Are You Giving $1,000,000 Effort on $1 Problems?

Earners,

They say if you work hard and are a good person, the money will follow.

That’s nonsense.

Well, kind of nonsense. You are guaranteed to live a manageable life if you do those two things. Food on the table, shelter over your head, etc. What is less certain, however, is how much money you will earn throughout your life - and even less certain if it’s the life you’d ideally like to be living.

A lawyer and a construction worker both work very hard. One makes a lot more money than the other. It’s because they are solving different problems with their effort. Problems that yield very different results.

Pick Worthwhile, Rewarding Careers and Problems

The entire essence of this article can be summarized as this: understand leverage. Always be asking yourself what outcome could come from your effort with a given task. Is it scalable? Does it have the potential to lead to something great? Something you can be proud of and earn a great keep doing? What can I be doing right now that leads to exponentially more output than input and how can I work towards that?

As much as I am the pro 9-5 guy in a sea of influencers saying “quit your job and get rich overnight”, I do think you have to pick your careers carefully. Or at least, constantly be examining them so you can move closer and closer to your ideal state. I have seen people in wage-focused jobs work their ASS off - but there are only so many hours in the day. So many people I have met give million-dollar effort at whatever they do but don’t stop and think of where the best place to focus that wonderful effort could be. No matter what career you choose, I believe it’s important that you select one with the potential for high earnings in a reasonable amount of time.

Going Beyond Corporate

If you’re not sure if your current career (or future career you’re on track for) is that, then maybe it’s your side project or business that will do it for you. Maybe you have the chops to cut it in business and that’s the plan. To “do your own thing”. That was the case for me.

I worked corporate for 2 years after graduating university and it was really solid - but I viewed my earnings more as “fuel” for an endeavour that I started in university. I launched my podcast in 2019 and started to realize I can earn a living doing that along with other platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. I had been saving and investing since college so I came out of school in a pretty strong financial position. It took years but eventually, I started to make money. Then a little bit more. Then a lot more. Eventually, I was out-earning what I earned at my job with what I would consider less effort.

I found a point of leverage. Content creation. Because I had built a platform, I could leverage it to partner with brands and advertisers to earn a living. I also could leverage my platform to sell consulting services to companies that are looking to grow their social presence. And that I did. Eventually, I quit my job in October 2021 to pursue my business full-time. I figured “I am 24…why the hell not? Could always come back to corporate if push came to shove”. I’m lucky enough to say I haven’t looked back since. My thing now is figuring out how to make life-changing money with the platform I’ve built - but that’ll be for another article.

I love what I do and in my opinion, running this biz has been a ridiculous source of leverage for me, personally and professionally. Maybe that’s content creation for you too - or maybe it’s a new software you’ve been tinkering with. Maybe it’s a fitness supplement you KNOW you could do well with. Maybe it’s a functional pair of shorts you think you could whip up a Shopify store with and give it a shot. Or maybe it’s simply getting really damn good at your career and investing in the markets (as investing a ton is a source of leverage as well - your money is working for you and it doesn’t get tired!).

My thought is to find something that could be big, baby. You’re working your face off day in and day out…why not get rich in the process?

Earn more,

Nate