About
Hi, I am Paul MacPherson, paulmacp.com is my information hub, my central point for disseminating information about all things paulmacp. This includes a few personal initiatives and projects I am working on. It also contains a personal blog, where my focus is on Personal Branding and Social Media, although I retain the right to talk about everything and anything; except maybe what I had for dinner. I will limit that to my twitter feed.
I believe that Gen-X is lagging behind Gen-Y in our adoption of Web 2.0, to my age groups detriment. I have made it my personal mission to create some “How To” guides to aid the typical Gen-Xer in the adoption of Web 2.0.
My Story
I am a 40ty something currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I am currently employed (full time) as a computing professional (Oracle DBA and Linux System Administrator) by a local television station. As far as jobs go, it’s a good job. I typically work from home once a week (not Friday or Monday as a rule to avoid the accusation of taking long weekends). Since taking this job, I have been to Hawaii on vacation, visited New York City twice, holidayed in Calgary and spent time with my brother in Seattle. Except for my trip to Hawaii, I have worked remotely to extend my stay without depleting my precious vacation days. I have spent collectively 3 months out of the office in the last ten (it is mid-January 2010 as I type this). That being said, I still desire far more freedom than even this ‘good job’ allows me.
I am here online trying to figure somethings out. I will share with you my real world discoveries on what worked and did not work for me in my efforts to free myself from the shackles of a location specific existence. I hope to gain freedom from the 9-5 through the establishment of my own personal brand, the creation of information products (books, seminars and webinars based on these books) and the eventual sale of these products online and more traditional methods (book stores) . I want to become a member of the new rich.
The New Rich
The New Rich: A phrase you may have heard before, but many have not. It is a phrase possibly coined by Tim Ferris in his best selling book “ The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich”. If you have read the book, then you know exactly what I am referring to. If you have not read the book, let me take a minute and explain the general concept.
The New Rich is a group of people that are abandoning the typical “workplace mindset”. What is the typical “workplace mindset”: working 9-5, 40ty hours a week with two weeks vacation a year. A life deferring model, existing and contributing to a plan that defers the big life affirming payout until you eventually retire at age 55 or beyond. This “workplace mindset” defines wealth by the acquisition of things and money for the sake of money and things. The people who live to this ethic tend to appreciate work for the sake of work and value those who look busy but are not necessarily productive. The New Rich define wealth as the sum of two parts: Time and Mobility. The new rich can work anywhere at anytime, mostly just needing a cell phone, laptop and internet access to carry on their “business”. They make only enough money to accomplish what is necessary to live in the moment. They look at retirement savings as an insurance policy or tax shelter to mitigate the risk of someday not being healthy enough to work.
My Goals
My primary goal is to create a sustainable location independent lifestyle through the production of information products. To effectively accomplish this primary goal, I believe I will need to create and perpetuate a personal brand that will over time allow me the credibility within my market niche to succeed. Producing a good product and successfully selling it is not the end for me, it is a means to an end.
For more biographical information about me, you can check out this blog post: Some information about me… paulmacp.
