About this book

This book will show you step by step how to get paid to play by turning the things you most love doing into a living. Whether you’re currently feeling trapped in a job you don’t enjoy or you’re slogging away at your own business that’s never quite taken off, you’ll find both the life-changing concepts and the practical strategies you need to transform your working life.

This is not about just having fun and hoping the money will magically fall out of the sky. I will show you the key to getting paid for doing what feels like play to you, how to win your first ‘playcheque’, and then how to scale it up to making a living – and maybe even get rich. And if you still have no idea what you want to do with your life, I’ll show you how to get clear on that first.

Whether you want to launch your own business or freelance career, create your ideal job from scratch, write a book, get famous for your art, or change the world, this book will help you. I can’t show you how to ‘get rich quick’. I haven’t found anything yet that does that (let me know if you do!). If anything, it’s about how to get happy quick. The fact is, whatever you want your life to be, you can create some taste of your ideal right now in the present. Doing this will make you happier and, as you will see, happiness often leads to success and wealth.

The ten secrets

The book is arranged as ten secrets to getting paid to play. These are not secrets that anyone is wilfully withholding from you and yet it’s remarkable how few of us know them. We’re certainly not taught them in school or college. They sometimes run counter to commonly held wisdom we hear every day and, until you know them, you are likely to be trapped forever in unsatisfying work.

The secrets are arranged in sequence to take you all the way from having no idea what work you would enjoy to making a full-time living doing something you love. It’s therefore best to read each chapter in sequence as each one builds on the last.

This is what you will discover in each chapter.

Secret one: How to work out what you really really want
If you know you want to do something different but can’t for the life of you work out what it is, this will finally help you. And if you’re already on the way to doing what you want, don’t skip this chapter because it will show just how important choosing the right work is to becoming a success.

Secret two: How to choose what to do next
How to find the sweet spot between what you love doing and what people will pay for. How to choose what avenue to pursue even when you feel completely stuck – either because you have no idea what you want or because you have so many ideas you can’t make up your mind. Oh, and the scientifically proven formula for happiness.

Secret three: How to get started right now
How to escape the trap of endless research and get started right away on your new life. Why you don’t need elaborate plans or even to set goals. How to start even the grandest project in a scaled-down form without quitting your current work.

Secret four: How to guarantee your success
It can be a rocky ride on the way to getting paid to play. Read this chapter to find out how you can become indestructible and guarantee you can make it whatever may happen along the way.

Secret five: How to play for profit
Worried that doing what you really enjoy will land you in poverty? This chapter will show you how to do things that are fun for you in a way that provides real value to people – and so get paid for it.

Secret six: How to play the fame game – and win
How to get known, or even famous, for what you do so that you attract the opportunities you want. How to start using the latest online social media systems to help you launch yourself onto the world at little or no cost.

Secret seven: How to create an irresistible offer
How to offer something people really want and choose the best way to deliver it, from selling a service to creating something on the internet that makes you money while you sleep.

Secret eight: How to win your first playcheque
How to earn your very first piece of income for something that feels like play to you – without having to quit your current work.

Secret nine: How to play full time
How to scale up your first experiments to something you can get paid for full time whether in self-employment, a portfolio career, or in what I call Job 2.0 – the customised job. How to make it happen quicker than you might expect.

Secret ten: How to play your way to the rich life
This chapter will show you how to get clear what a rich life looks like to you; is it financial riches, the freedom to travel the planet, having plenty of free time, or the power to change the world? Discover the 5 keys to get you there including the P.R.I.C.E. strategy to charge what you’re really worth.

The 21 myths of work

I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over the past five years, and over and over again I see the same mistaken beliefs that stop people from doing what they want. These are often beliefs inherited from a previous generation that had far fewer choices about their work than we do now. I’ve boiled these down to 21 myths. You’ll find them peppered throughout the book and can see each one being dismantled. You can also read the full list at the end of the book. How many of them are you currently holding as the truth? They may well be what’s holding you back. Are you ready to open your mind to some new ideas about work?

I think of the 21 myths like this: imagine an old prop plane sitting on the runway with its engine running. If you release the brakes and remove the chocks, it’s inevitable that it’s going to start rolling – but you’re still going to need to apply some gas in order to take off. If I can just take away all the myths you believe about work, it is inevitable you will start moving towards what you want. Of course, you’ll still need to apply some gas to take flight and get where you want to go.

Expert interviews

To support the ideas contained in the book, I interviewed ten successful players and quizzed them on the beliefs, habits and actions they used to get where they are. Some of them have created, run and sold million-pound businesses. But I didn’t just interview the well established; I interviewed people just starting out who had a very playful approach and were already seeing some success from it. Some interviewees are very wealthy; others are living on a relatively modest income but have succeeded in structuring their lives around freedom, creativity and variety. Some are on a mission to change the world. They are all living rich lives in the broadest sense of the word.

You can read and, in some cases, listen to or watch the full interviews with the players at ScrewWorkLetsPlay.com.

The website

Throughout the book and at the end of each chapter, I have pointed you to further information, tools and resources on the accompanying website ScrewWorkLetsPlay.com. Go there now to listen to audio recordings, download worksheets and read updates to the book as they become available.