It’s Not Rocket Science: Time Machine Unlocked Secret Skills
The Great Resignation is really a Great Transference. Almost all of those four million-plus Americans who’ve been leaving their jobs every month since April are not retiring.
“There are 86,400 seconds in a day and each one is a story,” Higgins explains. “When you visit 24HourHomepage.com you will see one clickable image per second for the corresponding second of the day. Each second can be purchased by anyone in the world to tell a creative story, promote a business, honor or mourn a loved one, tell a joke, express your love or whatever else you’re capable of dreaming up. Every 24 hours the content repeats and you’ll see it again every day, forever. It’s a fun, light-hearted, collaborative art project for the entire world.”
But there’s more than whimsy to the clock, which has taught the idiosyncratic scientist that we all possess skills that can be transferred from our current experiences and occupations into future adventures. For the naturally curious Higgins, this meant a sojourn to build up his under-utilized marketing and interpersonal skills.
“Our purpose is to make the best 24-hour collaborative art experience on the Internet, ever,” says Higgins the salesman, “It reminds people of days when the Internet wasn’t filled with subscription fees, pop-ups and big business. Just people meeting other people and creating interesting works of art.”
He adds that this is the first project where a customer can “literally own the day.” Which makes 24HourHomepage.com very timely indeed! It also offers lessons to those considering switching not only jobs but careers:
Step One: Leaving the Comfort Zones
Higgins believes that comfort zones are major barriers to changing careers. He loved his engineering work and his Berkeley degrees opened a lot of doors, but both represented a vocational approach that neglected a more practical mindset. A question he says that anyone should ask themselves is, How can I apply vocational skill sets to everyday scenarios?
Step Two: Making Mistakes
Higgins first attempt on a solo project, “Selfless, Inc.” was a passion project and while it never reached a significant audience, the project allowed him to make mistakes and learn valuable lessons as an entrepreneur.
Step Three: Tracking Progress
With 24HourHomepage, Higgins found a project that allowed him to help others while also helping himself. He compares 24HourHomepage organic growth to a muscle. Still, Higgins consistently tracks his progress, works closely with advertising and marketing people, does his own research and social media, and consistently listens to feedback.
To the Limit
So far, Higgins has sold about 900 seconds of his clock. Many buyers are using their time to promote so-called non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are digital pieces of digital art recorded on a blockchain ledger. Higgins is fine with commercialization but stresses that anything can be uploaded provided it is family friendly. Links are encouraged because even if you own the first three seconds of four a.m. in eternity, he observes, that’s probably not enough time to make a splash.
Higgins’ reward has been less about financial reward or fame and more about validation. “It is very possible to start a new business or career because you have more knowledge than you probably realize,” he says. Humility has been an unexpected benefit. “I’m really humbled with how much people like the idea because it’s definitely not your typical business plan,” he says. “It’s more like a 24-hour movie you can join. The only limit is your imagination.”