What would the world look like if you could make money reliable, legally, safely without a job?
I guess you would have to have a lot of skills. It kind of reminds me of the saying from ultralight backpacking:
The more you know, the less you have to carry.
I imagine, that with the right skills, call them money skills, you can earn money*.
The idea being that if you have skills you do not need as many tools. For example, if you have built the skills of building a fire in the wet rain, then you do not necessarily need all the firestarting materials.
- I once interviewed a neurosurgeon about how he lost pretty much all his money. He said, well, he was not too worried because neurosurgeons are not normally hard up for cash. While not necessarily applicable to everyone (not everyone is a neurosurgeon) it does point us to the possibility that I may have my own neurosurgeon type skills.
Skills are multiplicative.
Continuing with the fire example. Let's say you could reliably build a fire and survive. You might be able to carry a sleeping bag that is rated for a warmer temp, is lighter, smaller, and maybe even cheaper, then supplement any lost heat with a fire. In that case, you've traded weight, cost, and carry space for a mental skill.[^1]
So you could either go with a smaller amount of sleeping bag, or take your existing sleeping bag and go further.
Likewise, if you have money making skills, you may not need to carry as much of a job. Or you could carry the same job, but just get much more out of it. Either way, having skills is multiplicative. They have potential to amplify other aspects of your life.
[1] Fire is still important, though, there's a reason it is one of the main things to have redundant while backpacking. Well what does fire provide? Warmth, sleeping comfort/safety, cooking ability, social fun. It provides so many things that, well, it is worth having multiple ways to create it.
What would money skilled people be doing?
I have this thought experiment of like, there are certain people who are wealthy and if you dropped them somewhere else in the world, or you took away all their money, they could rebuild it in the next few years (or at least a huge chunk of it). In this thought experiment, I would have a job, some connections, money, and they would have zero dollars in the bank. Over the course of a few years, it only makes sense that they would outpace me in earnings, and in a few years (5-10 maybe) they would again have enough money not to work. You could say Bill Gates, or Gary Vaynerchuk, or Jack Sim, or Naval Ravikant, or whoever [*]. So I ask myself, What would they be doing?
[*] I am leaving out of this list people that did not 'work' for their money in a replicable way. Do you know what I mean? Like more than that they were just given money or a prestigious job. Something, I guess, that rests on work for wealth instead of something like, they mythical winning the lottery [LINK].
What would the assets be?
If I were them, what would I have?
+The ability to get or raise money - this would come because of money knowledge and reputation
+Reputation - people know or you have a calling card that you can do good -> great -> outstanding work, help people, provide massive value; these are things that people pay money to get.
+Skills - these may be skills that are technical, specialized knowledge, or soft skills, but I would still have those.
+Social connections - this would be an asset, but could also be reputation. I think that long term relationships would be key, but that they can be developed as well.
Note: I did not frame it as "what do they have that I don't" because, well, I am not trying to form a barrier, I am trying to frame it in my mind of what would I have (because I will) that I can work on?
What would they be doing?
That is the question I am figuring out. Why? Because it leads to what can I be doing...now. My initial guesses:
+working on something they like - something that in the doing, renews. Why? Because it will require massive amounts of work, and in order to do that, you have a huge advantage if you actually like what you are doing. If you like it, you can outwork.
+working with leverage - the tools of leverage [LINK]: labor, media, computers. -> right now, my personal guess (experiment) is to work with media and technology as a leverage. these are permissionless to use, but you need to create massive value.
+working on something unique - i don't know exactly what this is, but it has to do with blue ocean strategy [LINK]. the basic idea is that you bypass all the competition by offering a huge value proposition at a lower cost and you do that by offering something unique. and the way to be unique is to be yourself. and to keep being yourself. and keep doing things that are true to you and they become more nuanced as you shift what you do until you are the number one person in a field that you 1) like and 2) that reimburses you what you want.
Asking these questions, helps focus the search.
I have spent over 10 years trying to figure life out. Knowing what I am looking for now helps narrow the search. And, while I am much closer --I mean, wow, there is a plan-- I think this happens to everyone.
Bonus
Actually to succeed financially you need to deliver massive value for a scale of people. That is the solution to money skills. Then figure out how to manage it as well.
That is really the crux of it. Finding a way that you provide massive value, in a way that works for you.
That is the whole game.
If you provide massive value, you make more money. You can learn how to make money either as a creator, business person, or a marketer. Those are really the only three jobs that are accessible to people for massive, scaleable wealth. There are people that make money just reiterating those things, but for massive wealth, those are the three roles. Sure you could be a highly paid consultant, or a lawyer, but I'd argue that if you are highly paid, you are still one of those three job roles at the core. All of them need some basic skills, and those are solving problems and leading. And leading means, getting people to follow you and working well with others.
The good thing is that these are just actual skills. They may take a while or work to gain, but there are nearly infinite ways that a person can be financially successful. With the advent of the internet and the new resources we have for global communication and work, there is a lot more that people can do to connect and create and provide value at scale. Previously, scale was only available to large money or leaders now scale is available to anyone who can match market needs, and has the skills of computers. It is a massive shift that has taken place, and lots of people are only now noticing.