wealth, work and life success

welcome to the real world

Trinity: Please just listen. I know why you’re here. I know what you’ve been doing… why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You’re looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when I found him, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question, reader, just as I did.

What is the secret to financial freedom?

If you are deeply in debt, or spending more than you earn to acquire stuff, you are living in a world that is less than what it could be. Corporations and consumer society have constructed an elaborate world that is filled with shiny things and toys and useless items. In this world, you are told that true happiness comes with the acquisition of things, that your attention should be focused on today, that tomorrow will take care of itself. In this Matrix, it’s always Black Friday and it’s always the Presidents’ Day Sale.

Morpheus: What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

But just maybe, while making a call on your iPhone, driving your leased car wearing your latest fall fashions on your way to the mall on your one day off from your crushing commute and your boring job, you had a sudden thought. Maybe the world isn’t supposed to be like this. Maybe we weren’t all meant to be shopping units in the corporate world’s vast consumer Matrix. Maybe our happiness doesn’t come from owning CDs, or watching American Idol, or buying a Wii. Maybe there is another world - the real world - where your work and your life are one and the same because you love them both, where you can do what you want, when you want, where you have time to give to people and experiences, not just to commuting and working for a faceless employer. No, it’s not possible. Your neighbors look like they are doing fine, and they have lots of stuff, right? This is how it has to be. This is how it has always been.

Morpheus: I’m trying to free your mind. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Maybe you’ve started reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad or Dave Ramsey or Your Money or Your Life. Other people are trying to show you the way out. The trouble is, you set down the book and remember “I need a new belt! I want to see “Avatar” 8 times!” Only you will start the journey out of the Matrix, and it will be difficult - there will be roadblocks everywhere: pricey restaurants, bigger homes, newer cars, fancier cell phones. The Matrix will do everything it can to keep you, because its existence depends on your continued function as a shopping unit. Without shopping units to generate power, the consumer Matrix will weaken. You have to stop, today. Put down your credit card. Stay away from the store. Cook a meal at home. Turn off the TV. Try to earn income a different way.

Neo: Why do my eyes hurt?
Morpheus: You’ve never used them before.

When you finally leave the consumer world, you’ll notice that your old behavior is now awful to consider. You’ll see credit card debt, still-functioning cell phones gathering dust in cabinet drawers, barely-worn clothes in the back of the closet, half-empty rooms never used in your house. Your eyes will hurt looking at all of this STUFF that you valued so much, because you never really SAW before.

Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

The dream is the 9-to-5 world. The dream is a 3000 square foot home for a family of 4. The dream is a $400 per month car lease. The dream is an iPhone, a Wii, digital cable, the latest fashions. And the dream is a nightmare. You have to wake from that dream and realize that in the real world there is VERY little you need other than shelter, food, friends, family and basic clothing and entertainment. In the dream you have no time - but you can have all the time in the (real) world if you just wake up.

Neo: I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules or controls, borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

(with many thanks to The Matrix)

Originally posted back in 2007 or so - just thought I would run it for those who haven’t read it before. I know the Matrix references are already very dated, but hopefully everyone’s seen it.

wealth and intelligence

When most of us were younger, we were told to do well in school - make good grades, impress the teachers in order to get good recommendations, do extra credit. Scoring well on the ACT or SAT meant a lot. Proving that you were smarter than the average bear somehow indicated future success. Yet intelligence isn’t always a marker of success - at least success as measured by wealth. Wealth is not, of course, the only measure of success - far from it - but it is a measure accepted by our society as at least a general measure of overall success.

Intelligent people are often gripped by what I’d call (technically) “smart people stupids.” If you’re an intelligent person, it’s quite easy to imagine a variety of outcomes to any given set of circumstances. If A happens, then B or C or even D might occur. Wondering whether “slim chance event D” might occur can drive an intelligent person nuts - you might sit around wondering how you would deal with situation D; would reaction D.1.1 be appropriate, or D.1.2? How will this affect you 15 years from now?

Over the last ten years I’ve started to believe that intelligence - at least as far as the ability to imagine future events based on current circumstance - can be a crippling factor in the pursuit of wealth (and happiness). Someone who doesn’t have the ability to imagine positive outcome X may also be able to avoid thinking about negative outcome Y - and therefore be freed from worrying about the result of their actions. Worrying about the future is a heavy burden; not worrying about the future would be liberating for most of us.

I know people who don’t worry - like I do - about long-term wealth. They assume that they will have “made their nut” at some point - whenever they make it. Whether it’s the blissful ignorance of uncaring or fewer smarts I don’t know. I would assume that not worrying about the future is an overall net plus. It may put you into some pretty bad situations, but at least you won’t worry about the outcome.

I suspect that being intelligent and being wealthy will always be unrelated. Just because I can play the piano, for example, doesn’t make me smart or stupid. It just marks me as a good piano player. I don’t think wealth accumulation can be associated with intelligence for much the same reason - it’s a skill, just like musical ability, or sports ability, or the ability to learn and speak foreign languages. You can’t think your way into it - you have it or you don’t.

photo credit: swambo

(originally posted 3/09, in different form)

doesn’t anyone have a job, and links

One of the things that amazes me when I’m between projects is the sheer number of people out and about during the day. If you go to Costco or Bloom (a grocery store) during the day, there are a lot of people there. There are cars on the road. There are people out and about all day long, and I always wonder - are these people who don’t work, or who work irregular hours, or who work at home? How can there be so many people out and about from 9 to 5? I don’t mind, I’m just curious.

On to the links:

My New Career: Stealing Cars in Oakland: Fun signs of the decline of the American empire…

Amazon Prime 1 Year Free for Students and Others: Amazon Prime is a great deal - I’ve been a subscriber to the plan for the last 5 years. It all depends on the volume of your orders from amazon, of course, but if you order more than a few orders a year it’s a good deal.

Our Credit Card Rewards Surprises: As far as I’m concerned, the American Express Blue cash rewards card is the best card out there - we put almost all of our household expenses on that card.

The Joy—and Value Received—of Community College: Let me start by saying I know nothing about community colleges. I didn’t ever go to one, knew few who did and don’t pay any attention to them. All that having been said, I love the idea of community colleges and wish they were better promoted. Many professions - my own, accounting/auditing included - could probably be just as well served by community college grads as by four-year college grads. Why we don’t promote these institutions more is beyond me.

The Siren’s Call of Passive Income: An interesting take on the ethical implications of “passive income.”

It Doesn’t Matter What Your Position Is Right Now, You Can Do Better: Great advice: “What can you do, right now, to start improving your situation? That’s the only question that matters. ” Quite true.

Networking Tips to Help You Find a Job: “Make sure to follow through. If someone provides you with a referral, make sure that you follow through quickly.” This is a small thing, but it’s one of the least-followed pieces of advice in the job-seeking world. I’m not nearly as good as I’d like to be at following up; but I’m better than many people are. Don’t offer to follow through if you won’t. And if you offer, and DO follow through - people WILL appreciate it.

The preservation of wealth: “In fact, I doubt there’s a rich person in the world getting by with an index tracker, a savings account, and a wodge of Government bonds.” Probably true. I’m convinced that index funds, savings, etc. are the mark of a small, non-rich mind. That having been said, they are also the mark of an educated, non-poor mind. There’s a big gray area between rich and poor that can be quite comfortable for many of us.

99 thoughts on losing 100 pounds: Hey, that sounds familiar… hah.

And more:

• The Secret to Getting Out of Debt: Forget Snowballs and Interest Rates
• Save and Cut Costs with Kids
• 5 Frugal Ways For You and Your Kids to Spend Summer Vacation
• Get Space Saving Furniture If You Live In A Small Space
• Taking Vacations Can Make You Money?

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