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12 years old.
That’s when Charles Dickens started working. Not just light work, mind you, like sweeping the floors at his uncle’s bar; he toiled at a shoe polish factory, spending 10 hours a day pasting labels on jars.
Why? A pair of rotten parents.
His father was vain, holding extravagant parties and purchasing all sorts of finery, in every way possible living beyond his means. Eventually, he was thrown into debtor’s prison.
His mother was just cruel. Despite receiving some money from her husband’s family, she sent her children to work. Dickens never forgave her for it.
But did he whine? No, he transformed that experience into some of the greatest novels to ever grace the English language.
A Christmas Carol, The Adventures of Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield all address aspects of wealth, especially the relationship between the rich and the poor. You could say it’s the defining theme of Dickens’s work.
And it made him rich.
Unlike so many other authors, Charles Dickens became a legend during his own lifetime. His books sold in droves, both in Britain and the US. They were turned into plays, and he traveled around the world doing readings and lectures.
He also left behind some of my favorite personal finance quotes. I’ve put together a small collection of them here, along with a brief commentary on each.
What do Simon Cowell, Steve Jobs, Dr. House, Bill Belichick, and Donald Trump have in common?
They’re all assholes… but lots of people (including me) love them anyway. Why is that?
Maybe its envy. Deep down, we would all like to be able to say anything to anyone, cause trouble without consequence, and act without caring what others think.
But we don’t do it.
We can’t bear the shame of becoming an asshole. We’ve been conditioned by centuries of faithful mothers teaching us to mind our manners. We are proud of being polite.
Except… could that be the problem?
I know about a dozen people that make over $1 million per year, and I’d imagine all of them are called assholes on a regular basis. The two seem to go hand in hand, and I think there are reasons why.
Extreme Success Requires Extreme Focus
If you want to be successful, you have to focus. We all know that, but I don’t think many of us understand it.
Focusing means giving one objective all of your attention and ignoring everything else. Dr. House from the House M.D. TV show focuses on saving people’s lives, and nothing else matters to him. He’s willing to cheat, lie, steal, manipulate, and coarse in the pursuit of that end. And it works.
The wealthiest people in the world use the same approach with their finances. Frequently, they’ll:
- Leave behind a trail of broken marriages and forgotten children
- Lose the life savings of their friends and relatives on an ingenious but doomed business
- Refuse to lend anyone money or give to charity
- Avoid unnecessary expenses to the point of miserliness
- Treat everyone that can’t help them as if they’re expendable
We hold up cases like those as “how not to be successful,” but really, I think it’s exactly the opposite. The amount of wealth you’ll accumulate in this lifetime depends on how willing you are to put money ahead of everything else.
Frugal investors become millionaires because they’re willing to give up immediate gratification and luxury for a few decades. Successful entrepreneurs become billionaires because they invest every ounce of their life in the business and convince others to do the same. In each case, someone will inevitably labeled them as a miser, workaholic, or asshole, but they don’t care.
For them, it’s worth the trade-off. So ask yourself: how much are you willing to trade?
Are you willing to let some people think you’re an asshole?
“So… uhh… how do I find a job that I love?”
Talk about money long enough, and the question inevitably comes up. And it should.
Most of us spend 60-80% of our waking hours doing something work-related. If you don’t enjoy that work, then it means you’re unhappy 60-80% of the time. Logical, right?
It would also make sense that the quickest way to improve your happiness would be to improve your enjoyment of the thing you spend the most time doing. Since that’s work, you wonder if you couldn’t find something better.
But the question is, “How?”
Here’s what I think: the answer is in the title of this post.
Let’s break it down, starting at the end of the title and working our way back to the beginning.
Update: Voting is now closed. Thanks everyone!
Forget Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Ron Paul. They can wait their turn.
Vote for me in 2008.
No, I’m not running for President. This is eminently more important.
On Moneymaking is in the race for best Business/Money blog at Performancing’s Blog Awards. Admittedly, I’m an upset candidate, facing stiff competition from some of the biggest personal-finance blogs on the Web, but I think we have a shot.
Why?
Because those other guys are Conservatives. They believe in conserving your income, incrementally increasing your savings until you can retire 30 years from now.
Me? I’m a Liberal. I believe in using your income to buy liberty, where you define your hopes and dreams and then make enough money to achieve them, as quickly as possible.
So, vote for me in 2008. No, I take that back. Vote for you.
This is about your freedom. This is about building a blogosphere you can be proud of. This is about rising up against the tyranny of frugality and saying, “I deserve to make more!”
Because it’s true. And I’ll personally make it my mission in 2008.
That’s my promise.
But only you can make it happen. Click here to vote.
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I only have one resolution for 2008: action.
You can set all the right goals, have all the right intentions, and know all the right stuff, but if you don’t act, none of it means anything. I learned that when I was a teenager, and it’s the only resolution I’ve made ever since.
If you want to achieve your financial goals, I think you should make it your only resolution too. Most people spend their entire lives intending to get rich but never make it, and it’s almost always because they never actually do anything
So take action. Here’s how:
First, forget about planning for 2008. A year is too long of a timeline. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time remembering what I’m supposed to be doing for 15 minutes, much less an entire year.
Second, focus on today. Figure out just one thing you can do today to move yourself closer to the finances you’ve always wanted. Then do it.
Third, pick one thing the next day, and the next day, and the next day, until you wake up six months from now and realize you’ve already achieved all of your goals for 2008, and you have to set new ones.
If you’re having trouble coming up with one thing to do, I’ve put together a list of 50 ideas to get you started.
I worked almost all day this Christmas. And I’m unashamed.
Why? Because, to me, Christmas is no different than any other day.
If I want to buy someone a gift, I buy it and give it to them. If I want to enjoy my family, I visit or call them. If I want to celebrate Jesus, I close my eyes and pray.
I don’t need a special day. The opposite is also true.
If no one I know needs anything, I don’t buy them stupid junk. If I’m sick of my family, I stay away from them. If I don’t like your church for most of the year, don’t expect me to attend on Christmas.
Why? Because it’s my life, and I can do whatever I want with it.
To some, this might sound selfish or weird. Although if you really think about it, I think you’ll find it makes sense.
Each morning, you make a choice: are you going to seize the day or not? Are you going to take charge of your life, or are you going to let others tell you what to do?
Personally, I’ve found the first choice leads to happiness. The second leads to misery. It’s even true on Christmas.
My mother spent all morning preparing Christmas dinner. She hates to cook, and by mid-afternoon, she was highly agitated and regretted the whole thing. Another friend went to see all of her relatives, but after the initial “holiday cheer,” they spent several hours talking about their problems and she went home depressed.
As for me, I worked all day, and I’m happy as a clam.
It’s not because I’m a workaholic. It’s because my work means something to me.
Right now, researchers need somewhere around $30 million to have a good shot at finding a treatment for my disease. If I had it, I would give it to them, but I don’t. So I’ll keep working until I do.
My real estate portfolio is hurting like everyone else’s right now. If nothing changes, it may not be able to provide for me next year. So I’m working on diversifying my income.
A nurse that’s been with me for 14 years is thinking about retiring next year. He deserves a six-figure retirement bonus, but I can’t afford it right now. So I’ll work until I can.
Could I ignore all of these things for a day? Sure… but why?
Finding a treatment for my fatal disease, protecting my income, and rewarding the best nurse in the world for 14 years of service just seems more important than buying gifts for people that don’t need them, spending time with family that I have nothing in common with, and celebrating the birth of Jesus on the wrong day of the year.
To me, a day spent in the pursuit of money is infinitely more meaningful than any of the stuff that happens on Christmas.
But then again, maybe I’m just weird.
Who in their right mind would want to stay productive during the holiday season?
It’s the one time of year where you’re given permission to relax. You can doze off in front of the television, stuff yourself with holiday treats, and enjoy some quality time with the family. Why would you want to give that up?
Lots of reasons. Maybe you despise your family. Or, in your belief system, there may not be any holidays this time of year. Then there are the workaholics (ahem) who want to start preparing for the next year.
Regardless, not everyone wants to participate. The problem is it’s almost impossible to avoid without seeming like a Scrooge. Friends and family just stop by, you’re invited to parties, and nothing much is going on at work. How are you supposed to stay productive amidst all of that?
I’ve developed an assortment of strategies over the years, ranging from minimizing the time spent celebrating to harnessing the opportunities that the holidays provide. Here are 13 tips to get you started:
Have you ever noticed that lots of smart people have contempt for money? Not all of them, of course, but enough for the destitute genius to become a stereotype.
I used to be one of them, I suppose. Indoctrinated with four years of English Literature and Philosophy, I regarded it with a kind of smoldering resentment, not just because I was broke (and I was), but because I hated how the necessity of it could trump a life of intellectual rigor. It seemed an awful waste.
No one else seemed to understand, either. I resented that too. Talking about it now, it sounds foolish, but if you were ever labeled as the “smart kid,” you know what I’m talking about.
You’ve been told over and over again that someone of your intelligence should find it easy to make money. Silently (or not), everyone thinks you’re wasting your God-given talents by not applying them for personal gain.
But they don’t get it, do they? To you, life is not an exercise in how much money you can accumulate. There are so many things that are more interesting, more important, and more relevant to you.
Do you ever wish that people would just shut up about money?
Yes, it’s important. Yes, you could use more of it. Yes, you’d better start saving and investing, or you’ll regret it later.
But frankly, you don’t want to hear it.
You’re tired of people pitching you “financial solutions.” You’re tired of reading boring articles about investing. You’re tired of everyone talking about it, everywhere you go, all the time.
In fact, you take that back. You’re not just tired of it. You hate it.
Why? Do you really have to count the reasons?
Actually, there’s no need. I already have. Some will apply to you and some won’t, but here are 38 perfectly valid reasons to hate money and everything requires (be sure to read to the end):
Have you ever been sitting on the toilet in a public bathroom, when a stranger suddenly comes bursting through the door?
You stare at each other for a moment. It dawns on you that you forgot to lock the door. It dawns on them that they forgot to check. Then they back out of the stall, stuttering their apologies, while you desperately try to pretend that you weren’t caught with your pants around your ankles.
It’s mortifying, but it happens all the time, in all sorts of ways, especially in business.
Maybe you’re in the boardroom, pitching a room full of executives on a new strategy that will save the company, and your three-year-old wanders through the door, saying she has to “Tee-tee.” Or maybe a zit pops on your forehead in the middle of a sales call. Or maybe you get drunk at the company’s Christmas party and start singing, “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” at the top of your lungs.
All are honest, 100% genuine mistakes, and there’s nothing wrong with them. But they’re still embarrassing as hell. You feel like you’ve lost a little clout, and everything you do around the “witnesses” is suddenly very awkward.
Somehow, you have to regain your composure, or you can end up doing something that really is damaging. Well, just for you, here are 7 tips for regaining your dignity.
