KMP June 21 5
There is a wonderful feeling of being your own boss and setting the course for the direction of your business.
Apparently, having that autonomy directly correlates to our own happiness.
Freedom, but at what price?
A quote from the book The Illusions of Entrepreneurship:
“These studies have found that people are more satisfied with their jobs when they are working for themselves than when they are working for others. In fact, the studies show that to be as satisfied when he is working for others as he is when he is working for himself, the average person needs to earn two-and-a-half times as much money!”
Money isn’t everything, after all! I have been newly discovering time freedom over the last several months. I have worked many jobs in the financial services industry. Having time freedom is a close second, only to compensation. Not to say again that it’s all about money because it isn’t.
The worst jobs, at least for me, are those where employees are micro-managed. I worked for a firm that hired a lot of young people right out of college. The attrition was high, but there was always a handful that stayed and rode it out for years. To me, it was a challenging time. I felt like a caged animal.
Seeking balance
Sure extra income is great if we are making the direct comparison. However, as someone familiar with the FIRE movement, one of the challenges people find is having something to retire to. FIRE is an acronym which stands for ‘Financial Independence Retire Early.’ The fire crowd can sometimes drain themselves to hit the goal, sometimes being miserable for years to reach financial independence.
People will save upwards of 70+% of their income but sometimes not have a plan once they reach the goal. Not having a plan after retiring can lead to lack of direction and even depression for some. However, this arrangement is pretty perfect because I can work on exciting things, like writing this article. I still have the time to be with family, travel, and pursue hobbies I enjoy, which keeps the creativity and energy high!
Source: https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/4-things-millionaires-have-in-common-backed-by-research
