Archive for October, 2007
Time is Money?
We’ve all heard the phrase. However, the notion is a dangerous one. The truth is that time is infinitely more valuable than money. Surely everyone reading this will agree. Every precious moment that slips away and will never return again is a tragedy if wasted.
So I will put a hard question to you: if time is more valuable than money, why are you trading your time for money? Whether your hourly wage is $7 or $700, is it really worth giving over so much of your life? I don’t care who you are, the answer is no. Not for its own sake. Not by a long stretch.
If you are one of the few people fortunate enough to have a job you love, then you need not concern yourself. If you are supporting yourself doing something that brings you joy and satisfaction, then count your blessings (for they are many), save for retirement, and don’t worry after that. Most people hate their jobs, however. To spend the majority of your waking hours away from your family and the things you love, trapped in a job you hate, is a terrible waste. As one friend put it, “it’s no way to live a life.”
Here’s the real test for any job: If you had a billion dollars, would you do your job for free? If the answer is no, then in my mind it just isn’t worth it, not matter how much you are being paid. At the end of the day, it’s only money, and your time is priceless.
Most of us are trained from an early age to believe that time equals money, that we must work an hour to earn an hour’s pay. It’s deeply ingrained in our society and culture, and it is utterly false. If you ever want to be wealthy, you must free yourself from this lie.
The truth is that there are many ways to grow wealth. Trading hours for money is only one, and it is by far the worst option out there. Yet is it the only option that we’re taught about in school, and many people never use any other method their entire lives. That’s why you are not allowed to use a single penny of pay from hourly work in this game.
Find another way. The world is full of ways to make money. All that is required is for you to find something someone needs or wants, and give it to them. But don’t give them the precious hours of your life. They should be yours, and yours alone.
Sometimes you Have to Take a Loss
Good Riddance. |
At some point, if what you’re doing isn’t working, it’s time to try another tactic. I was having no luck selling my hard-cover copy of Special Topics in Calamity Physics
After no luck on Half.com for a week, two days on Amazon was long enough for the book to sell. But Amazon’s huge commission wiped out any profits I might make. The email from Amazon:
Item: Special Topics in Calamity Physics [Hardcover] by Pessl, MarishaCondition: Used - Very GoodCondition Note: Cover, pages very clean, with dustcover. Very minor creasing on dust cover corners.
Listing ID: 0928W308391
SKU:
Quantity: 1
Purchased on: 10/04/2007
Buyer’s Price: $3.26
Amazon Commission: ($2.83)
Shipping Credit: $3.99
Your Earnings: $4.42
Shipping will run me $2.13, leaving me with $2.29. When all was said and done, I ended up losing 22% of my $3.00 investment. With the 42ยข I had left over, that leaves me with $2.71. In accordance with Rule 9, that puts me back at step 4.
A bummer, of course, but there’s an important lesson to take from this: It is far better to take a loss than to leave your assets tied up in a losing investment. If your first judgment was wrong (and no one is right 100% of the time), you need to get out ASAP, free up what capital remains for future ventures. That applies equally to a $3 investment and a $3 million investment.
Far too many people ignore this simple concept every day. They stay in unhealthy relationships, afraid to be alone. They ride stocks all the way down to zero, hoping for a recovery. They stay in dead-end jobs they hate, too afraid to leave.
Cut your losers short, and let your winners ride. This simple concept can be applied profitably to every area of your life.
On to the next venture.