Tag: wealth

Opportunity cost, saving money, and living your rich life

If you want something, you HAVE to give something up to get it – whether that’s time, money, effort, etc. You have to make sacrifices…you can do anything if you set your mind to it, but you can’t do everything. You will have to pick and choose what is most important to you because by saying yes to one thing, you are inherently saying no to something else. It’s opportunity cost.

For example, if you want an expensive new car, you have to give up money to get it. To earn enough money, you have to work for it (trading time and effort for dollars). You’ll also have to save up for it (also costing time, because it won’t happen over night, and effort, because you might be tempted to spend money on other things). So if you also want to go on vacation, go out to eat all the time, go on a shopping spree, etc., but you don’t make enough money, by saying yes to those other things, you are saying no to getting that dream car.

You can’t have all of the toys and live the “rich” life without PAYING for it. What you need to do is redefine what is a rich life for you (it’s different for everyone). Living a rich life doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a lot of money. It does mean that you’re allowed to spend money on things that matter most to you though. Life is meant to be enjoyed. When you die, you can’t take that money with you.

But the problem for most people isn’t having too much money leftover when they die, it’s not having enough for their later years. Most people mindlessly spend money on things they don’t really get enjoyment out of. They do this all of their lives. Stop doing this! If it’s not something you truly care about, cut it out of your life or buy off-brand. Save money for the things that matter most to you and when you do spend on something you’ve been saving for, don’t feel regret.

Giving more effort and solving difficult problems

Usually, when effort increases, reward increases. Following the easy path is less likely to be rewarding (financially or otherwise). Because if it is easy then everyone would do it. And if everyone does it, it is less likely to be valued

Think back to economics class with supply and demand…the greater the supply (or the more people who have the ability to do something and want to do it), the less the demand and the less valuable that resource/task becomes.

If you do hard things or solve difficult problems that others won’t or can’t do, you’re more likely to be rewarded.

Power

We want to power not so we can abuse it, but to make sure that we are never taken advantage of. But there are different types of power. For example, being wealthy is powerful. If you are independently wealthy and not financially reliant on your W-2 income, if you feel like you are mistreated or if you just don’t like your job you can leave it for something else.

Other types of power include strength (physical and mental), intelligence, and influence.

If you physical strength or if you know how to defend yourself, you have power. People will think twice about messing with you before selecting an easier target.

If you have mental strength, you have power. Others will not be able to manipulate your emotions if you know how to keep them in check.

If you have intelligence, you have power. You will be able to detect when someone is lying or trying to mislead you. You can use your intuition and what you already have a base knowledge of to figure out if something makes sense.

If you have influence (such as a huge social media following, but even with your friends or family), you have power. Your words can affect how people think, what they say/do, how they vote, etc.

Once again, it’s not that we want this power to hold over someone else. It’s actually the complete opposite. We want to have the power so that others can’t exercise that power on us.

How are you increasing your power today?

Impactful hours

The Wealthy Gardener discusses the idea of how the most productive people take advantage of maximizing their time by adding impact hours and minimizing the amount of hollow hours throughout their day.

We all have the same amount of time in the day, but clearly some people have more impact than others. Clearly some can accomplish more in the same amount of time than others.

Why is this so?

It is because they use their hours more effectively to create better results. Even though they have the same 24 hours as everyone else, they have fewer hollow (aka “wasted”) hours. What would an example of a hollow hour be? Watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, doing nothing to move you forward or achieve your goals.

Your goal should be to fill your day up with more impactful hours. What actions do you need to take to move the needle in getting you closer to your goals?

How bad do you want it?

There’s a difference between wanting something if it comes to you and wanting to make it so bad that you are willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

For example, I want $1 million. It would be nice if I somehow won $1 million. But that’s not likely. So if I really want it, am I willing to put forth the effort to earn it?

I want to set personal records for strength and conditioning, but I am I willing to push myself hard every single day in the gym, eating the right things, focusing on flexibility and mobility work, and get enough sleep and recovery.

I want to have the perfect family life. But I have to want it badly enough to balance between personal care (where I am making sure I can still be the best version of myself), and spending quality time, helping out around the house, showing the kids great work ethic, respecting and loving my wife/their mother, etc.

Everyone “wants” better, but how badly do you want it? Are you willing to do the work? Everybody wants the best, but not many people are willing to put in the required blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. Are you going to just be a daydreamer? Or are you going to take massive action to live your best life?