Not just, "Where we eatin' tonight hunny?" Which, I know, can be really hard sometimes. Or even, "What are we gonna erase from the DVR to make room for the latest humongous time waster Reality Show?" I still can't get over that a concern like that plagued my household..."What TV shows are we going to want to watch REPEATEDLY?" "Let's be sure not to erase those."-I am talking about deep probing questions that shake you out of apathy. The kind of questions that don't really have a quick answer, because maybe you have never been asked it before. I have been asked a lot of those questions over the last few months. And my response has been a huge mouth gaping....Ummmmmm.....I don't know!?...
I wanna talk about hard questions.
Let me ask one first. This is the question I asked myself on a flight home from Louisville this weekend. How much do I love my wife Dorothy? Let me repeat it...How much do I love my wife? Seems easy enough right? A lot! I love her a lot! Too easy.
Next question I asked myself... Do I love my wife enough to do things I don't wanna do to get her the lifestyle she deserves? Read it again. I'll wait... Little harder that one see. (here's a little justification) 'but Tony...you work 50 hours a week at a job you don't like doing to provide money for your family.' or, 'if you work 60 hours a week you can get that promotion that will provide a better lifestyle for your family.' Here's the problem...The lifestyle my wife wants has nothing to do with MONEY! It has everything to do with time.
As I look at the corporate structure in my current industry I see one constant. As you move up the corporate ladder you get more money but you get less time. What awaits me as a lifetime employee is trading dollars for my most precious commodity...Time. My director doesn't work less than me, he works more. Even my VP's car is there when i get to work in the morning and there when I leave. The main difference between me and my VP is 20 years in the business and a few more $$$. Being self-employed is even worse. You get to trade even more time AND you get to bring your job home with you. Don't believe me? Ask a doctor or a lawyer, two very prestigious titles in the self-employed category, how much they work and if they bring work home with them.
You can have more time you just have to give up $$$. You can have more $$$ just give up more time. Overtime. Time and a Half. 2nd job. 3rd job. We know nothing of a different option because this is all we were taught. People pay tons of money to good schools to teach them the same thing. I know this because my wife did. She is amazing at cutting and coloring hair. Best I have ever seen. She can go out and make more money for our family she just has to take that time away from our family.
My point is this. It's not about the money. It's about the time. And a two week vacation every year doesn't cut it. If you haven't read Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrant, read it. There is another way to make money. A way in which you get both time and money.
I've seen it and it has forced me to ask myself hard questions. Am I willing to do something foreign to me for a shortwhile to give my wife here husband back and my children thier father back. How many times does Zion have to hold on to my leg as I leave for work and say, "Daddy, it's my turn today."
Simply put, I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't even know it. People have figured out how to have both time and money and they were willing to show me how. All that is left is to DO! and guess what. I love my wife enough.
