The see the fame and fortune but never see the fallouts and failures. Success has a price that few are willing to pay. For some for us, we are willing to pay the price for success. To be precise, the price for financial freedom at an early age. The idea of retiring when one is 60 or 70 is beyond me. At that age, how can you enjoy the speed of a Maserati or Ferrari?
The conventional idea of wealth creation is one that takes too long. I understand why most young millionaires of today are against Warren Buffet’s get rich slow strategy. Yes, he is one of the richest people on the planet but his lifestyle is not inspiring. His life seems so dull and mundane. However, for decades many subscribe to his method of being wealthy. The idea that you have work hard today, put your money in the stock market and hopefully, you’ll still be alive to enjoy your wealth in the future is pretty outdated.
That is not the life for us. Nor is the life of a rapper or an actor. Through their talents, actors; rappers and athletes have the ability to be rich young. However, let’s face it, not everyone is Michael Jordan. Not everyone is Kendrick Lamar. Not everyone wants the fame. Most people just want the fortune.
However, what’s interesting about these super-talented people is that they do not credit success to their talent. Tupac died at the age of 26. Yet, he touched the lives of so many people across the globe. Those that worked with Tupac said that he had one crazy work ethic. It is said that he once said that he doesn’t have time to waste, he must work today while he is still alive. And work he did. His accomplishments truly speak for themselves.
The problem with the get rich slow strategy is that one trades their life for money. Society says that you have to work for 40 years, saving 10% in safe investment yields and once you retire at age 65, then you’ll be financially free. You missed out living life to the fullest in your twenties. You missed watching your children grow in your thirties. You missed enjoying the peak of your life in your 40s. To be honest, that’s not the life I want to live.
Money is important. Money is an economic benefit that enables you to purchase one very important aspect of life: freedom. If you had the money to cover your basic needs, would you still need a job? If you had systems in place that ensured that you received enough money to be at least financially secure, would you still be working? Unless you really love your job, I don’t think so. Personally, I want the freedom to be the best dad in the world. I do not want to miss my children’s important days because “daddy was at work”.
What MJ DeMarco highlights in his book The Millionaire Fastlane speaks life. He goes into detail that some people do not possess the talent to be celebrities. However, those very same people desire the life of celebrities. So he went on a journey to discover how can the average person go about to obtain the life of a celebrity without actually being one. What he discovered is simple. The answer: Hard work.
To elaborate, I’ll paraphrase what Elon Musk once said about hard work. Elon Musk once said that if you work consistently for 6 months, you’ll be at least 10 years ahead in life. Seeing that he is ahead of Warren Buffet financially (and way younger), Elon Musk clearly knows what he is talking about. I understand why Elon Musk is so against Warren Buffet. Elon Musk is new money. Warren Buffet is old money. We want that new money.
Obviously the rabbit hole goes deeper than this. The idea of hard work doesn’t mean working hard at your job. That will be foolish. The maximum potential you can earn at your job is your hourly rate multiplied by 24 hours. A day has only 24 hours. Unless you not human, it is simply impossible to work 24 hours straight.
Financial freedom only comes from creating a system that can enable you to reap profits. Profits are limitless and they are entirely up to you as how much you want of them. This ties in with what Jim Rohn once said. He said that in order to earn more in the marketplace, you need to give the marketplace more value. Since I wrote that working hard on your job is foolish. What you need to be working hard on is yourself. Your skills and abilities in order to provide more value in the marketplace.
Dr. Dre in his prime once said that he locked himself up in the studio for about two weeks straight working on beats. That’s why he's one the greatest producers of all time and his bank balance approves. Beyoncé it is said that she can go days without eating because she will be practising her singing and dancing to perfection. Her bank balance approves of the quality she provides. Steve Jobs when he was helping the Pixar guys establish their business with Toy Story, his wife said that Steve Jobs would sometimes not sleep for a day or two just working on Pixar. Look at the value of Pixar, Apple and Steve Jobs himself. Lastly, the coolest of entrepreneurs Phil Knight, when he was getting Nike of the ground, he would spend sleepless nights finding the right distributors and manufactures in order to create the world’s most popular sports brand.
The narrative of hard work in everyday life is that of being a hard-working student. The premise of a higher education degree is to equip you for employment. Truth be told, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this if indeed you love what you doing. In fact, you are an inspiration to have found happiness in what you do and the laws of the universe do guarantee you nothing but success. Thus, for you, working hard on your job might produce the success you desire.
However, working harder on yourself will reap more benefits. We all have dreams and desires that we want to fulfil. Like ET once asked, how badly do you want to succeed? It is truly something to listen to Kendrick Lamar’s early albums. There are tracks there where you hear the doubt in the lyrics. You hear him question whether he will succeed. But he continued crafting his art and now, he is regarded as the new Tupac.
I am one to believe that dreams do come true. They only come true to those that pursue them. I don’t know about you but the idea that I’ll buy one Maserati at age 60 does not sit well with me. For success to come early in life, it is clear that one must work hard- regardless if you are talented or not. Nothing beats hard work. To sacrifice a few years of my life so that I can enjoy the rest of it (before turning 30) for me, is a fair price to pay. It is a fair cost indeed for it promises the unlimited rewards of being financially free.
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