What is the Trading Time for Money Trap?

12 Mar What is the Trading Time for Money Trap?

Since our youngest memories, our parents have told us, instilled in us and some might say indoctrinated us into having an Employee Mindset.   We were sold the misconception that we should follow the Employee Mindset of working 50-hour weeks to receive a stable paycheck. In short: Get into the office early, stay late and even come in on weekends — then maybe, just maybe, you’ll get a raise one day and *gasp* a promotion.  So much for an equalized Work-Life Balance! 

The Downfalls of Being an Employee

An employee is a worker who gets paid an hourly wage or annual salary for a set job. An employee is hired for a specific job or to provide labor in the service of someone else (the employer).  Hopefully, if we work “long” enough, we should be able to save enough money to retire at the age of 65.  So, who the hell invented that? Since when was there a rule saying we have to trade our time for money? 

As I say time and time again, the Employee Mindset is a rigged game, and it’s rigged against every employee working for a Boss!  In fact, this is one of society’s biggest hoaxes. Time is our most important commodity, and all the money in the world cannot replace that fact. 

As an Employee, Your Income is Limited by Time

When you’re trading time for money, your income will always be limited. The first reason: There are only 24 hours in a day to devote to the pursuit of money. And most of us need eight hours to sleep, two hours to commute to and from work, and two to four hours, total, to cook, eat, tend to hygiene, relax, and spend time with friends and family.

That leaves us with 10 to 12 hours to trade in for income. That’s it. But the reality is that no matter how much your time is worth to your organization: $20, $30, $50 per hour, there will always be a cap imposed here: time.  Another consideration in the pursuit of money is we can’t just ask for more simply because we want it. We have to wait years before obtaining the necessary job promotion, and there’s a fair chance that we may not get that promotion at all.

The second reason for limits on income is that the more we make, the more we’ll lose. Employee tax is the most heavily taxed income there is, and the more income we earn, the more tax we face. Which means that when someone goes from making $60,000 to $100,000 due to a promotion, they’re not actually making $40,000 more.  If you take home $20,000 of that $40,000 raise you will be lucky!  I say this to Kim all the time; “Welcome to the American Dream – make more money, pay more taxes”

As an Employee, Your Impact is Limited

When we’re continuously trading time for money throughout our lives, time is limited for pursuing the things we’re passionate about. This could be a hobby we love, giving back to the community or building something that could have a real impact in the world.

Simply put, with limited time comes limited impact. The question is, then, how do we stop trading time for money? Consider getting yourself onto the one sustainable pathway to stop trading time for money.

Change Your Mindset

The first thing we must do is change our beliefs. When we drop the mindset that says that in order to make money, we have to trade our time for it, our minds open up to other ways of making money. There’s no rule that says that to make X dollars, we have to work X hours. In fact, it’s more important to spend time “un-learning” the old Employee Mindset than “learning” the new Entrepreneur Mindset.

So, think about trading value for money, not time. Think about what value you can create for other people, and how you can deliver that value. What assets, skills, knowledge, connections, or ideas do you have that people value? Recognize your strengths and competency, then go all-in and fully change from employee to entrepreneur mindset

Final Thoughts

The employee mindset is also known as the Old American Dream, and the old American Dream is dead.  The New American Dream says The New American Dream is NOT connected in any way to the Employee Mindset.  The New American Dream IS connected 100% to your Entrepreneurial Spirit.  Change from the Employee to Entrepreneur mindset and take control of your life. 

Lose the Employee Mindset, stop trading time for money, and take back control of your life.  When you embrace the Entrepreneur Mindset you can work your passion and equalize your Work-Life balance!  Finally, YOU get to write your life story, and YOU create your legacy to leave for or your family.

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