In the previous blog – The Strange Lives of Inventors – I described the challenge of explaining the twists and turns of the invention process to colleagues at work. An easy conclusion is the more an inventor tells colleagues about their endeavors, the more they will question his or her sanity.

So, let's expand the topic a bit with a personal journal of a typical day in my strange inventing experience:

Today’s topic: The Strange Lives of Inventors – Personal Journal

Let me set the stage with a brief description of my situation. I am a full time inventor and consultant: all of my monthly business and personal expenses are paid from my business endeavors – barely. This is not a path for those who must have stability and predictability in their lives. I do what I must do to advance my business and to pay the bills, there are many compromises and lots of stress.

The events of Friday provide a good portrayal of a “typical” day in my life. I got up early, at 5:45 am, and made a long drive to sell wallets as a vendor at a military base. Sales volume from this activity is relatively small, but adds to my website and Amazon.com sales. Throughout the day I prepared wallets for mailing in the evening to fulfill Amazon and website sales. Afterwards, I packed up from the military base, mailed wallets at the post office.

Next, I called my contact at the DRTV company that is planning to do TV commercials for the wallets and then roll them into retail stores. If this continues to go well, within 6 months I will receive royalties on every sale – if it goes well. So far, things are going well, very well.

But my daily activities must continue as if the DRTV project will not succeed, so, I was off to my weekend sales venue: a gun show.

After making the drive home, I worked on emails and preparations for my trip to Houston to sell wallets at the Houston VA Hospital next week.

Tonight, I am writing this blog while watching an NFL football game that was recorded earlier – multi-tasking. I record the few TV shows I hope to see each week so I may watch them while working on various business activities.

Welcome to my strange, inventive life. In my prior life as a telecom project manager, I worked less hours – a lot less hours – made more money, had more security and stability than I do now.

So, why do I do it? I ask myself this question every day and the answers vary.

I choose to do things most people wouldn’t because I aspire to achieve things most people don’t: to license my patented product, collect lucrative royalties and have the freedom to spend my time doing things that matter to me.

I have worked very hard for many years pursuing this aspiration. Within the next six months I’ll either achieve my goal or will be working on Plan B.

Stay tuned!