Has anyone ever told you to stop trading time for money? What does that statement even mean? Today I want to talk about just this stop trading time for money expression. To help you understand the concept around this we need to make some things clear first. It basically was the industrial revolution that really put gas on the flames when it comes to time vs money. The industry however needed a way to supply people with jobs on a daily basis. There was a tiny catch though, it will be hard to motivate our workers to work all the time. 

So what they did instead was to create the 5 day work week with 8-10 hours of work each day. In return you get a fixed amount of money, seems fair so far. A system where you need to be at a certain place for x amount of hours and weeks was created. As a thank you you get a tiny piece of the profit. This system was a massive improvement from the days where the workers were paid with liquor. Not the best idea to have your workers drink themselves to death.

What’s The Problem?

For obvious reason this system has it flaws. The ratio between work and money is not always at its peak. You have probably noticed this yourself when you work you ass off just to receive a tiny paycheck. The biggest issue of them all is scalability, you can’t get a bigger paycheck for the same amount of time. There are only one time when this happens, it’s commonly known as a raise. Without a raise you can’t make more money on the same amount of time. The only real way to make more money is to put in more work. However more work hours is equal to more time. Time equals money, simple math.

It’s Unfair

For a business owner this is the best idea since ice cream and it’s easy to see why. Mr boss-man only has to find a person who are ready to work for him for what he is offering. Now Mr boss-man knows his expenses and has a worker who will come and do the job every week. On the flip side, this system comes with its pros and cons for you as an employee.

Lets start with the pros. When you sign the contract: you know you have a job. You know how big of an income you will have each month, it says so right there on the contract. Other than this there are really no more pros. This is a very safe and efficient way of working. It has been tried and tested for many years and by many people including myself. You go to work, do the work and goes home, nothing more nothing less.

Some cons then: You are stuck 8 hours a day, maybe doing a job you don’t even like because you need the money. Work ratio is like shit, I mean you work 5 days a week just to have 2 days off. Limited vacation time, you get 4 lovely weeks of freedom for putting in 40:ish work weeks. You might also need to apply months in advance to use them. The boss and work-terms might be as bad as it gets. You might end up doing things you don’t want to do just to profit the company. This is a clever way for companies to make more money off of you.

Controlling you

The corporate world is always trying to control us. Back in the days they used to pay us with boose. Just so we would keep ourselves numb and unable to change our future. Nowadays they use the 5 day workweek against us. Toady you work your ass of for 5 days just to end up not having the energy left. No energy to left to spend on trying to build a better future for yourself. They are also controlling you with the paycheck, loans and market prices.

Ever noticed that almost in conjunction with a global pay raise, the global prices increase a tiny bit. Coincidence, I don’t think so. Speaking of paycheck, do you make enough to live a good life or is it just keeping you alive. I did notice this myself when I paid my bills and food and ended up almost broke. I could not afford to to the stuff I wanted unless I took a loan. In another post I will cover why loans are a bad idea.

Stop letting them control you, stop trading time for money.

Time Is Currency

Ever wondered what the most valuable thing in the world is? It is time, your time. The most valuable thing in the whole world anyone can offer you. This is exactly why we shouldn’t waste our time on meaningless tasks. Time itself is not limited but our existence on the timeline is. Every object in the universe spends more or less  time on the timeline. Take yourself for example, you are only born with a limited amount of years to spare. Even the universe itself will fade away and die given enough time. Don’t worry though, it won’t happen anytime soon.

Lets say someone asks you out on a date. This person is basically ready to give you the only thing that has any actual value. She are willing to give you her time in exchange for your company. Think about it….She is giving you something that is impossible to get back no matter how hard she tries. It is gone forever. I told you this to put time in perspective, the last thing you want to do is to waste your time. You should never spend it on something you don’t want to spend it on. Hence the reason to stop trading time for money.

Solution

What can you do to stop trading time for money. First of all you need a way to make money work for you. A system where the amount of time you put in is irrelevant for the amount of money you can make. What you need is something that works day and night without you constantly providing your time. Here are a few things you can try: start  an online business, a blog, do affiliate marketing or stock trading. The options are many, it’s all you to you to try them. If you are tired of your work life as it is you should try another solution. Trust me when I say that there are other solutions out there waiting for you. 

One more thing before I end this article. It does not matter how old you are, you can do all of the above if you set your mind to it. Be persistent, be passionate, have a dream and lastly stop trading time for money.

PS. Don’t waste the only thing that is actually worth something…your time!