I don’t care how rich you are. If somebody has to tell you when to be at work, what to wear and how to behave, you’re not a free person. You’re not actually rich.

Naval Ravikant

If you wanna be extremely rich and financially free, you gotta stop trading your time for money.

Trading time for money has gotta be the worst way to make a living.

Time is finite, so when you trade your time for money, you cap your income.

Whether you’re paid $15 an hour or $1500 an hour, your income is limited by the number of hours you put in.

Remember there’s only 24 hours in a day.

And you can only work so many hours before you reach your breaking point.

So what’s the solution?

Well, this might be a little cliche, but the solution lies in your mindset.

How you think about money will determine how much of it you’ll get.

Most people don’t get it.

Everybody trades time for money, literally everybody.

Even the so-called entrepreneurs are trading their time for money.

The only difference is, they trade their time for more money.

But isn’t that fantastic?

I mean if they’re making more money with the time they have, isn’t that a smart move?

Isn’t it a worthwhile pursuit in a world where everyone is selling themselves short?

Well, that’s the wrong way to look at it.

Because it keeps you stuck in a loop where you will always need to work more to make more.

But here’s good news.

There’s a way out of this loop, starting with how you measure your time versus your skills.

There’s a big difference between your time and your skills, and that difference is hard to notice when you sell your time as opposed to your skills. 

The math is much harder when the only product you’re selling is your time.

Let me give you an example.

Johnny rakes in $150,000 a year, and he works nights, weekends, and barely allows himself a holiday break. But he somehow manages to stash away $50,000 in savings by year-end. 

Now on the other hand there’s Alex earning $100,000 a year. He works 40-hour weeks for six months and spends the other six months traveling and enjoying his life. But he doesn’t have anything in savings at the end of the year.

Who do you think is more profitable? Johnny or Alex?

If you said Alex, you’re right.

Alex is significantly more profitable, despite not having any money in the bank.

He’s not short on savings because he lacks the ability to earn more, it’s because he’s choosing not to.

If Alex wanted to, he could work an extra three months and get $50K in the bank, but instead, he’s enjoying his time freedom.

If he worked year-round just like Johnny, he’d have an extra $100,000 in the bank and he’d still be working less than Johnny. 

But, if Johnny worked the normal 40-hour weeks just like Alex, he wouldn’t have any money in the bank.

Now do you see the difference?

Cash is not what determines profitability, it’s how much time you spend to get that cash that really does.

Once you reach a certain level, you don’t just work to have a fat bank account.

You want creative flexibility, time freedom, a chance to do things your way and work on your own terms.

But if you’re always too busy chasing down cash, those other benefits will slip through your fingers, and you’ll forever be stuck in the loop working more to make more.