Social Media and your Ego are tricking you.
“Rich people work hard to acquire money so they can buy things.
Wealthy people work strategically so they can leverage assets to buy the ability to manipulate time.
Life is a game of leveraging assets to buy time.
Anybody who tells you different is playing the wrong game.”
-Ray Zingler on X
The way I defined wealth when I was 20 is far different than the way I define it today at 33.
And I’m sure my definition will evolve even further as I gain more wisdom, or more accurately project, “become less dumb.”
When I was in my 20s, I was one of those hustle bros.
My favorite quote was, “Those who want to be successful commute in the dark.”
I got up at 4am, had all the morning routines, worked 15-hour days, 80-hour weeks, skipped holidays and vacations with my family. All of it.
I’d be lying if I said I fully regret it too (I do heavily regret missing out on the family and friend time for work that could have waited, but “just couldn’t have” at the time).
Not only did spending a solid decade with my head down working my face off instill a hellacious work ethic in me, it allowed me to “get in the game” as my dad calls it. And because I was working all the time, I literally didn’t have time to be dumb with money.
It provided me the opportunity to buy and flip my first house in my early 20’s so that I could leverage equity to buy another house and then another house, and then another house.
I bought my dream modern truck, my dream classic truck, I built 2 world class training studios, I have a kennel full of bulldogs, and my getaway cabin in the woods, too. I even have the wood burning stove I always wanted.
The goals I had that I wanted to achieve by 50, I smoked by 29.
So what? Is that it? Did I make it? Is life perfect?
No.
What I thought was going to make me “happy” (don’t get me wrong, I am beyond thankful for the blessings in my life) didn’t do it.
I was chasing resources ($) to acquire things.
The same thing everybody else is doing to become “wealthy”.
But wealth ain’t things.
I have learned that wealth is the ownership of time.
Here is how you play and win the game:
You acquire assets via strategic work so that you can leverage them to buy the ability to manipulate your time.
It’s simple, just not easy.
