The Business You Don’t Have to Escape.

There’s a peculiar thing that can happen when you set out to become free.

You buy the books. Take the courses. Study the successful people. Learn about money, marketing, psychology, and all the remarkable things a fellow can do with a laptop and an internet connection.

And one day, you tell yourself, you’re going to build something of your own.

Wonderful.

Except there’s a rather inconvenient question worth asking first…

What if the business you build becomes the very thing you wanted to escape?

I spent $38,000 discovering a rather unusual answer.

I grew up on a cattle ranch in Colorado, where work was something you could point at. A fence stood where it hadn’t stood yesterday. Something broken worked again.

Then I discovered the internet, made my first glorious $13.46 (at a cost of roughly fifty dollars), and spent years learning everything I could about making a living in a different way.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn’t simply want to escape work. I wanted the freedom to choose my work.

Which brings us to this little book.

Seven decisions. One small experiment.

I wrote a free field guide for people who like the idea of making something of their own, but aren’t particularly interested in building themselves a bigger, fancier cage.

• What is freedom actually for?
• What would you choose to work on?
• What have you already got?
• Who would you genuinely like to help?
• What small result can you help produce?
• What must this business never become?
• What will you test this week?

It’s twenty pages, with writing space, a one-page decision map, and a seven-day field test you can actually use.

No mysterious secret formula. No promise of riches. No insistence that you become a wildly impressive person before you begin.

Just a handful of good questions, a few hard-earned stories, and a useful place to start.

Want a copy?

Give me your email address, and I’ll send you the field guide. I’ll also invite you to my occasional Letters From the Whirld: stories and discoveries about business, psychology, philosophy, and the peculiar art of being alive.

It’s free. You’ll also get my Letters From the Whirld. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

If you’d rather wander the stories first, The Index is that way.

If not?

We’re cool either way.

— Riley