following your passions to be epic.

I could always link to one of the popular bloggers and kiss some ass telling them how passionate their piece was. I’m not going to do that. This week I wanted to highlight a personal blogger that deserves the spotlight.

The most epic article from the last little while is…

When Did Young People Become Such Pansies? @ Financial Uproar.

What makes this post so epic?

It’s a reminder for 20-somethings that are afraid of taking a risk. Nelson writes about how risks don’t have to be simply financial in our 20s. We can challenge ourselves by moving out of our parents place or switching locations to find a higher paying gig.

The truth is that I don’t think I’m taking enough risks. This is is why this piece jumped out at me. Despite traveling to Europe alone and various risky investments, I think that I can do more to challenge myself.

What’s my favorite line from this piece?

“Risk is made for young people. If you’re 22 and you lose a couple thousand bucks because of a risky investment gone wrong, you have 50 YEARS to make that money back. You don’t have kids to feed, you will be able to handle it. “

Once again you can always submit your piece in for the Epic Shiz of The Week to thefinancialblogger at gmail dot com.