A (5:01)
Dig a latrine. I think it's, you know, have a couple solar panels now. I I mean, the whole purpose of the show obviously is to talk about increasing your income because this is exactly what we're seeing. And it's, to me, it's like, it's a factor of whether or not you want to live a and comfortable life, not just survive. And this is why everything starts in the mind to me, because it's fairly simple. I think for just about anybody listening to this or watching this, it's fairly simple to imagine yourself making 10 to 20% more than you're currently making. You know, you're making 75 grand a year. You're like, man, if I could just, if I could just make 90 grand or like 100, 100, 105, you know, like, I'll, I'll be good. And it's, and it's somewhat simple to be like, okay, I, I, I could, I could piece this together. Maybe if I get this raise there and I do this thing on the weekends, I could maybe make an extra thousand, two thousand bucks a month. I can get, I can get up to that, that a hundred K. But when posed with the idea of taking your income from 75 grand to 250 grand, it's like, I might as well be speaking a different language to you. Like the, the, the, the jump is so wildly beyond what you believe to be possible that you immediately move into this sort of the, the victim mentality of just embracing the fact or embracing the idea and treating it as a fact that you are at a disadvantage, that this country is no longer set up for you to be able to own a home and that you'll never own a house. And you start feeding yourself these types of things and your, your future is corrupted once you buy into the lie that you cannot create the future that you want. Because if you don't believe that it's possible, then you're never going to take a step toward making that thing happen. Regardless of how possible or impossible it realistically is, you'll never figure it out because you believe that it is impossible. So you're never going to take a step toward figuring it out. So that's what I think is, is the problem, I think for most people is that they've never, and I understand, I understand why, because it feels impossible. Like if you come from a lower income household, you grew up sort of, you know, if not in poverty, poverty adjacent where you're, you're like, hey, we got shoes on our feet, but they're old, you know what I mean? Like they're pretty worn out and we can't really afford to go do this or that. And you know, my friends can, you know, my friends parents got a new car, but we're still driving this old junker that we're surprised makes it to school every day. You know, if you grew up like that, it's really difficult. And you didn't, you know, go to college, you didn't get around to the people who have this other alternate path that's forming for them. It's really difficult to shake yourself out of that mindset and go from thinking like, I can stop making $36,000 a year and make $236,000 a year. I understand why you're allowing yourself to think like that, but I also, but I also know that as long as you allow yourself to continue thinking like that, you will not accidentally break free of that mindset. So you, that's why we talk about here on the show all the time, is like, you're going to get paid for the value that you bring to the marketplace or to the organization that you work for. So how can you start thinking about skills that are more valuable than the ones that you currently have? And I, and again, I understand this is a major bummer for somebody who's 36 and has already spent 16 years of their career working and they have their college degree in the field that they're working in and they've checked all the boxes, they've done all the things, and they thought that this was going to be it and then they just got laid off because this crazy new technology of AI came in and replaced the need for them and thousands of their co workers to exist inside of this organization. I understand that's a crappy hand when you feel like you've done all the right things. But like we talked about in a previous episode, just because it's not your fault does not mean it's not your responsibility. So the alternative here is to give up, which is a bad alternative. You know, that's not, that's. It's. It's a, it's a non starter. So the only option that you have is to figure out some sort of path forward that allows you to make more money, which is usually going to be related to either the volume of work that you're willing to put in in or the skills that you do or do not have. So up upskilling is probably the, the number one thing you can do to directly affect the paycheck that you're bringing in. And maybe even before that, it's the mindset shift. And Like I said, I understand I'm speaking from an idealistic standpoint, from somebody. This episode of the show is brought to you by Wayfair. Look guys, the new year is here. 2026 is upon us. Get back into an at home routine that you love and elevate your space with Wayfair. From bedding and mattresses to storage solutions for every room in the house, Wayfair is your one stop shop. Refresh your living room with accent pillows, mirrors, fake plants, you know, paintings, whatever, whatever you want really. 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So we have one place that all the shoes go. And now when the kids walk in the house, they know exactly where to put their shoes. So we got that from Wayfair recently. They even have a treadmill that goes under your desk instead. Stuff, which is probably going to be my next purchase. So get organized, refreshed and back on track this new year. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home. Who's on the other side of saying something crazy and then achieving at least a version of that. Where now I get to be a full time podcaster and like talk about stuff for a living that I'm still like pinch myself, you know, very grateful that this is the life that I get to live. However, I also put in 1500 podcast episodes before I was able to make that happen. And it took me almost a decade of work on this new path that I had no idea how to make happen. When I started doing it, it cost me a lot more money and a lot more time than I ever thought it was going to cost me. But I also know that it was 100% worth it and that my skill sets have increased in the meantime. So the better you get at making this going to sound so ridiculously simple and somebody's going to be pissed off watching this because I'm going to make it sound too simple. But the better you and making money, the easier it is to make money. Meaning like whenever I've reached a new threshold of making money, the previous threshold seems really easily attainable. So like now, like before, it took me a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of energy to make to crack six figures. Now it's like six figures. I could do that pretty easily, like 10, 15 hours a week of work. I can make six figures pretty easily anymore. So now the question is like, okay, well what about seven figures? You know, what about. So, so if when you continuously like push up the ceiling a little bit, it just makes it easier to hit these other income targets in the meantime. But the only way to get there is by continuously leveling up the value that you can create for society, for culture, for the marketplace at large. Which is why I think for people like this, especially if you're in a context where it's not an option for you to go back to school or, you know, you, you were raised in a blue collar household and you're a blue collar worker yourself and you don't see a path to being able to make a lot of money. That's why I still think entrepreneurship is the, is the great equalizer. Because it, it's not a zero sum game. Because it's not like you have to make, you have to become a billionaire or you're bankrupt. It's not billionaire bankruptcy, it's, it's billionaires potential option. But also making a quarter million a year is an option. Also making 80k a year instead of 30 is an option. But this 80k means you have autonomy and agency and freedom to be able to live in a place that you can afford really easily and still be able to do the thing. You know what I'm saying? So that's why I still, I still think like entrepreneurship is the path to a lot of this because you don't have to strike it big, you just have to figure out a path that
