When you’re young, you have more time than money.
Whey you’re old, you have more money than time.
Those who solve this paradox are, rightly, to be admired.
The first step is recognizing that wealth is not measured in dollars.
The Rat Race
Growing up, I thought the key to becoming rich was to work hard at a job that paid a lot of money.
My plan was to earn a big salary and stack the cash in investments year-after-year.
So, the metric I used to measure progress was dollars. How many dollars were coming in every month and how many dollars did I have invested.
To make progress, I put in more hours working at my job and learning skills to be a better employee.
This approach left little time for the things in life that bring true fulfillment: Family, travel, exercise, rest.
I was trapped on the employee treadmill.
Finally, I learned there is a better measure of wealth than dollars.
Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many days forward without working.
The 5 W’s of Work
Work gives us purpose.
Our goal is not to quit working. Our goal is to quit working on other people’s priorities.
Wealth is the freedom to choose how you spend your days without being shackled by the need to work for a paycheck.
It’s the freedom to choose projects that excite you, to work with people you respect, and to find a balance that makes you happy.
Real wealth is about controlling the 5 W’s of work:
- Why you work
- When you work
- What you work on
- Who you work with
- Where you work from
Time Wealth
With this perspective, your focus shifts from accumulating dollars to accumulating time.
Time to pursue passions, time with family and friends, and time for self-growth without the constant worry of paying bills.
My version of Buckminster Fuller’s quote is:
Wealth is the number of days a person can survive without needing to work.
So, wealth is measured in days, not dollars. This is what I call Time Wealth.
When you look at it this way, you realize that people who work 9-5 jobs, regardless of their income or account balances, are time poor.
They spend every weekday working on other people’s priorities.
Their Time Wealth is ~14 days (just enough to take a long vacation without getting fired).
Escape Velocity
The only way to accumulate Time Wealth and gain control of the 5 W’s of work is to build assets that produce passive income.
Assets include real estate, stocks/bonds, and businesses.
The types of passive income they produce are rent from tenants, dividends, and sales profits, respectively.
At yolopreneurs.com, we focus on helping you build business assets. Specifically, a one-person, on-line business selling digital products.
Your goal is to build a business that produces more passive income each month than you have in expenses.
When passive income > expenses, you’ve reached financial escape velocity.
You then have the time to build more assets that produce more passive income which allows you to further increase your standard of living.
How to Gain Control of the 5 W’s
Homeschool students have an advantage. They don’t spend their day working on the priorities of the public schools.
With few expenses of their own, their Time Wealth can be several years. So, it’s entirely reasonable for them to graduate high school with a $50k/yr business.
For everyone else, it’s more difficult, but definitely doable. Here’s how to start:
Assess Your Current 5 W’s: Think about your current job or daily routine. How much control do you have over these aspects of your work?
Imagine Your Future 5 W’s: What kind of work excites you? Who would you love to work with? When and where would you do your best work? Why does this work matter to you?
Focus on Building Assets: Stop watching TV and scrolling social media. Use that time to build a one-person business that will produce passive income.
Cut Unnecessary Expenses: Streamline your spending so that you can achieve escape velocity sooner.
Educate Yourself: Invest in yourself to learn the 3 foundation skills of life: Leading, Building, and Selling. Apply them to yourself before applying them to others.
Wrapping Things Up
If you’re ready to explore what true wealth means and build a life filled with purposeful work, join us.
Subscribe to this newsletter for insights, stories, and steps to help you redefine wealth and take control of your work life.
Remember, real wealth isn’t about avoiding work; it’s about creating a life where work enhances your freedom and fulfillment.
Let’s make it happen.
Warm regards,
The Edupreneur
