Now, it is time to get to the specifics on how to achieve work-life balance. To be very clear, the only way to truly achieve this critical balance is to become work-optional, which means that at any time, we can pack our bags and leave. We are basically working for the intangibles such as companionship, esprit de corps, and teamwork.
Working because we need to pay the bills will need to end if we are to form a balance. Now, at the end of Part One, we discussed the three things that we need to take control of in our work and home life. They are 1) convert materialism to minimalism, 2) focus on passive income and retirement, and 3) build meaningful and impactful relationships. Let’s dig into each of these.
Convert materialism to minimalism. This objective may be the hardest of the three, especially in a first-world country. We are taught to work hard, play hard, and spend hard. However, the more we spend, the more we have to continue working.
To retire early, we need to focus on spending less and learning how to want less honestly. Everything that we read, listen to, or watch is some form of advertisement. I learned this by reading a book on advertising called “Cashvertising.” Once you understand some of the tips and tricks of these “ad men,” you can clearly see the writing on the wall.
Don’t expect to wake up and stop wanting to buy things. I bought so many video games between the ages of 18-38 that it is not even funny. However, now the thought of spending $60 on a game is almost too much to bear. I see the world through the lens of passive income. My immediate idea is what stocks or crypto I can buy for that $60.
Minimalism can help you become financially free; there’s no doubt about that. However, don’t get too caught up in the mumbo jumbo of the minimalism movement. Just understand that you don’t need to replace your car every three years or your furniture every five.
The main items you need to focus on are your budget and your invisible budget. If you can gain control of your day-to-day expenses and don’t let them increase, you effectively defeat the vilest monster in your path; lifestyle inflation.
Lifestyle inflation is the single greatest villain in your way to work-life balance. This destructive loop goes as follows; the more money you make, the more money you spend, the more you have to work, the harder you work for the promotion, you get promoted, and the more money you make.
When you budget your money, spend less on frivolous things, and become happy with spending time with family, your outlook will change almost instantly. Ask yourself, “What is your rich life?” If you convert your dream to spending time with people, you can sidestep the lifestyle inflation monster and coast through work.
You’ll be surprised at how happy you will be when you are not fighting for that next promotion. No more kissing ass; you know that you have the power to make a living on your own. You can do what you love and also love what you do. Not too many people can achieve this in their lives. But, now we need to become rich.
Focus on passive income and retirement. From day one, we should have been taught to plan for our retirement. How many bad decisions would we have been able to avoid if we had a plan for our futures? Alas, let’s move forward onto things we can change—becoming rich.
In the article “Retirement Planning at Any Age,” I wrote that our retirement plan is our Google Maps to life, guiding us to our final destination. My retirement plan consists of our mindset and five blocks; retirement income, investment income, rental income, business income, and cryptocurrency income. By diversifying across these asset classes, you will ensure your money has longevity. It will also provide you with a suitable asset class at the right time.
1) Our mindset is vital to becoming the person of our dreams. We want to become the CEO of ourselves and our lives. Getting our spouses on board is just as crucial as our journey. If we can build strong financial connections, we can build strong relationships.
2) Retirement planning involves many tedious tasks outside of investing—things such as tax management, health considerations, and estate planning. My Retirement Planning Series is an excellent start to forming the correct mindset moving forward. My Cash Flow series will assist you with building a game plan to create your cash flow empire.
3) Investing is more than throwing your money into the stock market and praying it all works out. You will need to understand interest rates, commodities, and investment cycles. An excellent place to start will be my article “How We Plan to Retire on Dividends.” It is a meaty article and can get you headed in the right direction.
4) Real estate makes the most millionaires of all the asset classes. If you know what you are doing and understand property management, leverage, and taxes, real estate can propel you to financial freedom faster than the others. My article “Financial Independence via Real Estate” expands on many of these topics.
5) Business is the most versatile of the bunch; it also takes the most patience. In business, you only can succeed by adding value to someone else’s life. That is the job of an entrepreneur, to solve someone else’s problem at a profit. My article “Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business” goes into many facets of a business.
6) Cryptocurrencies are new to my list of assets. I was hard-headed and stubborn and figured they would just go away. But crypto is here to stay, and we all need to understand why they are essential to our futures. My Cryptocurrencies 101 series is an excellent place to start.
Build meaningful and impactful relationships. Finding the love of your life is no longer guaranteed in today’s world. We have added so many layers into what we expect or will accept, from another human that it is difficult to find someone to meet our standards.
But what we should focus on is core values. Are there three core values that stand out about this person? No, not their muscles, breasts, butt, job, income, car, etc. Core values such as caring, funny, and hard-working. Will this person be a great provider, a great parent, and a wonderful friend?
Let’s get back to our roots and discover our core values; no political discussions needed. We also want to form lifelong relationships with our adult children and grandchildren. They need us more than ever. The school system will fail them, and they will need our love and assets.
We have to fill in the role as their mentors; no one else will do it for us. The only people that can help our children overcome their limiting beliefs are us. If they want to be young entrepreneurs or stay-at-home business people, we can show them the path.
That is why we must travel the passive income path, even if we do not need the money. If we continue to learn about retirement planning, business, real estate, investing, and crypto, our children stand to gain the most from our knowledge. Not only are we becoming wealthy, but we are also ensuring that our children start with an outstanding work-life balance.
Conclusion. The harder we work to establish relationships and cash flow, the more of this goodness we can pass to our future generations. They may be able to start with an outstanding work-life balance.
Can you imagine a world where you own a huge farm and farmhouse? You have a few rental vehicles, an Airbnb cottage, some tiny homes, a dog park, a horse riding area, and a herb garden. Your entire family is working their particular part of the farm—your grandkids are running around. At the end of the day, the whole family breaks bread together and rejoices in song and laughter.
If you can’t envision this future, you may have some deep thinking to do. You may not have a farm but some other form of a family place. What do you dream of? My wife and I have the same vision of our future, and we are in the process of sacrificing what we need to get there.
I wish you luck in your journey to find your work-life balance. Take a minute and think about the family farm setting I discussed. If you can envision a future like this, you are well on your way to forming the basis of a work-life balance that will last for generations. Good Luck!
Read My Books for Free: Free Kindle Books Schedule also on Kindle Unlimited Join me on the best app for Crypto- Voyager
Follow us on our Facebook Page (here)
Join our Facebook group (here)
20 Books that Will Make You Rich (here) part 2 (here)
Follow our goal to Retire on CryptoCurrencies (here)
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Leave a Reply