Previously, I spoke about this book, and you can check it out with this link
Book Study: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Whenever I find a new book, and I find the quotes within the book, I tend to write more review blog posts about the same book, and for this book, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, I have found another quote that struck me, and I knew I had to write something about it. It goes like this:
“You’re not going to get rich renting out your time.”
On surface value, the quote is pretty much harsh, and this is what drew me closer to the quote. I want to understand what the author means by I cannot be rich by renting my time out. Are you telling if I rent my time to a wealthy billionaire like Elon Musk, I cannot become rich? Please come on, tell me more.
As I read further, I came to understand that the author is talking about the ideology of tying your value to the time of your presence. Just like a traditional working job where you come in and clock in to start work, you will only get paid for your working hours. This ideology is tied to time being finite, and there is a limit to how much your body can work. A popular adage in Nigeria says body no be firewood, meaning you cannot work forever. A time will come when you have to stop, and what happens when that time comes to pass. That means the money stops rolling in. This is what the quote is talking about when it says you cannot get rich by renting your time.
Now, the building of wealth is boiled down to building assets that create value or have value. You cannot work forever. The reason some are wealthy is that they have a fleet of assets generating income for them, even without them working all the time. Warren Buffett says if you do not find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die. It is not about how hard you work, but what your value is. The harsh reality I have seen is that if it were about hard work, construction workers working onsite should be wealthy. A popular quote from Ricky and Morty is that capitalism is not built on the merits of equality for all, but rather on the system of the rich and the poor, meaning others have to be poor for some to be rich. It's all about what value you have to give. Now that I think about it, before I could give a wealthy man like Elon Musk my time, that means I must have value to give.
Working around the clock is not all it takes to make wealth. Start building assets where your stake is your ownership. Take a risk on yourself with that business idea you have, no matter how small it may be. You cannot tell how far it could go. It fails, you learn, and if it works, it is yours to keep. Why do CEOs take stock options? It is because what's at stake in the game is to ensure the effort in the company stands for something for them as well. Just like the GameStop CEO stands the chance of making $35 billion due to the recent market capitalization of GameStop to a value of $100 billion, start looking out for your ownership, no matter how small it may be. At least it is yours to keep.
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