2-3-4 Friday

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

If you don’t like an unconventional opinion about money, please don’t read on.

3 weeks ago, my friend, a medical doctor, and I were talking about whether he regretted being a public doctor.

Our other friend had just announced that he had been promoted, and was now drawing a cool 6-figure annual salary. At 29, that’s a big sum.

That amounts to about $8333 per month, more than what you and I would probably earn as social workers.

He said he did regret choosing this as an initial career choice, given what it eventually cost him in earnings. If given a choice, he would do computer science at university.

It was an interesting question, because he is a good doctor. He diagnoses quickly, is empathetic and compassionate, and is able to see beneath the symptoms to draw out what you really want, whether it’s a listening ear, medical certificate, or just some rest in bed to avoid work on Monday.

I stumbled on the concept of how he probably had the good skills, but the wrong circumstances to earn good money.

Good skills, bad context, poor outcomes.

It’s much the same for some of us as social workers, therapists, or helping professionals. You’ve great skills, but you might not be super comfortable.

Please don’t get me wrong. Money isn’t the only thing in the world.

Nor is it the most important marker of one’s success.

But after coming out of social work, I started to find myself jealous of all the people who were earning lots of money. I was angry that I couldn’t earn as much as them.

And I kept complaining about how boring their money conversations were.

Until 2 days ago, when I sat in a Bentley, and then a Porsche GT3 (which retails in Singapore for a cool $1.1m, and yes that’s million). One was my 29-year-old friend, and the other belonged to a client.

They were not all that different to me.

And it occurred to me that I should stop hating rich people.

There’s nothing wrong with rich people.

But some of us, because of our experiences with lack, or seeing the global financial crisis, have come to despise the rich for what they have. It’s not their fault that they are rich. And so what if some of them don’t deserve their riches?

But it occurred to me that it was my own responsibility that I was rich, or not.

And to be richer, I had to stop hating the rich.

1 talk

Whether you’re rich or not, can depend on you, and it’s up to you which decision you’d prefer.

1 tip

For years, I lived with the idea that being rich was a bad thing. Growing up, my mum would tell me about how rich my uncle was, and tell me that it was okay not to have alot. I grew up with the idea that you should not be rich, because it’s a bad thing.

But it’s not money that’s the bad thing. It’s the love of money that is.

Making money that compensates you fairly is a good thing.

Over the past 4 years of doing business, I started breaking through when

1. I stopped hating being rich
2. I embraced a desire to be rich

It wasn’t just out of greed. But it was simply for the love of the game of business.

Yesterday, as I sat in the Porsche, my client told me about how he didn’t want to retire.

For most people it’s a job. To survive. To meet their needs.

But for me it’s like a game.

You keep leveling up and meeting bigger and bigger bosses.

And you just want to beat them.

I think there’s an element to that, where making money becomes something fun, rather than something hateful.

And if you’re thinking why I’m talking so much about money in a newsletter that’s supposed to be for helping professionals, it’s because many of us struggle with wanting to earn more, but beating ourselves up for those desires.

We think,

Wouldn’t it be nice if I could earn $6000 per month rather than the paltry $4300 I get now?

And then we beat ourselves up and say,

no, I’m doing it to serve those in need.

I’m here today to tell you that it’s not a binary thing. You don't have to stay constantly treading water, hoping to have enough.

Instead, even if you’re earning big amounts of money, you can still have great social impact.

No one complains of Apple not having a social impact. Could you imagine how much worse we would be if you didn’t have Internet at the pinch of your fingers?

You can do good, and still be rich, and there’s nothing wrong with being rich.

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love

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