Why are you working so hard?

[Philip J. Fry]

I realized I was working hard to prove people wrong about me. I had this internal pressure to prove the bullies and haters and nay-sayers wrong. Well, I did prove them wrong and my life is quite good now. Now, I don't feel like working that much and am quite lazy. I don't have the pressure anymore, which is good and bad.

I gotta find a new why and it's not financial either. I can just coast for the next 13 years and then retire with rental income. I can work at Starbucks if I want to. But I have a site I'm working on with good earning potentials and, here I am, in a coffee shop and feeling lazy after a double espresso.

So, what's some good reasons and motivation to work above and beyond your peers, when you've already made it and aren't desperate for money? Seems like a good problem to have but still a problem.

• To start, I know a guy starting a ghost kitchen. It's not for money but for a passion. He loves to cook.
• I know another guy, well two, who work hard for their kids. They want to give them wealth. I have no kids.
• I still have a team of employees who are going to be laid off soon. They really do love me and I can do it for them. This is against employee/employer culture but they are really loyal to me and they need a job soon.
• I can help this client of mine save his business. His employees are all part time now since they're fucked from COVID.
• I have no idea who the customers for these products are. If I find out more about them, it might make me more interested in them.

What do you think?

 

[MinstrelJunkie]

Earn enough to be financially free so I can afford the things I want, then spend the rest of my life doing something meaningful.

I love the online game as much as anyone, but at the end of the day, we're all working for the benefit of our bank accounts. Once that's large enough to sustain itself, I hope to shift my focus to things that will leave a positive mark (balanced with personal interests/growth/driving a nice car).

Money is power. Our root desire often isn't money, it's in the power it gives you. That can be ego-driven power (status, girls, clothes, cars) or benevolent power (empowering others, giving to charities, supporting causes). There's no right answer there. If you're really stuck, it might be worth taking some time off to reflect on what you truly want.

 

[JOoa0ky]

Because I wish to see a world, one which is different from the one that I see today.

 

[MrMedia]

A deep urge for external validation stemming from a childhood of bullying.

That and two girls at once.

 

[voLdie]

A deep urge for external validation stemming from a childhood of bullying.

That and two girls at once.

 

[secretagentdad]

Ugh.
Am I the only one around here that thinks being more lazy is an option?
Find an above average girl and spend all your time with her. The smart ones can stay interesting forever.

 

[Zoro]

I am nowhere near what you guys have accomplished but I still want to share my journey for anyone to read.

My childhood was really good, I grew up on a farm in the 80s and 90s when the computers first started to pop up. I remember getting my first Intel 80286 (I called it 286) and I was sold.
This was what I wanted to do in life, I wanted to play games and this was the technical revolution that I felt was meant for me.

I never liked sports or group activities, but I did have loads of friends and did party a lot in my teens. Was quite shy with girls but was in the cool gang as a sidekick so didn't have much problems. Might have had low self esteem but I still managed without feeling down or so.

Military happened at 18 and after that I started my work career at my fathers job working with trucks in the repair department. It was something I was good at.
So I party at the weekends, gaming, work during the week and was with my girlfriend that I scored 18 years old. Life keeps going like that for 10 years.

2009 I decided life in Sweden wasn't good enough, I wanted to travel the world. And ooh boy I did. 6 months around the world trips. It was amazing for sure.

A lot of parties, some drugs, some girls and I got a new view on the world and my life. I felt that the world image I got was different from the people living in my country, you know. They were afraid of everything outside and didnt have an open mind.

But my memories soon faded and I started to work at my old job again…

A few years around 2011 I got the answer from my boss. If I wanted his job, hesitant at first but with the mindset that why not try I took it. My self esteem and personality changed, I got more outspoken, more hungry for career and life itself. I wanted to do everything.

But stuff happened, I broke up with my girlfriend, new girlfriend right away.
2 years later she is pregnant, we bought a house, career is going well, going to gym 5 days a week. Computer games sometimes, nice vocations etc.

Life rolls on for 10 more years and shit hits the fan when my gf wants to break up. We have 2 kids and well pretty much a basic family life you know.

So 2021 was depressing, I got to keep the house so that was good, she moved out, kids every other week. So I had to work on myself, shit was stressful before being a manager but with the shit happening I just knew I needed a new job to be able to relax somewhere.

Had to go to a therapist for a little while to sort shit out.
Switched to a project manager position at a new company, which made me relax some.
And I don't want to lie. It took 6-8 months before I really could relax.

But with this I got to experience the side of being alone with bills, kind of like growing up. Never been alone and always been in a relationship so it is a good experience for me actually. I have never had problems with money and I don't have that now either, I know how to save money and I have done that all my life so I know how to make a good budget.

Anyways my happiness started to come back but life felt kinda empty in the weeks I didn't have kids so I started to think about what I valued in life and what I wanted.

What I came up with.

• The kids are the most important thing I have in my life and I want to give them the best life.
• Girls are shit.
• I don't want to work until I die.
• I don't want to make anyone else rich.
• I don't want to live like a poor rat.

So how do I change my life to prevent this shit.

First I thought about passive income and that led me to stocks and that was my first interest.
Calculating on a 30 year period my life would probably be poor and I would be 65-66 before I could yield any good profits and have a good life from this.

So I need to increase my income! How do I do that? I went to google and Youtube for answers.

First I read about dropshipping, after that I read about making youtube videos, after that I read about Amazon KDP and actually worked on making books for Amazon KDP for like 6 months.
Then I came across a Youtube video telling me how easy it is to earn money on a blog (I LOL when I think about it now)

Anyways, I'm on that road, I don't want to live in this country, I don't want to give tax to fekktards, I want to be free, I want to travel, I don't want to work for someone else, I want to retire when I'm 45.

And here I am 37 years old trying my best to learn something I know nothing about and be the best I can be.

-Z

 

[eliquid]

I realized I was working hard to prove people wrong about me. I had this internal pressure to prove the bullies and haters and nay-sayers wrong. Well, I did prove them wrong and my life is quite good now. Now, I don't feel like working that much and am quite lazy. I don't have the pressure anymore, which is good and bad.

I gotta find a new why and it's not financial either. I can just coast for the next 13 years and then retire with rental income. I can work at Starbucks if I want to. But I have a site I'm working on with good earning potentials and, here I am, in a coffee shop and feeling lazy after a double espresso.

So, what's some good reasons and motivation to work above and beyond your peers, when you've already made it and aren't desperate for money? Seems like a good problem to have but still a problem.

• To start, I know a guy starting a ghost kitchen. It's not for money but for a passion. He loves to cool.
• I know another guy, well two, who work hard for their kids. They want to give them wealth. I have no kids.
• I still have a team of employees who are going to be laid off soon. They really do love me and I can do it for them. This is against employee/employer culture but they are really loyal to me and they need a job soon.
• I can help this client of mine save his business. His employees are all part time now since they're fucked from COVID.
• I have no idea who the customers for these products are. If I find out more about them, it might make me more interested in them.

What do you think?

You're going down the road millions have before, and later died on.

Thinking you can coast for 13 years, retire on rental income, and work at Starbucks if needed later on... is a sure-fire way to end up broke and working at Walmart/struggling later.

I would only take what I said back if you plan to be single ( and no kids, or responsibilities ) and live below means for the rest of your life. You can pull that off, then I would take back the above statement.

Anything else, then I stand on that.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

So, I'm reading Your Money or Your Life right now and it does go through this. In the book, Vicki Robin advises people to track every dollar earned and spent to bring consciousness into one's finances and life, as money is life energy. Then ask yourself if spending that money for that reason bring fulfilment for the life energy spent. So, does a $50 concert ticket, when you make $25/hour, bring you two life-every-units worth of fulfilment? Maybe if you go there with someone special but not if it's every weekend. Then, also ask if the money spent brings you close to your life purpose, which is helping others in some way, unless you're a narcissist.

So, yeah, I think right now, I want to cut down on clubbing and drugs and drinking and spend more time dancing, meeting people, making friends, and improving my relationships. Instead of pursuing casual, meaningless sex, I want to improve the connections I have. I'm also liking dance social wayyy more than a techno club where I can't even recall what happened the previous night.

So, yeah, I've "made it" and now I want to shift focus into something else.

As for my motivation for working, I want to improve my relationship with Client1 and I might bring on Client2 and Client3. I might also see if I can meet people who will work on Project1 with me to make it more social. I hate working solo. It sucks.

A deep urge for external validation stemming from a childhood of bullying.

I'm sure if your childhood bullies were here to see you now, they'd say that you have achieved a lot by exiting a publishing company worth a few millions. In fact, I'm sure you are doing much better than they are. Once you recognise this yourself, you'll feel much better.. and you're in the same boat as me without a purpose! ha!

Ugh.
Am I the only one around here that thinks being more lazy is an option?
Find an above average girl and spend all your time with her. The smart ones can stay interesting forever.

Spending time with loved one's a good answer. I respect that.

You're going down the road millions have before, and later died on.

Thinking you can coast for 13 years, retire on rental income, and work at Starbucks if needed later on... is a sure-fire way to end up broke and working at Walmart/struggling later.

I would only take what I said back if you plan to be single ( and no kids, or responsibilities ) and live below means for the rest of your life. You can pull that off, then I would take back the above statement.

Anything else, then I stand on that.

A child costs US$350,000 or so, without higher education. I'm not set to retire with a wife and kids and I think it'll be dumb for me to push myself to achieve that, when I'm single without a girlfriend. That's like, too much hypothetical planning and also too much pressure on the woman -- it's as if there's HUGE expectations for her already and for what she has to do.

I'm happy I live in a place where you can be in your 30's 40's and even 60's without kids and it's totally ok

 

[JOoa0ky]

So, I'm reading Your Money or Your Life right now and it does go through this. In the book, Vicki Robin advises people to track every dollar earned and spent to bring consciousness into one's finances and life, as money is life energy. Then ask yourself if spending that money for that reason bring fulfilment for the life energy spent. So, does a $50 concert ticket, when you make $25/hour, bring you two life-every-units worth of fulfilment? Maybe if you go there with someone special but not if it's every weekend. Then, also ask if the money spent brings you close to your life purpose, which is helping others in some way, unless you're a narcissist.

So, yeah, I think right now, I want to cut down on clubbing and drugs and drinking and spend more time dancing, meeting people, making friends, and improving my relationships. Instead of pursuing casual, meaningless sex, I want to improve the connections I have. I'm also liking dance social wayyy more than a techno club where I can't even recall what happened the previous night.

So, yeah, I've "made it" and now I want to shift focus into something else.

That's one way to look at it... However, I do prefer to look at the things that I do and assign a time value to it rather than just a monetary value.

Money will come and go. You can always earn more of it if necessary.

Time on the other hand, you cannot earn more of it regardless of how hard you try.

Think about until what age you expect to live. How much time do you roughly have left? When you undertake a project, ask yourself how much time will you have to dedicate to it in order to achieve your goal.

Is it worth spending X amount of my life on achieving that goal? Just my opinion.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

That's one way to look at it... However, I do prefer to look at the things that I do and assign a time value to it rather than just a monetary value.

Money will come and go. You can always earn more of it if necessary.

Time on the other hand, you cannot earn more of it regardless of how hard you try.

Think about until what age you expect to live. How much time do you roughly have left? When you undertake a project, ask yourself how much time will you have to dedicate to it in order to achieve your goal.

Is it worth spending X amount of my life on achieving that goal? Just my opinion.

You'd like the book. We're talking about the same thing and the book is a key book in the Financial Independence/Retire Early community.

 

[eliquid]

You'd like the book. We're talking about the same thing and the book is a key book in the Financial Independence/Retire Early community.

as long as you can find something else that is more current when it comes to making money, example the extremely dated interest rates/vehicles used to gain that independence from the book.

Otherwise, it's more common sense and common financial sense you can get from other sources almost. Not knocking the book, but when you look past that part it gets very much like other advice.

I read it early 2000's and it was already getting outdated quickly on that subject.

Im not sure why so many like the book today honestly. Especially those in the FIRE/retire early camp. I could prob point them to some more current advice if I thought long enough that would suit them better.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

as long as you can find something else that is more current when it comes to making money, example the extremely dated interest rates/vehicles used to gain that independence from the book.

Otherwise, it's more common sense and common financial sense you can get from other sources almost. Not knocking the book, but when you look past that part it gets very much like other advice.

I read it early 2000's and it was already getting outdated quickly on that subject.

Im not sure why so many like the book today honestly. Especially those in the FIRE/retire early camp. I could prob point them to some more current advice if I thought long enough that would suit them better.

It's a book that shifted the personal finance conversation from "how do I budget and stay within budget?" to "how do I want to spend my life energy and what brings me fulfilment?" These are much broader questions than "what's a good way to invest my money today?" which is something that changes with time. The book also created a whole community of people who answered the question of "what brings me fulfilment?" such as Mr. Money Moustache, who decided to live frugally so that he could parent and spend time with his family full time. So, it's an important personal finance book as it created a paradigm shift in people's perspectives on what personal finance is.

It might seem common sense now but, back in the 90's, Im pretty sure everyone would call you crazy if you decided to reduce consumption and work a part time job so that you could spend your days parenting your kids like Mr. Money Moustache but that's what pondering those questions and answering them did for him. It's not common sense to say that one's career would be to not climb the corporate ladder but to rather consume as little as possible so that they could save as much as possible and build capital so that they can free themselves of work. That's a really new idea.

If you go back to a book like The Richest Man in Babylon, which was written in the 1920's I believe, that book was about saving and budgeting but it wasn't about creating freedom to pursue your passions and interests. It was about getting richer and building wealth. There was no say in how one should spend their retirement or what they should do with their wealth. It was wealth for the sake of wealth. We're past that now and we can have wealth and a set amount, for a purpose that's important to us. There's "enough" and it's obtainable. It's quite cool.

 

[eliquid]

It's a book that shifted the personal finance conversation from "how do I budget and stay within budget?" to "how do I want to spend my life energy and what brings me fulfilment?" These are much broader questions than "what's a good way to invest my money today?" which is something that changes with time. The book also created a whole community of people who answered the question of "what brings me fulfilment?" such as Mr. Money Moustache, who decided to live frugally so that he could parent and spend time with his family full time. So, it's an important personal finance book as it created a paradigm shift in people's perspectives on what personal finance is.

It might seem common sense now but, back in the 90's, Im pretty sure everyone would call you crazy if you decided to reduce consumption and work a part time job so that you could spend your days parenting your kids like Mr. Money Moustache but that's what pondering those questions and answering them did for him. It's not common sense to say that one's career would be to not climb the corporate ladder but to rather consume as little as possible so that they could save as much as possible and build capital so that they can free themselves of work. That's a really new idea.

If you go back to a book like The Richest Man in Babylon, which was written in the 1920's I believe, that book was about saving and budgeting but it wasn't about creating freedom to pursue your passions and interests. It was about getting richer and building wealth. There was no say in how one should spend their retirement or what they should do with their wealth. It was wealth for the sake of wealth. We're past that now and we can have wealth and a set amount, for a purpose that's important to us. There's "enough" and it's obtainable. It's quite cool.

I think the difference is:

1. Some of us think and understand. Come up with our own.

2. Others do not, and wait for others to tell them or show them.

Not saying any group is right ( or wrong ).

In my view, if people were saving money to save money.. they don't represent what you think the way of life was before. People saved money to live a life they wanted to live, or could live, knowing they were maybe not going to be able to do so later in life.

It's like the term quiet quitting. Everyone thinks this is new and a "new way of thinking" and shifts the paradigm in work thinking. Only "work what you get paid". Save your mental health...

Seriously? Not only is this not new thinking, but this isn't a shift of anything. But a lot of people are sitting at home with their minds blown about this and this has been going on for 100's of years. Yet people think the prior generations just worked to work.

Some of us knew and thought on our own, some of us had to be told and give it a new name. The ones that generally have to be told ( the masses ) think it's some new idea and everyone else before is dumb and did it the wrong way.

But that's not actually correct.

If someone has to tell you, what to do in your retirement or what to do with your wealth or that you use money to create freedom so you can pursue your passions and interests.. then maybe you are the one doing things wrong? Not saying you personally, but the masses.

It's pretty common to know why you want to have more money in life. No one really needs to spell it out A-B-C style to anyone else and handhold them. That's why this wasn't talked about as much ( even though it was ) years ago. People knew and didn't have to be told.

^^ I think that is why so many people think this is mind-blowing and life-changing and paradigm-shifting. They are not thinking and doing on their own and instead waiting for others to tell them or to approve them.

Most people in the world equate making and having money, with doing and enjoying the things you want. Not to simply stockpile up towers of bills or digits in a bank account for the same of digits and Jenga.

It's the same as quiet quitting. People knew about this and were doing it hundreds if not thousands of years ago for the same reasons. Same with job jumping and such, but everyone today thinks it's something new and the people talking about it on TikTok or some book they found as guru's when it's common sense republished that people before already knew because they thought it out on their own.

Also people will always say "you're crazy". New idea or not.

 

[eliquid]

Besides the quiet quitting or job jumping example, the next closest thing I can compared to is "yellow snow".

When you walk outside in the winter and see yellow snow, do you know not to eat it without someone telling you not to? Or do you eat it for weeks until you read a book that tells you not to and then think that book is a paradigm mind blowing shift in thinking? Some of us didn't feel the need to tell others to not eat yellow snow, because it was just common sense.. therefor it wasn't plastered everywhere in the public realm.

And when 20 years go by and the new young adults start telling everyone to "don't ingest Amarillo frozen water flakes" we just kinda awkwardly shurg and say "yeah" and wonder wtf is going on.

Do you really think before we ( the older ones ) were just eating yellow snow to eat yellow snow because this is "new thinking" you all just discovered? No, no we weren't.

This is why I don't understand why everyone thinks it's so great. It's not new thinking or concepts, but everyone thinks it is and that no one did this prior or people just did things to do them.

It just we didn't have to discuss it, spell it out, or hand hold. It was known and understood and common sense.

For some reason, it is not now and I think a lot of it is because people do not think on their own now.

 

[DarkRed]

There was no say in how one should spend their retirement or what they should do with their wealth. It was wealth for the sake of wealth. We're past that now and we can have wealth and a set amount, for a purpose that's important to us. There's "enough" and it's obtainable. It's quite cool.

I think this fits perfectly here:

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Besides the quiet quitting or job jumping example, the next closest thing I can compared to is "yellow snow".

When you walk outside in the winter and see yellow snow, do you know not to eat it without someone telling you not to? Or do you eat it for weeks until you read a book that tells you not to and then think that book is a paradigm mind blowing shift in thinking? Some of us didn't feel the need to tell others to not eat yellow snow, because it was just common sense.. therefor it wasn't plastered everywhere in the public realm.

And when 20 years go by and the new young adults start telling everyone to "don't ingest Amarillo frozen water flakes" we just kinda awkwardly shurg and say "yeah" and wonder wtf is going on.

Do you really think before we ( the older ones ) were just eating yellow snow to eat yellow snow because this is "new thinking" you all just discovered? No, no we weren't.

This is why I don't understand why everyone thinks it's so great. It's not new thinking or concepts, but everyone thinks it is and that no one did this prior or people just did things to do them.

It just we didn't have to discuss it, spell it out, or hand hold. It was known and understood and common sense.

For some reason, it is not now and I think a lot of it is because people do not think on their own now.

The funny thing is that your mentality is a common American mentality that's based upon common sense, practicality, and hard work instead of intellect and expert opinions. It's very blue collard, do-it-yourself, and common man. Why trust a city slicker in a suit when you can do it yourself at home with your own tools, am I right? No book or expert told you this but the society you grew up in and live in did. Your thinking fits in with blue-collard, rural American society.

I doubt anyone really "thinks on their own" now or before as, if they did, it would be without language, culture, and everything that's good in society. It'll be a child that grew up feral and figured out how to survive in the wild. That person would think on their own and that'll be a travesty of mankind to be so alone, isolated, and abandoned. However that person figured out how to live in nature would very much be his or her own thinking but that's not how anyone should live their life.

But, yeah, I get your point. Some people are dumb AF and just parrot shit other people say. Those people are idiots.

Anyways, back to the thread, what makes you work so hard?

 

[freshpeppermint]

I don't even count on this because I am not working hard AT ALL and I am a lazy person probably because I hate what I am doing.

I do not wish to have a family of my own ever and nor do I want to ever get married.

My goal is to get enough money to fund life extension and hope to never die and reverse aging (don't care if you don't think it's possible). I don't mind working my entire life if I can manage to accomplish it. If it never manages to happen and I am like 70, 80 (hopefully I live till then, I don't drink or do drugs but, imagine if I die early despite eating a somewhat healthy diet and not drinking or doing any drugs), I would consider being spiritual/being a monk.

See if it was just to get fancy cars and women, working non-stop like a pig for 10-20 years just doesn't feel worth it to me at all. You may want as many women as possible but once your libido starts declining and you start becoming wrinkly and old, your lust will die down way more. You are also less dumb as you get older. I really hope I don't want to chase women at like 40, 50 and 60+s. (Although if you are planning on doing it, I think getting status, making sure ur skin doesn't turn crap, and you are in shape is way more important than just having more money.)

There's always this sacrifice, would you want to be SUPER rich at like 50-60, but you have to work like a pig all throughout your 20's, 30's, and 40s. But, see if you love what you are doing, then I think it's worth it. Or family or some purpose.

You can always accept and live within your means. If you have a family though I get why you'd need to make way more money but, if you are alone you can just live within your means.

Also, I heard somewhere like men who don't have any work or purpose in life like kids or something else, end up dying early. (Just some random thing I remembered while writing this.)

 

[mj22]

Some of you guys sound like "new money".... Complacency kills and having a big head will make you top heavy (which makes it easier for you to fall straight on your face - STAY HUMBLE). Being complacent dulls your edge, not just in your industry but in life. You cannot afford to let that happen or you'll die. While you are celebrating your small wins stroking your ego (its good to celebrate your wins, but dont get stuck in that mindspace, get back at it, there are more battles ahead, the war isnt over), some other person with the same/similar hunger is keeping their head down, staying humble, and working to be the best they can. And thats not just in this industry losing your edge or getting a big head, its in life in general (life throws some crazy shit at you sometimes). You may think you "made it" and are the big dog/shark, guess what??.... there is always another one bigger. Appreciate the wins, learn from the experience and keep pushing forward.

Work your ass off for yourself, you deserve it( you cant help others if you cant help yourself first), Work your ass off for your loved ones. Work your ass off for your people and your crew. I wouldnt be able to do what i love today for a living if it wasnt for my partner and team as well as moral support from collegues. Work for them, dont let you or them down. Maybe you are single but want to have a family some day, work your ass off for that. Find your reason. If you are in limbo and still trying to figure it out, take some time to yourself, trip balls on shrooms or whatever you have to do, find your PASSION and go after it. I have seen a lot of shit in my life. What i have NOT seen before, is someone failing at what they love doing, NOT once, NOT ever, im not even sure its possible to do so.

Go Get It.

 

[JOoa0ky]

@mj22, The moral of the tortoise and the hare isn't slow and steady wins the race...

The hare should never have stopped running...

 

[Jesse]

@mj22, The moral of the tortoise and the hare isn't slow and steady wins the race...

The hare should never have stopped running...

Comics aside, another perspective on the tortoise and the hare is that the hare was paid off by the race organizers to make it the most popular race in history so that they could then sell their tortoise and the hare books and other merchandise due to the massive amounts of effectively free advertising.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Some of you guys sound like "new money".... Complacency kills and having a big head will make you top heavy (which makes it easier for you to fall straight on your face - STAY HUMBLE). Being complacent dulls your edge, not just in your industry but in life. You cannot afford to let that happen or you'll die. While you are celebrating your small wins stroking your ego (its good to celebrate your wins, but dont get stuck in that mindspace, get back at it, there are more battles ahead, the war isnt over), some other person with the same/similar hunger is keeping their head down, staying humble, and working to be the best they can. And thats not just in this industry losing your edge or getting a big head, its in life in general (life throws some crazy shit at you sometimes). You may think you "made it" and are the big dog/shark, guess what??.... there is always another one bigger. Appreciate the wins, learn from the experience and keep pushing forward.

Work your ass off for yourself, you deserve it( you cant help others if you cant help yourself first), Work your ass off for your loved ones. Work your ass off for your people and your crew. I wouldnt be able to do what i love today for a living if it wasnt for my partner and team as well as moral support from collegues. Work for them, dont let you or them down. Maybe you are single but want to have a family some day, work your ass off for that. Find your reason. If you are in limbo and still trying to figure it out, take some time to yourself, trip balls on shrooms or whatever you have to do, find your PASSION and go after it. I have seen a lot of shit in my life. What i have NOT seen before, is someone failing at what they love doing, NOT once, NOT ever, im not even sure its possible to do so.

Go Get It.

Good point. "Complacency kills" they say in the US Army. You won't get killed in the civilian world as a businessman but you might get taken by surprise from an unknown or under-estimated competitor. I've done it to people and have had it done to me by others. Also, on the other hand, you shouldn't be tense all the time and paranoid that you're going to lose your wealth, business, and investments. I think there should be a good balance between stress and relaxation. If you're always tense and paranoid that you'll lose it all, that's going to drive your mental health down the gutters and would stress out your team and ruin your performance. I think a healthy mix of staying alert and working hard with rest and relaxation is the best. You can't and shouldn't have all one or the other.

Also, it's not a new money or old money thing. I know new money people who are on point and hustlers even after being well off. I also know old money people who are complacent and stupid who just keeps margins high and wages low just to keep their wealth, which ruins their competitive advantage. They've became too risk adverse to innovate anymore. That's complacency too, but a different type.

But yeah I'll be a leader here and go back to work. I have 1 client so far after being fired for a $10,000/month contract. I have 4 clients I'm working on right now. These B2B contracts take time and nurturing to sign. If I sign all 4, I'll be making more than what I did at my last company ($300,000/year) and I'll have more security than I did before, which is a huge win. On top of that, I have this new site I'm working on and I think the product sales can be $80,000/year. I've been stalling on this and super lazy to do the leg work myself because it's "below me." I gotta get back to work and I am to! Can't outsource the work when you don't even know how it's supposed to be done!

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Here. I have another answer. This one is better. How do you stay in complacent and keep on striving? You make friends with someone who is richer than you. Just meet a guy with an e comm company that only has 4 employees and he makes 7 figures EBITDA last year. Yup. I’m only low 6 figures. Gotta go back to work. These burgers aren’t going to flip themselves. I’m doing well compared to the general population but in the world of business owners I’m doing poorly. I gotta step up my game! Take more risks! And work! This is also my time with a company I have equity of. Last time it was me as a contractor and employee. I finally have the opportunity to make it big for myself. And to think, that I made an ego out of being the richest person I know among my friends and family. That was so pathetic and embarrassing!

 

[contract]

1. Kids (Beyond cost of raising them; acquiring FU money for them. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts a parent can give aside from knowledge. Most parents just bullshit their entire lives, generation and generation. Someone has to be brave enough and sacrifice enough to break the cycle. I get that the best thing for a child to be is to be born into poverty, or so they say. Tough times make tough men. But you don't see the trillionaires or billionaires of the world complaining they have too much money)

2. Museum funding/donations. (A way to share my collection of things, turn my hobbies into a business etc. I travel and collect shit for a purpose now and it's FUN.)

3. Boredom. (What the fuck else am I going to do? At one point I had over $1M just sitting in my account, everything was paid for, and I could spend it on anything. I didn't even want to buy anything. I had hiked so many mountain peaks, driven so many vehicles, etc. Working NEVER gets old, there is ALWAYS more than be done)

4. Home construction. (Just built a new home and still eager to do more to it, which requires money. I want an indoor green house, a fucking astronomy room to just star gaze and shit and I don't even own a telescope lol. I want to buy neighboring properties. Build a bunker with 10' thick concrete walls. Change out the windows from double pane to triple pane just for the hell of being energy efficient and seeing how little energy it can take to heat and cool a home. Add 2' thick natural stone to the entire outside of the house to make it last forever, etc. Crazy things)

5. Life is expensive. (You can't just exist. Food, electric, etc. all cost money. Then you have people who try to sue you. Gov who wants to collect property taxes from you. All sorts of shit designed to keep you poor. The whole bank now and retire later living like a peasant plan is just nonsense. I'd rather acquire FU you money and live how I want forever. I'll live like a peasant not because I HAVE to, but because if I WANT to, I can. If I want to live like a king I can do so whenever I please.)

.............

EVERYONE wants more. Hell, I'm sitting in a $4M home I built, and I want triple pane windows, an addition added, and a underground garage bunker. Most people would KILL for a $250,000 starter home alone and be happy. It's never enough when you see what's out there...

I don't want a yacht, but I wouldn't mind one.....

 

[Philip J. Fry]

1. Kids (Beyond cost of raising them; acquiring FU money for them. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts a parent can give aside from knowledge. Most parents just bullshit their entire lives, generation and generation. Someone has to be brave enough and sacrifice enough to break the cycle. I get that the best thing for a child to be is to be born into poverty, or so they say. Tough times make tough men. But you don't see the trillionaires or billionaires of the world complaining they have too much money)

2. Museum funding/donations. (A way to share my collection of things, turn my hobbies into a business etc. I travel and collect shit for a purpose now and it's FUN.)

3. Boredom. (What the fuck else am I going to do? At one point I had over $1M just sitting in my account, everything was paid for, and I could spend it on anything. I didn't even want to buy anything. I had hiked so many mountain peaks, driven so many vehicles, etc. Working NEVER gets old, there is ALWAYS more than be done)

4. Home construction. (Just built a new home and still eager to do more to it, which requires money. I want an indoor green house, a fucking astronomy room to just star gaze and shit and I don't even own a telescope lol. I want to buy neighboring properties. Build a bunker with 10' thick concrete walls. Change out the windows from double pane to triple pane just for the hell of being energy efficient and seeing how little energy it can take to heat and cool a home. Add 2' thick natural stone to the entire outside of the house to make it last forever, etc. Crazy things)

5. Life is expensive. (You can't just exist. Food, electric, etc. all cost money. Then you have people who try to sue you. Gov who wants to collect property taxes from you. All sorts of shit designed to keep you poor. The whole bank now and retire later living like a peasant plan is just nonsense. I'd rather acquire FU you money and live how I want forever. I'll live like a peasant not because I HAVE to, but because if I WANT to, I can. If I want to live like a king I can do so whenever I please.)

.............

EVERYONE wants more. Hell, I'm sitting in a $4M home I built, and I want triple pane windows, an addition added, and a underground garage bunker. Most people would KILL for a $250,000 starter home alone and be happy. It's never enough when you see what's out there...

I don't want a yacht, but I wouldn't mind one.....

You consume so much. Food, mansions, luxury cars, luxury windows, a doomsday bunker. Wow.

All my interests are free or nearly free. Tango night for €10 where I only drink water, no alcohol. I live in a 50 sq meter apartment (500 sq ft) and am happy with my apartment. The only thing I want now is a cat, which is like €20/month in cat food and litter. Other than that, it's connecting with people and meeting people and learning more about people. People are interesting to me and people are free, unless they want you to pay a cover fee to meet them, but then I don't want to meet them either.

I currently work 1 or 2 hours a week right now and I'm happy with my workload and income. I have enough, finally. I hope you feel fulfilled from your consumption.