Myth 2: You Have To Work Hard For Money

Here is another myth instilled in Filipinos’ minds...”You have to work hard for money.” A famous Filipino saying is “Kapag may sipag at tiyaga, may nilaga.”

Did you know that taxi drivers are hard-working? Some of them work 24 hours a day! What about jeepney drivers? The balut vendors? What about your neighbor, your officemate, your spouse, your best friend? Are they hard-working? “May nilaga ba?” Can they stop working today and still make money tomorrow? What about you, my friend, do working hard and being persistent on your job give you financial freedom?

We are too focused on working for money that we missed thinking about having money work for us! Speaking of taxis, I know a guy less than 30 years old who operates about 100 taxis with two partners. With about PHP 1,000 “boundary” per day per taxi, they make PHP 100,000 a day! They put PHP 60,000 back to their business for overhead costs, etc. and divide the rest. That’s PHP 13,333 a day without working hard…that translates to about PHP 400,000 a month! What actually inspired me with this story was this guy I was told just couldn’t get accepted to jobs that he applied for so he eventually ‘ended’ up operating taxis.

Yes, I do believe in hard work, but I also believe in smart work. I realized that “hard work” should not be a lifetime thing if you eventually make your money work for you. There will come a time when we only work because we choose to, not because we have to. We all deserve it, but this can only happen if you are “working hard” right now with the right opportunity and the right people.

If others can do it, you and I can do it. And, no, you can’t ask them to do it for you. ;-)

To be continued…