All you have to do is work harder on yourself, than you do on your job
Nothing will change around you until you work on yourself, work on your skills, language, vocabulary and value, then you will become attractive to the market place, and begin to see the world around you slowly shift in line with that adjustment.
The goal in anyone’s life is to become the most highly valuable, and commoditised individual possible. We all sell our time to the highest bidder, so if you’re working in a low stakes job role, and feel it is not reflective of your ability, than maybe it is time to find a way to expand.
As far as my experience has shown me, the whole point of life is to evolve, and to evolve is to constantly seek. Seek more from life, seek more about self, seek more knowledge, as knowledge is power. Without the ability to move forward and to absorb more and more, we become a stagnated and redundant commodity.
See, human capital is the most traded and valuable commodity on planet earth. Every single day people are bought or sold from and to various employers, and thus, like anything else, we need to understand that the game of commoditised human capital is all about being the most valuable in the market.
Unfortunately, the reality is, it is very hard to equate our value in monetary terms. We typically fall into the basket of perceived value, and most employers will gauge that lack of self worth and value to pounce on an opportunity to pay the highest perceived value for your skillset.
The only way to overcome this is to understand and equate your own value to monetary terms, and to consistently work harder on yourself. The goal is to outwork yourself and outgrow yourself on a regular basis. If you consistently outgrow yourself, then you’re doing something right.
Either we spend our entire lives selling our finite time for the highest price (usually a perceived value) or outworking our past selves to grow into new spaces, new places, and a higher framework for our value.
Ideally, the goal, for me atleast, is to step away from the biding war and step into a form of self-employment and ownership. Once you’ve skilled up, it’s very possible to step away from the hightly commoditised world of twenty first century slavery, and work for yourself. But, you have to have the skills, and you have to know your value.
In reality, none of us own our time. We sell our time and exchange it for monetary goods, but none of us own it. We lend it out, like a credit card. People use our time, and only pay the balance in 7, 14 or 30 days, dependent on the agreement.
Our employers are able to access our time and skills, for a deferred payment upon which you (the bank of time) has agreed on, creating a financial system within human capital. However, there is no interest, and we are always in credit to those who own our time.
Understanding these models exist all around us, gives us a better foundation for negotiation, valuing oneself and most importantly valuing the time we sell. With this lack of understanding, we simply (and sometimes desperately) undervalue our skills, time and ability, and thus constantly undervalue our own human capital.
We need to stop selling our time for money, and start selling value. People buy value over time. People want results. They want action. They want facts and figures. The reason why most people are working corporate jobs rather than working for themselves is because they have bills to pay today, and a job is the only thing that will make them money today.
If you can find a way to sell value; a skill, product, or service, instead of time, you’ve truly won. Escape the rat race, and own yourself.
And if you don’y have reason enough, than I have some for you.
1. Life is Short (Getting Out of the Rat Race Helps You Make the Most of it)
2. You Can’t Buy Time
3. You Don’t Need Lots of Money
Here are 8 ways to escape the rat race:
- Define your dream life
- Quit the Rat Race by Quitting Your Current Rat Race Jobs
- …Or Escape from Work by Negotiating With Your Boss
- Stop Buying Stuff!
- Start Saving Instead
- The Race to Escape: Aim for Passive Income
- Invest your money
- Start a Business
