looking feminine but being fully covered for hiking and steep pyramid steps—you know what I mean, ladies! Just a note, a slightly longer length will serve you well in a lot of countries, as well as tankini tops and swim skirts for swimming. (2) Fresh & Go toothbrush is simple to use. (3) Marsona sound machine for drowning out unfamiliar noises is a must (regularly use with baby at home too so when they hear the sound they know it’s sleep time!). This has been a lifesaver for us on many trips, and we now use it regularly at home for better sleep. No more changing hotels midtrip to avoid noise. AND, I know we have to travel light, but with baby a lot of things are nonnegotiable. These make for smoother sailing: (1) Peanut shell sling in black fleece—it’s more comfy than the cotton and you can pop baby in and out wherever you are, from birth to 35 lbs. I never take mine off, it’s part of my outfit; (2) Peapod plus portable tent—this is baby’s main bed at home and travel so baby has the same sleep place everywhere we go, and the flaps give all travel parties privacy—great from small babies to five-year-olds. I can still jam this onto a little wheeled carry-on and pack mine and baby’s minimal clothing around it; (3) Go Go Kidz TravelMate (great for wheeling car seat up to the gate for gate check or use on plane); (4) Britax Diplomat car seat is small but kids can use it from birth to approx. four years old.
Make sure the wheeled carry-on bag you get is one size smaller than the allowed carry-on size so you don’t get bumped to check the bag in if the plane is full. You can always nicely argue/reason/bat your eyelashes that you will put the bag in your foot space. Also, very helpful to give baby something to sip or munch on during take off and landing so yours isn’t the baby screaming from ear pain. Happy travels!
PRE-EMPTING THE BOSS: COMMON CONCERNS ABOUT REMOTE WORK
In the linked article, Cisco acknowledges that remote work arrangements are “here to stay” yet lists a set of security issues. It makes sense to preemptively research solutions so that you are armed and ready if your employer raises these concerns. http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2008/prod_020508.html.
58. If you’re an entrepreneur, don’t skip this chapter. This introduction to remote working tools and tactics is integral to the international pieces of the puzzle that follow.
59. This verb is used by Japanese women as well, even though female workers are referred to as “OL”— office ladies.
60. Any reason to be home will do (cable or phone installation, home repairs, etc.) or, if you prefer not to use a ruse, work a weekend or take two vacation days.
61. Review the Puppy Dog Close from “Income Autopilot II: Testing the Muse.”
62. Do not digress from your goal. Once you’ve addressed an objection or concern, go for the close.
63. Friday is the best day to be in the office. People are relaxed and tend to leave early.
64. Do not accept a vague refusal. Pinpointing the main concern in detail enables you to overcome it.
65. Don’t jump to the defensive after an objection. Acknowledge the validity of a boss’s concerns to prevent an ego-driven battle of wills.
66. Note this indirect threat dressed as a confession. It will make the boss think twice about refusing but prevents the win-lose outcome of an ultimatum.
67. This removes the boss’s ability to call you to the office. This is critical for making the first jump overseas.
13. Beyond Repair.
KILLING YOUR JOB
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
—NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, The Prince
Existential Pleas and Resignations Mad Libs
BY ED MURRAY
Some jobs are simply beyond repair.
Improvements would be like adding a set of designer curtains to a jail cell: better but far from good. In the context of this chapter, “job” will refer to both a company if you run one and a normal job if you have one. Some recommendations are limited to one of the two but most are relevant to both. So we begin.
I have quit three jobs and been fired from most of the rest. Getting fired, despite sometimes coming as a surprise and leaving you scrambling to recover, is often a godsend: Someone else makes the decision for you, and it’s impossible to sit in the wrong job for the rest of your life. Most people aren’t lucky enough to get fired and die a slow spiritual death over 30–40 years of tolerating the mediocre.
Pride and Punishment
If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
—CHINESE PROVERB
Just because something has been a lot of work or consumed a lot of time doesn’t make it productive or worthwhile.
Just because you are embarrassed to admit that you’re still living the consequences of bad decisions made 5, 10, or 20 years ago shouldn’t stop you from making good decisions now. If you let pride stop you, you will hate life 5, 10, and 20 years from now for the same reasons. I hate to be wrong and sat in a dead-end trajectory with my own company until I was forced to change directions or face total breakdown—I know how hard it is.
Now that we’re all on a level playing field: Pride is stupid.
Being able to quit things that don’t work is integral to being a winner. Going into a project or job without defining when worthwhile becomes wasteful is like going into a casino without a cap on what you will gamble: dangerous and foolish.
“But, you don’t understand my situation. It’s complicated!” But is it really? Don’t confuse the complex with the difficult. Most situations are simple—many are just emotionally difficult to act upon. The problem and the solution are usually obvious and simple. It’s not that you don’t know what to do. Of course you do. You are just terrified that you might end up worse off than you are now.
I’ll tell you right now: If you’re at this point, you won’t be worse off. Revisit fear-setting and cut the cord.
Like Pulling Off a Band-Aid: It’s Easier and Less Painful Than You Think
The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.
—COLIN WILSON, British author of
There are several principal phobias that keep people on sinking ships, and there are simple rebuttals for all of them.
1. Quitting is permanent.
Far from it. Use the Q&A questions in this chapter and chapter 3 (Fear-setting) to examine how you could pick up your chosen career track or start another company at a later point. I have never seen an example where a change of direction wasn’t somehow reversible.
