Working Hard Can Make You Rich

Really ?

There was a time in my time, 20s to 40s, where I worked harder than anyone, and every month, my bank account is like my car fuel tank – near empty.

I have done that. Working hard did not make me rich or bring me a great life. In fact, it makes me tired, miserable and lack family time.

If you are like me … raise one hand.

I went around the world in search of great Teachers. I read books written by them.

My conclusion ?

Work Smart + Gratitude = Wealth

Allow me to elaborate.

“Gratitude” means being grateful to everything that I have at the end of the day. Often, I would say thanks to events and people before falling asleep. This exercise also allows me to sleep well.

“Work Smart” is opposite to working hard. Examples of “working hard” can be seen everywhere. I don’t need to elaborate here.

Work Smart is different. It takes some efforts to polish your eyes to spot these examples.

The key ingredient to working smart is LEVERAGE. No no, not leverage on bank’s money to buy properties. I am not going to talk about this leverage.

I am talking about leveraging on other people like:
– their experience,
– their knowledge,
– their research,
– their teachers, coaches and mentors (learn to differentiate these),
– their conclusions,
– their observations,
– their strategies,
– their network.

You have to find people like that and form a team with them. If your circle of friends do not consist of people like this, then expand yourself and find another group of friends to be with. That’s not difficult at all. Its like finding another hobby group.

A true example for you, lets say you want to buy a property to collect passive income. But you have no time. Your legs are “chained” to your office and there is always a pair of eyes looking over your shoulders. Then how ?

One student asked his boss for extra one hour lunch every day and he took a taxi to the place to hunt for lobang. Leveraging on the new knowledge learnt from our community, he found two very good deals shortly. As a result, he has two streams of passive income every month. He worked in the oil-and-gas industry and his income was affected by the recent drop in oil prices, and because of these extra two streams of income he has money for the usual expenses and not highly affected.

What did he leverage on ? the knowledge from the community of property investors, like where to buy, what price to buy, which banks to take loans, how to select property, how to nego…etc

Another student has an outdoor sales job and she took time off every day to hunt for properties and make good friends with the property agents. She made a few good friends and soon they found several good deals for her. In this case, she leverage on the relationships with these property agents. Her new friends will supply her knowledge on sellers who need to sell the properties fast.

One book I read recently said – when you work too hard, it means you are not leveraging enough. That chapter alone lighted up many bulbs in me. With more lights, I got more clarity.

I looked at the past few decades on my life and saw clear evidences of this :
1. I worked very hard, did not get rich.
2. I leverage well, did not work hard, and started to see my bank balance increasing… this feelings is very strange.

LEVERAGE is an important word in my life since. It’s a skillset too.

I have given you some examples of leverage. So, tell me, in what areas in your life now, that you worked very hard, struggled and not seeing the results you want? And how can you leverage and get the desired results ?

Go on, share with me. I like to hear …

Love, Marko
Investor, Practitioner and Full-Time Coach.