Working Hard Doesn’t Mean You Get Paid Well — Work Smart Instead

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“Writing online isn’t a job.”

Have you ever heard that and felt misunderstood? It’s very common to think that publishing online content isn’t a real job, since “you aren’t working” right?

Working smart is underrated compared to working hard.

Last week, Elon Musk came out with the message that all Tesla employees must be in the office for at least 40 hours a week.

You might say, fine it’s his company, but the problem is much more fundamental than that.

Previous generations have always been rewarded with hard work and also live with that attitude. Nowadays, that reward is getting lower and lower and it is increasingly difficult to make ends meet if you have an average income.

So you have to work smart: accumulate as much wealth as possible by doing as little as possible.

Quit social standards

Who says you have to work hard for your money?

For the last 100 years, there has been a work ethic that states that hard work always pays, and the harder you work the more you earn.

The thing is, these days a gigantically expensive college degree doesn’t have to pay anything at all. There are plenty of very intelligent people with expensive diplomas who can’t find a job or can barely make ends meet because they have sky-high student debts.

I think, that you are successful when you can take care of yourself without being dependent on others, like a big government.

Don’t care about what other people think.

If they want to work their ass off for a pittance, let them — they’ll soon find out that it’s burning them out, or perhaps they’ll do it for the rest of their lives.

But don’t let these people get in the way of your plans and ambitions.

Don’t become an office zombie

I’ve never had a real job. I am still studying and next year I will start my first internship for a web development agency. My first “office job”.

Never thought I would end up behind a desk. I don’t want that at all, but it’s unavoidable at this point. To get my degree, it is necessary to do 90 days of internship.

That’s all fine, the company has a great atmosphere and there are fun projects being done, but still, I’d rather start for myself than work for a boss.

After all, I don’t want to become an office zombie.

In our educational system, we are trained to be zombies. We have to memorize words and other repetitive things like why the climate is changing in South America.

All very nice, but I would have liked to have been taught about philosophy, and life and maybe it would have been helpful if we were taught how to file tax returns.

Teach young people to become financially fit and free instead of pounding into their heads that they have to get their degree and work hard for the rest of their life.

Learn about economics and inflation

You must understand how the markets work and what inflation does — especially now.

The whole world is plagued by gigantic inflation. One country is worse than another. Current inflation rates for the United States are estimated at 8.5% per year.

That’s insane.

Therefore, don’t become dependent on your 9–5 job, there are so many opportunities online to accumulate wealth or at least earn a nice little extra.

After all, if you get a 5% pay raise, you might think it’s fine. But if your purchasing power is reduced by more than 8%, you still lose that 3%.

So make sure you can compensate for that difference by realizing extra income in the form of online writing, investing, trading, or other freelance work.

You can’t hide from it now. Inflation is here and we have to deal with it.

No excuses, dedication

In the digital age, there are really no more reasons not to make an income from the Internet. It is one of the best investments in yourself.

Build a portfolio, maybe it’s still a hobby or a side job now but a year from now your life could look completely different.

There are so many different ways to make money on the Internet. You can start writing on online platforms, you can generate an audience and maybe even direct income for views and reads.

If you have other interests you could sign up as a freelancer on websites like Fiverr and Upwork and offer your services.

Everything is possible.

As with many things in life, consistency is important. You can’t expect miracles to happen after a week of work. You do have to put in some effort, but this is different from the usual “working hard from 9–5”. After all, you’re really doing this for yourself.

Wrapping things up: try to live a little

At the end of the day, we work to enjoy our lives, so why not just try to combine that.

After all, I love to write when I’m on the road.

We have to remember that we are human beings and not robots that have to run a few hours a week. You live to live, you don’t live to work.

Get rid of that thought.

Try to think of your 9–5 job as a side hustle to pay your bills and fixed expenses and anything else you bring in can be used to improve your own life.

Invest in yourself.

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