Many of us hold only a full time job, and that’s it. After work, we go out with friends, we chill at home, we do everything but work. We thought: I have worked the whole day! I deserve some rest!
The above holds true and is legit correct – if you wish to stay like this your whole life. Not if you want to attain partial or even full financial freedom. To achieve what others could not, you have to do what others are not doing. Continue working after your day job. Put in the extra effort to develop an extra income source.
Let me clarify though, that the effort you put in for your secondary income is up to you. You may put in 1 hour a day, 3 hours a day or just 1 hour a week. The effort you put in will correspond to the results you get. Put in more effort, see more results.
There are generally 3 categories which people choose to go into, although not all categories are suitable for everyone and to be reasonable, perhaps for a start you need only to focus on one.
1. Side business
2. Investment
3. Freelance work
We will go into each of the above in the next few posts. But for now, we will discuss why the above is important.
You ever noticed that many of us start off on the same level playing field, ie graduate from the same school at the same age. Yet, throughout the years, some made it far and successful, some are still dependent on handouts or struggling to pay the bills? We have the same qualification and same resources (eg time, energy, knowledge etc). But somehow or rather, before we know it or when the classmates meet again 5 or 10 years later, the gap between each and everyone is so different?
Wrong life decisions (eg marrying the wrong person) or natural misfortune (eg sudden medical condition) aside, it is the day to day effort put in, accumulated over the years. In the last post, we talk about how money accumulate over the years. But that also holds true for effort and time invested.
Tom graduated in Computer Science for example, but his learning does not stop there. While gaining experience from his day job in the IT sector, he took short professional courses which can be either from your local specialised school or even online courses such as Coursera and Udemy. Tom also took on additional projects and join different competitions of that nature (eg a hackaton). Through his efforts, he continually improved on his skills and made a small reputation for himself.
John had no interests taking further studies after graduation. He also had it enough with his day job. Keep the day job to the working hours. He will not touch any IT related stuff after work. But he learns about investment and trading. He chooses to play in the stock market, the forex or the crypto market. Some days he earn, some days he loses. Chances are he lost a fair bit at the onset due to his inexperience in knowledge, managing expectations and emotions. But this is what he likes. He reads after work, he tried again and again, sometimes with bigger capital, sometimes with smaller capitals. He gains experience and slowly began to reap his rewards. Not furthering studies does not mean learning stops there. Learning is a life long process.
Harry does not really like to tear his brain too much. He prefers to stick in his comfort zone. He takes up freelance work, which may range anything from being an Uber driver to a simple handyman job. He does not earn much. But little by little, he managed to save up for his house renovation. Every year he managed to save up a small holiday for his family without touching his main income.
There are many other examples. Some put in more effort, some put in lesser. There is no right or wrong. In fact you are not wrong even if you said you wanted a work life balance. You have kids to take care of, you need to rest well for your physical or mental health. All of them are not wrong. But it is often these legit reasons which justify your inaction in doing something more. Without sacrifice, there can be no change. Ultimately it is what you want. Some sacrificed time for money, some sacrificed health, some sacrificed family time.
Most sacrifice a little of everything and opt for a balance. An hour or two a day after work does not hurt. It brings in some income, and you still have your health and family time. We do not aim to be the top 10 richest men on Earth. Financial freedom comes across a range. Find a spot you are comfortable with and work on it, consistently, persistently.
