I once thought that hard work and a great education would set me free. Like so many, I went to school, acquired an expensive post secondary education, got a good job and began to climb the proverbial ladder. My goal, to create the life we all are taught to dream about. You know….. the house, the car, marriage, 2.5 children and the annual exciting vacations. Possibly the cottage, a small boat and a membership at the country club. No matter who you are, we all have some version of that dream. The interesting thing was the life I dreamed of seemed elusive, the harder I worked the more it seemed to slip away.
With each bigger check came with larger responsibilities and more demands on my time. At the top of my game, I was physically exhausted and financially upside down. The stress of my own success had me on the brink of burnout. I felt like a FRAUD. On the outside I maintained the façade that all is well, while on the inside I walked with anger, shame and disappointment. How could this be my life? Had I not done what so many of us had been taught?
Who wants to just survive?
You see if a great education, and working hard at a good job was truly the recipe, then many of us should be living the life of our dreams. Unfortunately freedom has rarely ever come from a job. Not that working hard at a job is not noble, it is that the job equation is not set up for freedom, it is set up to give you a predetermined income. An income that in most cases will provide you with just enough to survive but not enough to thrive. Who wants to just survive?
($40.00/hour) X (40 Hour/week)
You see when you have a job not only has some one determined your worth but they have also determined how many hours they will give you the privilege of working. If you think it through, in this equation your income potential is limited by a predetermined worth and the amount of hour you are able or willing to work. In other words to earn more someone will have to agree to pay you more per hour, or you will have to commit to more hours each day. So for many the answer has become not just one job, rather two and even three jobs. The hope, increased hours will allow you to make up for insufficient wages.
My first step toward freedom came with a simple but often overlooked realization. With a job our income is tied to time. You must put in time to earn your wages. I also realized that those members of society who had both wealth and time freedom did not have jobs; they were not the employees, they were the employer. They were the owners of businesses that provided a product, or service to the market place. They were not trading their time for dollars. They were leverage the time, productivity, creativity and brainpower of those in their employed.
Imagine employing 100 people who work for 40 hours each week. You now have a business that has 4000 hours of productivity directed at producing a product and service. 4000 hours of creativity as well as productivity, and chances are they are producing whether you are physically present or not. Production is occurring while you give your time to a vacation, your family or other things you are passionate about. So the real question is not do I need to work harder? Nor is it how do I acquire more hours? The question isn’t even can I find and employer who is willing to pay me a better wage? It you want freedom and to ultimately create wealth, the real question becomes how do I create leverage? How do I learn to leverage time, productivity and the buying power of others? Creating leverage just is your only true access to freedom.
Suzan Hart is an inspirational speaker, master trainer and author. Knowing that your inner game creates your outer game Suzan’s mindset mastery, teaches hard working, results driven black men and women, to be un-apologetically recognized for their value, financially rewarded for their brilliance, and celebrated for the fullest expression of themselves. Suzan Hart went from physically exhausted and financially upside down to becoming a Black Woman Millionaire. Suzan Hart is president of HartZone Inc and the founder of the F!T is the New $eXy movement. Learn more and claim your free gift at http://www.hartzone.com.