Lesson 1: Hard Work Seldom Pays Off

Why do you work? To get money. If you live your passion you are not calling it working. Working is something you have to do, not something you want to do. Things you love you tend to do even if you are not paid for or you may even need to pay others in order to do them. So working is only for earning money.

What’s the purpose of all the money? To afford your lifestyle. Most of your costs are usually pretty much fixed. Or that’s how you have built your life. A mortgage, car, and the rest of the package that comes along it.

How do you finance these? Without capital, which tends to be the case with young people, you need to loan the money. That’s very expensive. You donate to financial companies significant portion of your income in form of interest payments. In case of a mortgage you could possibly afford another house only with your paid interest.

In another words you are not accumulating money you’re in a constant outpour of it. And there is never enough of it. Along your career path your expenses tend to rise faster than your income. Your expectations (including what you think others are expecting of you) add to the burden that puts you deeper in to the hamster’s wheel of sustaining your lifestyle. And everything you do you seem to do it the first time—and that’s very expensive. You have a deep learning curve but above all you need to invest on equipment, clothing, pretty much anything you do. It gets easier after 5-10 years but that does not comfort much in the beginning when you’re after golf bags, skies, hiking gear etc.

When does it stop? Well, often it does not. After you have accomplished the first round you’re starting to upgrade. When do you have enough? When you have little more. And getting more means that you have to work harder but that seldom brings you much more net income. You’re mainly working for the government. That’s how the tax system is built—on purpose.

1 Comment

  • Reply Lerie Pereira January 10, 2015 at 1:51

    i have been a lazy lad for a long time. with your post it seems that working hard will never do good to me

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