How I got wealthy without working too hard
This “here’s how I did it” guide written by a pseudonymous Italian software developer advocates “a sort of Moderate Hedonism”:
If you are a Software developer, it’s easier than ever to become a millionaire. What most haven’t figured out yet, is how to become wealthy without working too hard.
It’s full of life, career, and investment advice, plus little gems like this:
Money is literally defined as exponential so, don’t sit on your linear ass.
But the idea that stuck out to me the most is this:
When making life decisions, going in the direction of more money can be wise. However, we must keep in mind that when we choose money, we don’t choose much. We just decide to decide later.
That’s a really good way to frame it. Reminds me of the “deferred life plan” Tim Ferriss wrote about in the Four-Hour Work Week.
That kind of logic also reminds me of this bit from Family Guy. It’s silly, but: How often do we make ‘mystery box’ decisions in our own lives?
Rise of The ‘Self-Tenured’ Class
Sam Lessin tweeted a mini-essay highlighting The Power and Scale of The Crypto ‘Self-Tenured’ Class.
In academia, tenured is shorthand for “unfireable.” In this case, Sam is pointing out that there is now a big group of young and very smart people who have made enough money in the last few years (thanks to building or betting on crypto) that never need to work again.
That gives them the freedom to work on whatever they want to, without worrying about pleasing a boss, hitting quarterly numbers, or needing to make a profit ever.
When I read the phrase self-tenured, the first person who comes to mind is Elon Musk. The story goes that after Elon netted $180 million from selling PayPal to eBay, he invested $100 million in SpaceX, $70 million in Tesla, $10 million in SolarCity, and had to borrow money to pay his rent.
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, you might say that those were obvious/easy investments to make, but at the time, they were anything but.
I wonder what interesting things will the new self-tenured generation will build?
Which Should You Choose? Advice from a Billionaire…
You could read the two sections above as somewhat conflicting advice about work and wealth.
One is saying, “don’t waste your life working too hard, just earn enough to live well” and the other is saying, “if you make enough money early on, you can spend the rest of your life doing whatever you want.”
So which should you choose?
Enter Ray Dalio (billionaire and head of the world’s largest hedge fund).
In his best-selling book, Principles, Ray encourages us to, “figure out how you can have as much of both as possible”:
How can we apply that logic here? In this case, choosing both means:
- Working on whatever you want to work on
- Earning enough money to live well, and
- Having enough time outside of work to enjoy life
Doesn’t that sound like the ideal work/life plan?
(see also: my chat with Paul Millerd and post on time millionaires)
Think it’s too good to be true?
These People Chose “Both”
Ryan Hoover, founder of ProductHunt, recently asked on Twitter:If money was no object, what would you do with your life…
It’s fascinating to read the responses. Especially the number of people who said something along the lines of, “the same thing I’m doing now.”
What would you do?
If money was no object, what would you do?
If your answer is something other than what you’re doing right now, then:
a) Good for you for being honest
b) Good for you for having some ambition, and
c) You should ask yourself: Is there some way I can do that thing now?
Even if you can’t magically flip a switch, closing the gap between how you spend your days now and whatever you’d like to do instead should be at the top of your to do list.
Is there something holding you back?
Send me a DM and let me know. I’d love to hear from you. Maybe there’s some way I can help…
That’s all for this week. More soon!
Featured images courtesy of SpaceX
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