Most People Think They Need to Grind Harder . . .
It took me 15 years to hit 100k.
Subsequently, it took me 4 years to hit 500k.
Iād love to know what first popped into your head when you read that.
For me, I would automatically think that this personās earnings power must have increased significantly.
That would be the obvious answer.
But it couldnāt be further from the truth for me.
I actually didnāt even earn an income for 2 out of those 4 years.
So, aside from compound interest (šš¼), what made the difference?
Awareness. Comprehension. Determination.
But mostly TIME.
For those first 15 years I worked hard. I worked all the overtime. Sometimes working illegal amounts of hours. I made stupid amounts of money and when I finally got a day off (sometimes after 3 months straight), I spent it ALL.
Something changed when I took my first maternity leave in 2019. It was the first time in my adult life, that I had an opportunity to slow down. To get away from the grind. To be able to think about something (anything) other than progressing my career.
I used that opportunity to teach myself something new. Arguably the most important life skill Iād ever learn. Money management.
I invested in myself. I learned how to budget. I learned about the stock market. I started making educated and conscious decisions about money.
So, the biggest difference between those two periods of my life was, TIME. Not earnings power. But having the time to learn important life skills that I never previously had the time for when all I did was grind.
I know a lot of people will say they donāt have time to learn about investing and honestly, I GET IT, because I was that person!
But my advice to those people now would be this:
Make time. Step away from the grind and take the time to understand your finances. Itās arguably the most important life skill you will ever learn. Step away from work now (even if it means using a week of vacation), so that you can step away from work later. Itās the best gift you will ever give yourself.
Most people think they need to grind harder, but maybe what they really need is to press pause for a second.
Other factors that contributed to my portfolio growth:
- Bull market
- High risk tolerance
- Growth stocks
- Market timing
- Employer match program
- Stock Based Compensation program
- Increased savings rate
- Reinvested dividends
- Luck š
