Passive income — a myth or a must?

Passive income isn’t a myth, it’s an insurance plan

Yesterday I arrived half an hour late to the church to plan my brother’s funeral*, smashed my car into a concrete post, and made a big scene arriving in the pastor’s office crying all over the posters I planned to paper the town with, if only I hadn’t forgotten the scotch tape. 

I also dropped my key fob in the canal, cracked my windshield, and my check engine light is on. It’s like my car is grieving too.

Everything is a bit extra right now, so meeting deadlines and arriving anywhere on time is tough.

It’s a rude awakening to how much my business requires me to be actively working in order to make money. I’ve spent so much time busting the myth of “passive income” that I neglected to build out evergreen avenues for revenue, even though Sandra has been after me for years to put more energy there. 

The idea that you can set something up once, then retire to the beach to drink mai-tais and collect cheques, is of course false. 

But passive income isn’t totally hogwash.

The other day I had a chat with my friend Sam who lost both of her parents in the same year, and her evergreen funnel continued to carry its weight, supporting her and her business through unspeakable loss. It reminded me how much passive systems, whatever they are, can carry us through the moments when we’re not able to work, for whatever reason.

Ugh, why didn’t I do that?

Except we have been working on this for some months now, it just hasn’t been formally debuted yet. 

This year we spent a ton of time and energy setting up a new subscriber onboarding process that has a deadline funnel built in. It only activates if you buy the $7 offer and click certain links. 

I’m so proud of these new onboarding emails. They’re some of my best work. 

That’s all I’ve got this week. 

Over to you → what’s bringing you joy today? 

In my mastermind Slack channel, we have a thread going about the ways we’re finding joy. For some it’s strolling the streets of New York eating mint chocolate chip ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, for others it's staring at the mountains and petting her cats. For me it’s going to the garden centre where they make the best flat whites, then I wander around and look at plants while drinking it. I do this three times a week at least. 

How about you?

Until next week

Tarzan

Tarzan Kalryzian [she/they]
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*No one uses the word “funeral” anymore but I still prefer it. It feels like naming what really happened. Someone has died. It’s very hard. If you are local and would like to celebrate my brother Quentin’s life, the service will be beautiful and is open to all. 

Sunday, June 15 @ 1pm
Silver Spire United Church
St. Catharines, ON
All are welcome. Dress colourfully. Wear your favourite hat.

***It feels important to note that although I’m grieving, I also feel more alive, more in touch with what’s truly important, and connected to the miracle of living than I ever have in my life. It’s everything at once.