From Overwhelmed to Empowered: How We Built The Choice Curve to Cut Through the Noise
For the past twenty years, we’ve been searching. Searching for an alternative way to live the lifestyle we choose to live, to break free from the standard path and carve out something that would give us both lifestyle and financial freedom. Over the last 20 years, I’ve spent thousands of hours watching videos, reading blogs, and consuming content from experts, each claiming to have the answer. But instead of clarity, I ended up drowning in information.
Everywhere I looked, someone had a different formula for success. One expert swore that real estate was the key to wealth—but what if you didn’t have the capital? Another promised that eCommerce was the ultimate path to financial freedom—but how do you even get started without wasting money? Then there were the passive income gurus, preaching that all I had to do was launch a digital product and watch the money roll in. I tried day trading and crypto failed at both … I thought, I’m smart, I can figure it out … nope! I didn’t lose a lot, just a few thousand here and there trying things out!
Then I hit another problem, the more I researched, the harder it became to make a decision. It was a never-ending loop of over-analysis, second-guessing, and, ultimately, inaction. Now I like to think I’m a clever person and super talented in technology, but even so I’ve spent much of my time stuck in decision paralysis, overwhelmed by choices, and paralyzed by the fear of picking the wrong one.
We don’t live in a big city with endless opportunities just around the corner. We live in Wairoa, a small, remote community in New Zealand, where life is slower, and opportunities aren’t always obvious. My wife, Alma, and I are raising our four tamariki (children) on our six-acre off-grid property, powered by solar energy, surrounded by fruit and nut trees, and living as sustainably as we can. Life here is beautiful, but it also means that traditional career paths don’t always fit.
Like many people in rural areas, I wanted to find ways to build financial stability without having to relocate or sacrifice the lifestyle we’ve created for our whānau (family). I wanted an income stream that worked for us—not one that required me to be tied to a 9-to-5 office job in a city, hundreds of miles away. The first 15 years of my working life were spent this way, working for banks and finance companies, as an IT specialist in all sorts of fields … and I was good at what I did and that was reflected financially.
It was 15 years ago we moved out of the city to our piece of paradise in the middle of nowhere, within a year my income had shrunk by 70% and we were struggling like everyone else. There were no jobs here for an IT specialist, so we ended up setting up a brick-and-mortar IT business supporting the local community. It was a very traditional-style ICT business but we also specialize in data analytics, software and web development, and we’ve spent years helping businesses and organizations make sense of complex data. Our work is all about problem-solving, organizing information, and helping people make informed decisions. And yet, when it came to our own financial future, I was lost.
Then one day, it hit me.
I’ve spent years helping businesses make sense of data—why couldn’t I apply the same principles to income opportunities? Instead of listening to opinions, why not use actual numbers to analyze the different income streams and figure out which ones worked for me, I had learned by this stage, that starting and running a successful business was much more than just capital and knowledge, it was equally about other intangible hard to measure things like Grit, Consistency, adaptability?
So I built a dashboard. Not for anyone else—just for me.
I started compiling data on different ways to make money. I looked at how much time each one required, how much risk was involved, and how much money people actually made over the long run. I factored in the things no one really talks about—things like grit, adaptability, and consistency. And I added long-term success rates—because what’s the point in chasing an income stream that only works for a small percentage of people?
The results were eye-opening.
Some income streams that looked promising at first glance turned out to have shockingly low success rates. Others, which I had previously ignored, were actually much better suited to my strengths. I started seeing clear patterns—why some people thrived while others failed, and what truly made the difference between success and struggle.
For the first time in 20 years of searching, I had clarity.
I finally understood that success isn’t just about finding the most profitable option—it’s also about finding something that works for me, based on my skills, mindset, and lifestyle. And its also about identifying my strengths but more importantly my weaknesses, and finding ways to build capability in those areas. When I think back on it the most successful people repeat the same mantra over and over, Grit, Consistency, Adaptability (the ability to listen, learn and Pivot)
And that’s when I realized—this wasn’t just a tool for me.
This could help thousands of other people who were just as lost as I had been.
So we turned it into The Choice Curve.
We built it into something anyone could use. A framework, a tool that doesn’t tell you what to do but helps you choose for yourself. A place where people can finally stop guessing and start making informed choices about their financial future.
The truth is, most people don’t fail because they don’t work hard enough. They fail because they pick something that doesn’t align with their skills, mindset, or lifestyle. They jump into opportunities based on hype, not data. They chase a dream that someone else convinced them was the right path, instead of finding the one that’s actually right for them.
I know what that feels like. I spent years caught in that cycle. And we built The Choice Curve so others wouldn’t have to.
Now, with AI and automation changing the landscape of work, more people than ever are being forced to rethink their careers. Some are being pushed out of industries they’ve worked in for decades. Others are realizing that their jobs aren’t as secure as they once thought. And many are simply tired of relying on one income source, knowing that true financial stability comes from having multiple streams of income.
That’s why this platform exists. To cut through the noise, strip away the hype, and give people real data, real insights, and real clarity.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by too many options, if you’ve ever struggled to decide which path to take, I’ve been there. And we built this for you.
There’s still a lot of work to do, we have a roadmap of new features that will keep us busy for the next few years.
Check out The Choice Curve intro video below
And if this resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts—what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced when trying to find a new income opportunity?