Disassociating Time from Money
One of my outlooks on life, in general
If you were like me, you grew up believing that the only way to make a living was to work a job of some kind.
We all had to “pick a career”.
It makes sense if you think about it, the internet only became a realistic medium for income over the last ten years.
I don’t blame my parents for not knowing any better, because when they were growing up that’s all there was.
That isn’t the only option anymore though.
The Problem (Option 1)
The main issues with a traditional job are:
You cannot earn money while not clocked in
You have little to no control over the rate at which you earn
This is extremely inefficient because your only option for making more money is to simply work more hours.
The problem? There are only so many hours you can work.
You may be thinking this post is an argument for people to stop working their 9-5 job, but it isn’t.
I’m well aware that not everyone wants to head down the same path I did.
However, it is sort of foolish to totally ignore the other option that exists and not at least pair the two of them for a more efficient path to financial freedom.
Option 2
So what is that other option? Income that arrives:
No matter what you’re doing, even if you’re asleep
At a rate that you actually have control over
Prior to the internet, you had to take some incredible risks to do this.
Thankfully, it’s much easier to pull off now due to the incredible amount of abundance that exists online.
There are a number of ways to make this happen, but I can only speak on those that I actually have experience with.
It’s important to note that NONE of them are possible without effort and at least a little bit of sacrifice.
The Disassociation
It’s tough at first to re-wire your brain into thinking of money in any other way than “I have to trade X hours to get it.”
Once you do though, you’ll never look at the world the same.
The key is to put yourself on the other side of the cash register or bill you receive in the mail.
Every single payment you make to a business, is another person’s passive income.
The person who owns whatever it is you paid, did not have to be present to receive that payment.
Instead of thinking “I must work 5 hours to make $100”
Start thinking “I need to sell 2 items that profit $50” or “I need this many subscribers to make $100”
Levels
There are two levels to this more efficient way of earning income.
Level 1 is where you still have to put in the work to get it.
The key difference is that while you may make next to nothing early on, the upside is unlimited.
An example of this is a YouTube channel or an Ecommerce business.
Everyone that creates content or starts a new brand makes no money at first.
Eventually though, if they work at it enough, they have the potential to be rewarded greatly for the same amount of effort they put in originally.
This income is efficient.
Level 2 is where you actually don’t have to do a single thing.
You buy something that pays you and there is nothing required on your end.
This is the definition of passive income.
The End Goal
Ultimately, choosing whether or not to take advantage of more efficient income comes down to working backwards from your end goal.
My end goal was and still is: doing what I want to do most in the world, as much as possible, every day of the week.
Most people call this retirement.
What do I want to do every day? Well that depends on the day.
Some days I want to read for most of the day. Other days I want to research investment ideas or work on one of my businesses.
No two days really are the same and I love that.
This was not possible while I was working as an employee.
This meant I had to create much more efficient ways of making an income and then buy things that pay me or grow with the left over income.
For some people, their end goal is being a doctor.
That is still technically a “job” and that’s totally fine. The world needs doctors.
However, even doctors should be investing their spare cash in things that grow or pay them to own them.
Conclusion
The reason I’ve even shared my story online is because I know how fulfilling it is to get to do what I love for a living.
I want others to experience that same feeling.
In my opinion, it will take you an eternity without at least combining both Options 1 and 2.
More efficient income means you will gain freedom sooner or at least be less reliable on that fixed income job.
We were all taught that retirement is an age, but it’s really just a simple math formula.
If your passive income is higher than your expenses, you can effectively retire.
That or you can keep working and create a gigantic buffer between you and ever having to return to work.
Not many of my posts will be like this, I would expect them maybe once a month.
I just felt it was important to share a personal philosophy of mine.
It hopefully helps you understand why I talk about the things I talk about.