SMOULDER Sundays: 2: Ongoing Usefulness

 

SMOULDER is the sustainable, accessible alternative to FIRE.   SMOULDERing is particularly relevant for folks in the UK at the moment, where the House of Lords (the "unelected" chamber of "basically privileged old white men!" as all persuasions of media, social and otherwise, never stop harping on about) try, for the second time, to block a plan from the House of Commons (the people whose privilege mostly gets ignored, because "WE decide who gets to be there!" - discussions on shortlists, access to politics as a career, are for another time) that would allow the government to basically grab peoples' private pensions if the government felt that "the economy needed an emergency bailout, and other funds were insufficient or not available."  (Basically "if we need to bribe our already rich mates, we're going to use your money to do it, okay?)

A reminder on what SMOULDER is:

SIMPLE MINDSET, ONGOING USEFULNESS, LIFE DIRECTION: EMPLOYED RESTFULNESS.

Last week, we looked at the Simple Mindset aspect of SMOULDER.

Today, we'll explore what Ongoing Usefulness could look like.

Ongoing Usefulness

SMOULDER is about a lifelong, genuine, intuitive balance between paid work and restfulness, with restfulness coming equally from restorative activity and replenishing non-activity. (We'll look at those concepts in a future blog.)

Within that context, Ongoing Usefulness is about identifying the skills you would be happy to employ for a paycheque for the rest of your life, and from which you could earn enough to have a lifestyle that satisfied you, and was genuinely stable, whilst deliberately not working full time.  That typically means you're looking to identify either skills that you can charge a strong day rate for (and that people will pay a strong day rate for) or skills that are seen as an equivalent exchange for the higher-cost necessities of life, such as housing and food, so that you are able to afford to work part-time in a wider range of jobs.

What might some of those skills be?

Strong Day Rate Ongoing Usefulness Skills:
. Consultancy in an area of professional specialty

. Heritage construction skills (you won't be getting last minute "can you do it tomorrow for £20?" calls, you'll be working with dedicated, experienced teams, and the work is planned.)
. Project management 

. Professional mentorship
. Style consultancy, both for individuals and brands
. Location scouting - both for film locations and off-market purchase possibilities.

Equivalent Exchange Skills
. DIY, especially trades (plumbing, electrics, bricklaying, etc)
. Organisation
. Cooking 
. Gardening

. Business development
. Nursing/care

These are not intended to be exhaustive lists, but the spark to get you looking and thinking in the right direction in your own life.

A key aspect of Ongoing Usefulness in SMOULDER is that it has to be a mutual position; yes, you will be being useful to people who are paying you, but the way you work has to have Ongoing Usefulness for you and your rich life, too.

For example, I have been a carer, initially as a child; my rich life does not include providing even supportive/companionship care for someone other than my spouse, even if that work came with the ability to live in a very comfortable and well-placed house, and regularly meet influential people; therefore, I would not be looking to build my experience of being a carer into the Ongoing Usefulness skill of highly experienced professional caring expertise, because it doesn't add to the kind of life I want to enjoy.

Someone else may be fully done with interacting with senior executives and "hopping on" Teams calls, and therefore consultancy or business development are not skills which serve their rich life.

In my case, consultancy is the Ongoing Usefulness skill I plan to develop, because I like meeting purpose-driven people, I enjoy solving problems, and business as a concept is continually interesting to me. I can also charge a strong-but-commonly-accepted day rate, and live the life I want working 2-3 days per week at that rate; my ideal would be 2 days per week, as that is most manageable with my disabilities and health challenges, but I've never felt work to be an intrusion into my life, so occassionally increasing to 3 days per week is acceptable to me.

If you are not currently working in a role which develops at least one Ongoing Usefulness skill, I'd recommend beginning a focused job search for a role which does offer that development;  I am happy to offer a free two-hour session identifying your most relevent Ongoing Usefulness skills, and outlining how to pursue a focused job search, with the option of following on with a paid tailored support plan (which is entirely optional - you're more than welcome to just take the free support session). To sign up, drop me an email at theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com

If you know your current job is building your Ongoing Usefulness skillset - fantastic! Keep doing what you're doing, and keep an eye out for opportunities, both paid and unpaid, which can add to that skillset.  Again, I can offer a free two-hour session to identify what you should be looking for, and build both a progression and tail-off plan centred around your rich life SMOULDER concept - just email theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com