How To Get Out Of The Rat Race

We’ve all worked jobs we hated. We were underpaid, underappreciated, and bored out of our minds.

We either quit these jobs or were fired for poor performance because we just gave up.

The Rat Race

Instead of taking that approach, you need to consider every job an opportunity to learn something new that you can apply down the line to find success.

When you give people the tools they need to come up with unordinary solutions, you are enhancing their lives in the long run. You need to take this approach.

What if one of your terrible jobs had been one with no pay at all, and you needed to come up with some ingenious ways of making money? I bet you could have found a diamond in that rough. This idea can also be used in your own company.

Now, I don’t recommend going into the next meeting declaring that no one will receive pay anymore, but you can tell them that their potential raises, bonuses, and other perks are now dependent on their creativity in ways to enhance business.

Let’s talk about a great concept called financial literacy. This certainly isn’t something they taught you in school but is still essential to know.

What Is Financial Literacy?

The old school way teaches people to be good employees and not employers. This mindset will never make you wealthy.

You need to focus on becoming a good employer. You also need to learn how to not only attain wealth but sustain wealth for generations.

This is what financial literacy is all about.

So, how do you get out of the rat race and start working toward a wealthier future?

You need to understand the difference between an asset and a liability.

Take a look at your own life, and you’ll probably find the following:

Assets

1. Real Estate
2. Stocks
3. Bonds
4. Intellectual Property

Liabilities

1. Mortgage
2. Consumer Loans
3. Credit Cards

You’ve probably been fooled into thinking things like your house, car, and entertainment system are assets.

They are not! Assets should be continuing to MAKE you money. When you continue to struggle, you are not building wealth.

If your primary income is from wages and you pay taxes each time you make more money, you’re not really creating wealth either, are you?

So, if buying a house isn’t an asset (and it’s not because you spend about 30 years of your life paying it off), then what is?

Here are some of the best assets to attain and when you can start to actually see wealth being created because of it:

Average time of holding on to an asset before selling it for a higher value:

1 year

1. Stocks (Startups and small companies are good investments)
2. Bonds
3. Mutual funds

7 years

1. Real estate
2. Notes (IOUs)
3. Royalties on intellectual property
4. Valuables that produce income or appreciate

So, here are the steps to getting out of the rat race and onto your journey of creating wealth:

1. Understand the difference between an asset and a liability.
2. Concentrate your efforts on buying income-earning assets.
3. Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses at a minimum.
4. Mind your own business.

We went through the first three steps to get out of the rat race, and next time we’ll talk about how to mind your own business to keep your eye on the prize. 

If you're ready to grow your business with smart marketing you can:

1. Sign up for weekly FREE Business Bytes with CEO, Torie Mathis

2. Get a SMART Funnel and begin to automate your marketing

3. Learn Digital Marketing with a Smart Marketing Course

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: TORIE MATHIS

Torie Mathis helps entrepreneurs grow their business with Smart Marketing.  She is a best-selling author, Army veteran, international speaker + trainer, and the CEO + Creative Director at Lake Shark Media. She also teaches entrepreneurs how to get smart with digital marketing at toriemathis.com