Reflecting on my First Week Without a "Job"

After a full week without a traditional job, it's been far easier than I expected to start "my new normal." Some rules I stuck to this week and a special offer for you.

I have not tried to hide from the fact that I was terminated by my former employer last Friday. Truth be told, I've wanted to be transparent about it because I don't want to normalize corporate/government ownership of my (or your) body. I think the position that new injection technology isn't necessarily a good idea for everybody is a truth that justifies extreme measures to protect. I knew officially that I would be terminated for 2 weeks. It's a weird feeling when your boss gives you the two weeks notice. It's generally the other way around. You can't break up with me! I'm breaking up with you!

The termination notice was really just a formality though. I knew I was probably a goner the day the company announced the jab mandate back in mid-September. This is where being financially responsible helped me. Over the last few years, I put myself in the position to be able to say no to the shot because of decisions I've made with my money. No, I'm not rich. And no, a lack of income isn't a sustainable existence. But after a week without a job in the traditional sense, I've never been more free in my life. And that's an honest reflection of what I've done and how I've felt over the past week. I've been listening to Meek Mill's track "What's Free" as a new morning ritual.

What's free?
Free is when nobody else could tell us what to be
Free is when the TV ain't controllin' what we see
Told my n****s "I need you"
Through all the fame you know I stay true

Meek Mill via "What's Free?"

My favorite line is "free is when nobody else could tell us what to be." I love it.

I've made money this week. Of course, it's not nearly as much as what I would have made had I been on a certain company's payroll. But it's a start. More importantly, the money has come through more than one revenue stream. And that, my friends, is the existence that I've been craving. I don't want a check that has capped upside. I don't want all the bullshit that comes with working a job that stopped being fulfilling a long time ago. I want optionality. I want to be able to write. I want to be able to trade. I want to take on freelance projects. This week I've been able to get out of bed and tackle my to-do list at my own discretion.

There are some rules that I have stuck to this week though. Each night before bed, I have a to-do list made for the following day. I have gotten up at the exact same time that I was getting up when I had to report to the office. I'm getting my workout in each morning. I'm already dressed and ready for the day when my wife and kid head out the door. I start looking at charts and thinking about opportunities while I'm drinking my coffee. I've been able to focus on the things I've wanted to focus on.

"Free is when nobody else could tell us what to be"

It has been awesome and humbling to have added so many new subscribers to the Substack this week. I genuinely appreciate all of you and I hope this is the start of a long relationship. While the overwhelming majority of you subscribed to the free tier, I wanted to let you know about a special offer I'm dangling out there to try to get you to convert to paid. From now until December 24th, you can give the gift of Heretic Speculator this Holiday Season! You can totally give yourself this gift, BTW. Anyone who signs up for an annual will get 20% off the regular $100 price. Yes, $80 for a full year.

What do you get with that?

Most of the paywalled content has a financial component to it. These are actionable trade or investment ideas that I myself am doing in real time. Now, I recognize that many of you might not care about stocks or crypto assets. So going paid may not have an equal benefit for everyone. Understood. To the free readers who will remain free, all I ask is that if you are enjoying the work, please share it with someone else who you think will also enjoy it. It's tremendously helpful and I will be forever grateful.

I have some really exciting things planed. The "You Have the Power" series is something that I really hope will be helpful. In case you missed it, here's Part 1. Of course, that series will always be free. But at signup you may have noticed the "Founder" tier. That one is $400 for a year and is fairly vague. I'll explain more as we get closer to the first Founder report. I'm in the process of working on that now. I will say that product is probably more fit for a higher net worth reader. But there will be a tremendous amount of value to those reports. Also, though my Substack audience is now far bigger than my website audience, those of you reading via faybomb.com will be extended all of these same offers should you desire them. Though if I'm being honest, the easiest thing to do is to probably just go through Substack. Unless you're a crypto enthusiast and want to pay with crypto, of course! I can get you set up very easily on the direct site.

All this said, it's been a great week. Thank you so much for being here. And have a wonderful weekend.