How Much Do You Make An Hour

How much do you make an hour?

This is an easy question, but I'd like to explore this evaluation a little further, possibly breaking some paradigms we may have.

It's easy to answer this question with how much money you make an hour, but what I want is to get you to think about your worth differently. Beginning with the average way of answering this question, let's evaluate. If you work a job 40 hours a week, and your boss pays you $28 an hour, you gross $1,120 a week, before taxes. That's a good amount, but are you really making $28 an hour? Should you not include the time it takes you to prepare for work, the time it takes you to get to and from work, and any other time you devote off of the clock? Adding this one aspect to the equation can drop your value per hour significantly. But wait, it doesn't stop there. Do you not have work expenses like the purchase of work-appropriate clothes, meals, office supplies, gas, ect.? Would this not lower your value per hour even more?

If you believe in multiple streams of income, then you believe that you can generate income at any time of the day, any day of the week. This is the mindset of the financially free. Incorporating this mindset into our original evaluation, we can no longer limit our time of productivity to 40 hours a week. A person that believes in multiple streams of income would need to evaluate their value per hour, based on a 168 hour work week. Remember, that if you believe in multiple streams of income, you trust that you can generate income at any time of the day. Going back to our original evaluation, making $28/hour at work, your true value per hour is more like $6.67/hour. Ponder that.

I think that it is important to remember that at every moment you can be generating cashflow. This doesn't mean that you should be thinking about generating income all the time, but simply that you have the opportunity to. Most people don't consider the possibility that they could be making money outside of their jobs or careers, while the financially free understand that there are opportunities all around us. Evaluating your true value per hour is just a simple test to relate your life to the law: "time is money".

Take the time to figure out your true value per hour. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can improve that figure.

[first photo by whole9yards, second photo by Single Malt; all via flickr]

Rich in the Not Too Distant Future

Whenever I think about my dreams and aspirations, I attach this quite particular word to my vision. I quite often describe my lifestyle in my dreams as 'rich'. I do this so regularly when thinking about my future, that I don't often stop and define 'rich'. I've used the word so much that it has an incredibly broad meaning in my head. I may be using the word 'rich' to describe an enormously large amount of money. In other context, the word 'rich' may be synonymic with the word 'happy' or 'wealthy' or simply 'not broke'. Quite honestly, I haven't placed much definite meaning to the word, which is sad considering the pivotal role that it plays in the vision I hold for my life.

One of the philosophical changes that I am making in my life is providing detailed descriptions of my goals, rather than half-heartily putting together wishes and hopes. Today, acting on that newly found philosophy, I will describe what I mean when I use the word 'rich'.

When I stop and focus on this term 'rich', I realize that it means so much more to me than just a lot of money. It doesn't just signify financial freedom to me. When I am using the word 'rich', it describes the journey that I am on to become financially literate. It isn't necessarily a destination, but more of a lifestyle. Frankly, I believe that you are rich from the moment that you decided to be. At the moment in which you decide that your life will not be mediocre and bland, and that you will take over your financial situation, you become rich. The concept of rich is not upheld by your income or your material possessions, but by your drive to get out of the rat race and do something more for you and your family.

I've heard story after story about the millionaire that lost it all and gained it back again. To me, at no point was he not rich. He always believed that he was rich, so therefore he was. I've also heard stories of the average guy striking it rich by winning the lottery, and after a short period of time, that average guy is back to average. To me, at no point was he ever rich. He never believed that he was rich, so therefore he was not.

It's not the amount of money that you have that makes you rich. The amount of money that I consider allot is a moving target. When I was a kid, you could have given me a dollar bill, and I would've thought I had allot of money. As I grew older "allot of money" was a bit more than a dollar. To use 'rich' in this context makes it an unattainable goal. What you consider an enormous amount of money will always change with time.

I think that anyone, anywhere can be rich, just by repeating and believing the following statement,
"My life is no longer controlled by money. Money will not dictate what I do with my life. I am aware that I have complete control over where and how the money that I have is allocated. I am capable of earning more money, and I understand that I am always working for myself. I am continually developing a sound financial philosophy in order to attain dominance over my financial situation."

What does the word rich mean to you?
Are you rich?