‘Should I go for something I am passionate about or go for the money?’ I hear people ask this question a lot when looking for a new direction in life. The truth is, if they had a passion already they wouldn’t be asking the question.

The good thing is it is never too late to discover your passion. I am passionate about quite a few things and lucky to be able to work in those areas. I found that whilst working in a particular area, say film, I could go for days without eating properly and wouldn’t notice. I could go for days without sleep and not notice because I had that extra supply of adrenalin energy you get from doing what you enjoy. How do you know if you’ve found your passion? If circumstance doesn’t dictate how often you do it or how long you stick to it and if you would do it regardless of pay, there’s a good chance this is what you should be doing!

If you are at a crossroads and have asked yourself the question of passion or money, I humbly recommend going for passion every time. Below are 8 reasons why:

1. The days are longer if you are not passionate about what you are doing.
Ever been out on an enjoyable date and the hours flew by? Imagine getting paid to work for what seems like a few hours a day when in reality it is 8 or 9. That’s what passion does for you.

2. Working for money is tiring and soul destroying in the long run. Working with passion means never having trouble getting out of bed to get to work. Sure you could be physically tired occasionally, but when tired is coupled with a job that is tolerated for all the wrong reasons, everything is that much harder and much more of a drudge.

Now you might question how one can be expected to be fussy about one’s line of work in these tight budgeted times, or if you have responsibilities. The short answer is that these times won’t last. If it is not something you can change tomorrow you can start planning it so you are ready when the tide turns.
Very little that is worthwhile and sturdy was built on a whim in one day. Plan. Research.

3. The money will more than likely come anyway because you are effortlessly putting in the hours without even feeling them. I can vouch for that personally.

4. Should the money fade you will still have passion. This is a very privileged position. There are a lot of people who have not found their passion. With both money and passion together it will be mind blowing…I promise.

5. It is harder to be mis-directed from your path when you have passion. You get a stronger gut feeling with true passion. It comes from having studied an area of interest for a long time. You become more confident about yourself and your subject.

6. Not many people are fulfilled by money. I have spent a lot of time in very monied company. One thing that hung over me like a bad smell was a deep sense of dissatisfaction and disenchantment. If this was merely a few people I had met I would pass it off as coincidence. However this was not the case. On the other hand, my time with folks on the other end of the spectrum in various parts of the world was fairly rich and joyful. The trick is to have both! Financial satisfaction and fulfillment.

7. True passion comes from within and therefore is one of the few things that we have absolute control over. Even if we are careful with our own money, banks, governments or pension fund managers can do things on our behalf that diminishes our hard won cash. Only we can allow our passion to diminish or grow.

8. Passion is magical and intangible. Unlike money it cannot be stolen or taken. For example, the folks who go on talent shows and listen to a judge being negative about them and then emerge tearfully saying that their ‘career’ is all over never had true passion or undaunted desire in the first place.

The judge may even be right about their lack of sufficient natural talent, but that would never stop someone with drive and passion.
We could all probably name a few famous names who have more passionate drive than outstanding talent.

All in all go for passion. If you are not familiar with your passion yet, keep looking. You will know when you find it. You can monetize your passion, you cannot ‘passionize’ or impassion your money. In other words, your passion can earn you money, but your money will never earn you passion.

Pea writes for Simple Humble – a website celebrating simplicity and beautiful, simple things.

Photo credit: Edward Dullard

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Males especially are particularly vulnerable when it comes to this subject matter.

It has a lot to do with our male ego.

What’s the first thing that males ask each other when they meet?

‘So what do you do?’

We then begin to respond with the job, the business, the project or whatever else we ‘do’ – and this is what defines us. Or that’s what we think.

We may just as well ask… ‘So what do you make? (in dollars that is)  as if that is what also defines us.

Personally, I would rather know ‘who you are’ than ‘what you do’.

Why?

In My Mid Twenties I Went Into Business

In my mid twenties I went into business with a relative of mine and found myself in the position of a director of a multi-media company.

However, as the years passed I discovered that the direction my relative was taking the company (who happened to be 6 years older than me) was a direction that I could no longer support.

So I resigned.

The problem I then faced though stemmed from the fact that I had allowed my identity to become intimately and inextricably entwined with that business. It was who I was, and I had poured so much of my heart, my soul, my finances, my all into its creation – that when the business was removed from my life I suddenly lost my personal identity.

I Became Violent

I became depressed, angry and even (I am ashamed to write) violent. Not against those whom I felt had betrayed both my family and I – but I actually became violent against the very ones I loved – my wife and my young children.

I was so frustrated with my circumstances that I became an eruptive volcano that could explode unpredictably at any moment.

I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know what to do, who to go to, and how to re-forge a new identity.

When people asked me what I did I couldn’t give an answer, and it just made me angrier.

My life had been derailed, detoured, and at that point I was convinced that it had been utterly destroyed.

At the height of my anger I found myself raging around my house while my wife and three young children (they are now young adults) took refuge in our bedroom – all huddled together on our bed.

My Wake Up Call

When I entered the room, there were the four people whom I deeply loved hugging each other for protection, their eyes filled with fear.

I stopped in my tracks.

I immediately left the scene, stormed outside and gave myself a stern talking to – ‘Peter, if you keep going the way you’re going, you’re going to lose everything – even those who love you so deeply’.

I then returned to my family transformed – sought their forgiveness, and peace finally reigned within our household.

Never again have I attached my self-worth or my identity to what I do – and the things (or people rather) whom I am most proud of are my beautiful wife of more than 28 years and my three children.

Business, fame, wealth come and go, but family is forever.

You & I Are Defined By Who We Are – Not What We Do

So whenever I meet someone for the very first time I never ask the question, ‘So what do you do?’

I ask this: ‘So how do you keep yourself busy each week?’

Personally, I am not impressed or unimpressed by what people do or even by what people make. I would rather get to know who you are – for it is who you are that I wish to inspire to be the best you possible.

You are a worthy human being – no matter what season you find yourself in.

Whether you have a job, are between careers, own a business or are owned by a business, are a bankrupt, or find yourself in a place where you are still trying to work out what you’re going to do when you grow up – remember this one thing: what you do makes no difference.

It’s who you are, and also know this – that you are loved, respected, worthy and talented.  You are brilliant, one-of-a-kind, magnificent, and bursting with potential.

Your best days are before you because you are unique, and you are YOU.

So let me ask you one question though: how have you overcome your own personal identity crisis?

Motivational Memo: Be proud of who you are, for you are not defined by what you do.

Peter G. James Sinclair is the author of the Personal Success Blueprint, a free report you can download instantly to learn how you can unlock the secret to your own personal success. You can access the report from here – http://www.selfdevelopmentmastermind.com

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This post is for anyone who is trying to do artistic work (writing, painting, computer programming, sculpting, music composition and recording, whatever) – or trying to make money (entrepreneur, salaried, investor, whatever).

People that desire to create and enterprise do a lot to build the world, but it’s often a lonely and frustrating path.

And due to the nature of that, most creative and enterprising people make a key mistake.

They keep trying to re-invent the wheel.

Please stop doing that.

When you get into a new field, you start by getting a hang of the basics. You dabble, experiment, maybe read or research a little on the topic.

This is all good.

But then, a lot of artistic/enterprising people make a serious mistake – they get all their lessons on how to improve the hard way, by reinventing the wheel and struggling in ways that have already been struggled before.

You can cut a lot of frustration and learning curve time off if you do things more systematically.

Step 1 – Start dabbling and playing in the endeavor, seeing if you like it.

Step 2 – Pick up the basics, start putting a stable amount of time into your endeavor.

Step 3 – Now, before pouring energy in haphazardly, start also learning how the most successful people in the field did it.

Read summaries and biographies of people that have come before you.

It’s amazing how many people don’t do this, because it means you’re going to make serious mistakes and do inopportune things that could have been avoided.

For instance, if you’re a businessman thinking taking investment, you’d do really well to read Ted Turner’s biography, Call Me Ted. He references one of his biggest mistakes as giving veto power to two investors on his board of directors, who abused that power and blocked him from doing good deals sometimes.

By reading Call Me Ted, you learn about how Ted had free reign to produce at Turner Industries until he gave over that veto clause, and you make a mental note not to do that.

If you read the great biography of John Rockefeller, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.,  you learn about potentially getting in trouble with the government. Microsoft had similar problems. So if you were building to a large scale, you’d want to start lobbying and putting some expense into building the general good simultaneous with your business in order to have regulators look favorably on you.

If you’re a salesman, you should find biographies of the best salesmen in similar fields.

Likewise, if you’re doing creative work, you should learn about the habits and practice of highly creative people. Napping is a big one that many great creators would use – Thomas Jefferson would half-nap in a chair with ball bearings in his hand. Immediately after he fell totally asleep, the ball bearings would hit the floor and make a racket and he’d get back up.

That way, he’d get short rests and get the semi-awake creativity bursts.

If you’re a musician, read about the great performers. There’s many biographies and stories about The Beatles’ legendary work ethic when they were first getting started.

If you’re into comedy, check out Steve Martin and Jerry Seinfeld’s writings on the topic.

If you’re a writer, check out  On Writing by Stephen King.

The nature of doing meaningful things in the world means it can be lonely and individualistic. The stereotype of creativity feeds into that. But if you wholesale accept that attitude, you wind up making many mistakes you could have avoided.

You’re not alone. Whatever you’re doing, someone has done an excellent job with it in the past. Seek them out, hear their words, learn their lessons, and make lots of great art and lots of money.

Sebastian Marshall writes daily on strategy, philosophy, personal finance, travel, and history. You might enjoy “How to Get a Raise” if you’re salaried and “What Skills Do You Need to be an Entrepreneur? Only Two” if you’re self-employed. His RSS feed is free to join if you like his writing.

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Words That Heal and Empower

Whether you’re deep in debt or just having a few financial hiccups, it’s almost certainly the case that you’re spending more than you’re making.

A lot of personal finance writers will advise you to cut your expenditure. Eat out less often, downgrade your cable package, stop buying pricy coffees, and so on. There’s a strong focus on getting rid of unnecessary, day-to-day spending – sometimes dubbed “the Latte Factor” (a term coined by financial adviser David Bach). Wise Geek explains it like this:

The Latte Factor® is a euphemistic label for all that extra money we spend daily on nonessentials such as candy, bottled water, doughnuts, muffins, soda, cigarettes, magazines, newspapers, and yes, lattes.

It’s good advice, as far as it goes. Daily amounts do add up fast, and by cutting out a regular “nonessential” you could probably save at least $50 each month.

But however much you cut out the fat of your spending, you’re going to pretty quickly hit a wall…

You Can’t Go That Low

All of us have certain fixed expenses. Typically, these will include:

• Rent or mortgage
• Groceries
• Utilities bills (water, gas, electric, broadband…)
• Travel to work/school
• Clothes, personal hygiene products, etc.

It is certainly possible to spend very little by living in a radically different way – moving in with parents, for instance, or becoming a freegan. But you might well feel that you don’t want that sort of lifestyle.

So, however much you cut down on all the little luxuries of life, a big chunk of your paycheck will still be going on costs which you have to meet.

Employed or Self-Employed?

When we’re trying to improve our financial situation, most of us focus first on cutting our spending because that’s more within our control. However, we all have some influence over our income.

If you’re traditionally employed – paid a salary or an hourly rate by your boss – then there are a couple of straightforward ways to increase your income. You could ask for a raise, work overtime, or switch to a different job which pays more.

If you’re self-employed, it gets easier. Increasing your income is often just a matter of working more hours – or increasing your rates. You may well find that, when trying to improve your financial situation, spending less means earning less. For instance, if you’re cooking from scratch rather than eating out (and saving $5 per meal), is that really worth the hour of lost work time?

It’s a very rough rule of thumb, but if you’re employed and you’re spending more than you’re making, look first at cutting your spending. If you’re self-employed, look first at how you can improve your income.

Increasing Your Income Alongside a Day Job

Even though the 9-5 worker may be becoming a thing of the past, most people still have day jobs. So how can you increase your income while working full time?

A few great ways are:

• Take on a Saturday job. You might only do it for a few months, but it could be enough to plug the hole in your budget and get you back on track.
• Freelance. You can use your professional skills as a contractor, not just as an employee. For instance, if you work for a magazine as a graphic designer, you could set up a simple website offering freelance graphic design. This might mean spending an hour each weeknight, or a few hours at the weekend.
• Sell stuff on ebay. Almost anything – clothes, books, DVDs, electronics – can be sold second-hand. Some items will be worth more than others, but if you’re not using it, anything is profit.
• Start an online business. You could sell crafts on Etsy, sell webhosting through a large web host, sell digital products like ebooks and audio books … almost anything!

If you know you’re wasting money on things which you don’t need and which don’t really bring you any pleasure, then by all means cut down your spending. But if you feel there’s no slack left in your budget, start looking at ways to increase your income too.

Got an income-generating idea to add? Share it with us in the comments.

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Image courtesy of Stephen Barnwell.

I was in an “on-line forum” the other day when someone asked the question, “How do you increase your income?” The person asking the question was no longer working their “day-job,” and was seeking to make money in other ways.

This person was making a few dollars each week teaching kids how to play basketball, but was looking to make additional money.

The Solution

In order to increase your income, you must increase your value; “YOU” must become more valuable.

By becoming more valuable you will increase your “socially perceived value;” the value society believes you provide, for this, society will owe you a debt. What is money but a social debt, it represents the value you’ve provided thus far; what society owes you. You take that social debt (i.e. money) and then purchase whatever you desire in exchange for the debt.

Let’s Recap: You exchange your time to become valuable, which in turn allows you to purchase things that you value. Before you can purchase things that you value, you must provide others with what they value.

Your salary represents the monetary value you are able to extract from the world. If you make a $100,000 a year, that means society believes that you provide $100,000 of monetary value annually. In order to make more money, you need to increase society’s perspective on your value.

How does a basketball player provide more value?

A basketball player creates more value by becoming a better basketball player; by becoming more valuable himself. He spends his spare time practicing to become “the best” at what he does. He practices when everyone else is taking time-off. He plays with players who are better than he is; he studies and learns how to “out-shine” the competition. He spends his time sharpening his skills. By doing this, he becomes increasingly valuable, and he will make more money.

How does a comedian provide more value?

By becoming a better comedian; he or she spends their time listening to other comedians. They learn from the most successful. While others are sleeping they’re awake writing jokes that have never been heard before. They become more valuable by offering the world something that it’s never seen before. Scarcity makes valuable.

How do I provide more value?

I provide more value by listening to other self-development teachers (iron sharpens iron); I listen to at least an hour of self-development everyday. When I write, I’m writing from what I’ve learned after listening to dozens of other teachers, and hundreds of books. Every book I read makes me more valuable. I know that if my focus is narrow and constant, eventually, I will become one of the greatest self-development teachers.

Enough Value to Make a Living

In order to provide enough value to make a good living, you have to dedicate your time to becoming the best at what you do.

As a first step in becoming the best, you need to commit to “be” your personal best. Honestly ask yourself right now, “Am I giving my very best to what I’m doing, am I giving my all, am I the best version of myself?” I often ask myself these questions, and the answers are not always “positive ones;” when the answers aren’t positive, I begin to look for ways to give my all.

Walter Cronkite said, “I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.”

You must empty yourself into your “task” in order to create real value….

Time

It takes time to provide value, when a basketball player first starts playing basketball in elementary school, he doesn’t get paid. It’s not until years later, when we has perfected his skills, and his talent is rare, that he can get paid for the entertainment value he provides.

You must utilize your “time” to make yourself increasingly valuable so that you can command a higher price tag. The more you study, the more you learn, the more time you dedicate to your passion, the more valuable you will become.

This is why you should never quit sharpening your skills, sharpen them often and daily. Eventually you will become very valuable.

That’s why you should do what you love, because you’re going to be doing it for a while before you succeed.

Finally, it’s not enough to just be valuable

I could be the greatest basketball player in the world, but if know one knows about it, what good would it be. Will I get paid for being a great basketball player? Of course not.

Once you’ve become valuable, you need to showcase that value to the world using leverage (e.g. open up a basketball camp and let everyone know about it); now you’re providing real value; and society will gladly pay to see that value. As the quote goes, set yourself on fire and people will come to see you burn! Thank you for reading.

Mr. Self Development is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain. For more information visit Mr. Self Development; just reading his blog will raise your prosperity consciousness, expand your mind, and challenge you to live the abundant life.

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The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the vendor opened, and they began to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his cautions.

Franklin knew that knowing the right way to live is much easier than living the right way. Being industrious and frugal each and every day is a tough task, one that most people will never master. It takes an enormous amount of self-discipline and perseverance to become wealthy and successful. Most people who read these posts and the Way to Wealth will agree with the advice but will soon forget it and go on making foolish decisions. This isn’t going to change; people can’t be helped that don’t want to help themselves.

But I also believe there are a lot of people who want to help themselves but have lost sight of the right way to live. I know from experience that a person can be influenced by a negative environment without realizing it. The consumer culture of America incessantly pushes us to buy things we don’t need. We waste our time because we are constantly distracted by media. It is now more difficult than ever to be industrious and frugal. I wrote these posts with the hope that a person who has problems with idleness and extravagance might read them and start to rethink their lives. Up until recently I have always been a very lazy person. After reading the Way to Wealth I started to rethink my mentality. I realized that I’d been trapped by a pessimistic apathetic state of mind. It took a long time to break my old habits but I have steadily improved my productivity and attitude. The old me would never have made this website.

I am still tempted by laziness everyday, but recognizing my own weakness allows me to overcome it. Being industrious is addictive. It fills me with confidence and inspiration. We all have more energy than we believe. After you take the first step to improve your life you build momentum every day. If you want to make that step, take the wisdom of the Way to Wealth to heart. You will certainly profit from it.

However, it is important to remember that we are tiny beings at the mercy of fortune. On this Franklin said:

Do not depend too much upon your own industry, and frugality, and prudence, though excellent things, for they may all be blasted without the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them.

I can’t help wanting to emulate Franklin. Best of luck to you in your search for wealth and success. We all need it.

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Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part I Industry

Ben Franklin’s Ways to Wealth – Part II Frugality

The second section of the Way to Wealth imparts the importance of frugality. It isn’t enough just to earn money, you have to be smart about what you do with it. In this collection of sayings Franklin describes how a lack of frugality will cause financial ruin and describes the temptations that lead people to spend foolishly.

1. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last
2. Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship
3. Buy what thou hast no need of, and before long thou shalt sell thy necessaries
4. A fat kitchen makes a lean will
5. Many estates are spent in the getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.
6. Think of saving as well as of getting: the Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes
7. Women and wine, game and deceit, Make the wealth small, and the wants great.
8. What maintains one vice, would bring up two children
9. Who dainties love, shall beggars prove
10. Fools make Feasts, and wise men eat them
11. Buy what thou hast no need of, and before long thou shalt sell thy necessaries

So many people are left poor because they are extravagant. Frugality is different than cheapness. Frugality is spending wisely and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Do you ever eat out when you could cook, buy new clothes when your old ones are fine, or buy expensive electronics you don’t really need? This undermines all the hard work you do! To build wealth you must save the money you earn.

1. Wise men learn by others’ harms, fools scarcely by their own
2. Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire
3. Ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees
4. Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom
5. When the well’s dry, they know the worth of water
6. If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some
7. He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing
8. Fond pride of dress, is sure a very curse; E’er fancy you consult, consult your purse.
9. Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy.
10. When you have bought one fine thing you must buy ten more, that your appearance maybe all of a piece
11. Tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it
12. Great estates may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore.
13. Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt
14. Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy

When people get some money they feel an urge to go spend it. We want to keep up with our friends and neighbors so we go and buy the finest clothes and the newest gadgets. One new purchase leads to another. To become wealthy, you need to overcome your pride and live humbly.

1. But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities!
2. When you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty
3. The second vice is lying, the first is running in debt
4. Lying rides upon debt’s back
5. Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: ’tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright
6. Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times
7. Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter
8. The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor
9. Disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free
10. For age and want, save while you may; No morning sun lasts a whole day
11. Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever while you live, expense is constant and certain
12. Tis easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel
13. Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.
14. Get what you can, and what you get hold;’Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold

The stupidest thing you can do is borrowing money unless absolutely necessary. By doing so, you make the creditor your master and pay much more in the long run. Get over your pride and drive that beat up car for a few more years. Live in a smaller house than your wealthy friends. If you live beyond your means you will pay for it.

Buy Franklin’s Way to Wealth on Amazon

Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part III Conclusion

Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part I Industry

Anyone who has tried to find financial advice on the web has encountered nothing but scams. “Invest with me, buy this book, use my AdSense secrets, and you will be making easy money in no time.” It is all garbage. Those who want solid advice to live by would be well served to consult The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin. In a few paragraphs Franklin wittily transmits the wisdom the made him a fortune and one of America’s greatest fathers. Beware: there are no secrets or short cuts, only common sense.

Franklin wrote the Way to Wealth as a speech given by a wise old man to the townspeople. The focus of the first section is the virtue of Industry

1. Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
2. Diligence is the mother of good luck
3. God helps them that help themselves

We have all heard these familiar sayings, but how often do we neglect to live by them? Rising early, using time wisely, and getting to bed at a decent hour is the first step to building wealth. It puts you in the position to succeed.

Franklin also condemns laziness as the cause of many failures.

1. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the used key is always bright
2. Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of
3. Lost time is never found again
4. He that riseth late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night
5. Drive thy business, let not that drive thee
6. Industry need not wish
7. He that lives upon hope will die fasting
8. There are no gains, without pains
9. Plough deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep
10. One today is worth two tomorrows
11. Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today
12. Be ashamed to catch yourself idle
13. Let not the sun look down and say, inglorious here he lies

How often do we waste time complaining about a lack of opportunity? The reason you find no opportunity is that you waste time you should be using to build. The more we are idle the rustier we get. Laziness makes taking action more difficult. Through industriousness you create opportunities.

1. He that hath a trade hath an estate
2. He that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor

Here Franklin states that you need to develop a specialization that is valuable to others. A specialization provides a permanent source of income. No one is going to give you money. You need to give people value in exchange for it.

1. At the working man’s house hunger looks in, but dares not enter
2. For industry pays debts, while despair encreaseth them
3. Constant dropping wears away stones
4. By diligence and patience the mouse ate in two the cable
5. Little strokes fell great oaks

Don’t be discouraged by the size of a task. Don’t make excuses because something looks difficult. Great accomplishments are built in tiny increments. You need to remember that the work you do builds up over time. People are often discouraged because they don’t achieve instant success. It is important to think of your work as a long-term investment. This will help you stay motivated during the painful early stages. Remember that most successful people toil for years in obscurity before reaching the tipping point when their hard work starts to pay dividends.

1. Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure
2. Since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour
3. A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. Do you imagine that sloth will afford you more comfort than labor?
4. Trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease.
5. Many without labor would live by their wits only, but they break for want of stock
6. Industry gives comfort, and plenty, and respect: fly pleasures, and they’ll follow you

Many people don’t like to work, especially if they have boring jobs. Everyone wants to live a life of leisure so we work as little as we have to. This is understandable; everyone prefers leisure to work. In truth, this is an extremely shortsighted attitude. Who do you think has the time play golf during the week or the flexibility to travel abroad? It is the people who worked hard, became successful, and are now reaping the benefits of wealth and leisure. You need to work hard now to gain leisure later. If you are lazy now you will miss out on leisure in the long run.

1. Keep the shop, and thy shop will keep thee
2. If you would have your business done, go; if not, send
3. He that by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive.
4. The eye of a master will do more work than both his hands
5. Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge
6. Not to oversee workmen is to leave them your purse open
7. In the affairs of this world men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it
8. Learning is to the studious, and riches to the careful, as well as power to the bold, and Heaven to the virtuous
9. If you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself
10. For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for want of a horse the rider was lost

The point of these maxims is that working hard alone is not enough. You must also keep your business inline with care and attention. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste for a lack of organization. Don’t take anything for granted because small problems are the root of failure.

I cannot state with another emphasis how important these ideas are. Most people will recognize that this is nothing new and ignore it. These ideas aren’t complicated. The challenge is to live by them. If you try being truly industrious for one complete day you will understand what I mean.

The first half of becoming wealthy is Industry: working hard, using time wisely, and paying careful attention to your business. Industry generates revenue. The next step is turning revenue into profit. The second part of Franklin’s Way to Wealth explains the importance of saving what you gain.

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Ben Franklin’s Real Way to Wealth – Part II Frugality

Ben Franklin’s Real Way to Wealth – Part III Conclusion