Minimum wage is the gateway drug

I thought I heard a quote the other day about how hourly wages are the gateway drug, but a quick google search returned, "Minimum wage is the gateway drug."  When I heard it I thought how true it is.  Rich people are mainly rich by owning businesses and not by trading their time for money.  They get paid based on their results and the value they create.  They don't settle for a time for money trade.  I am realizing this is true the more I contemplate where I want to be financially and where I am currently and what got me here.  Hint: what I've done so far has gotten me exactly where I am and will continue to be my future unless I change.

I think that minimum, I started out there or close to there, is a pacifier.  It gives a tiny tiny tiny fix for a bigger problem, but because it is so easy to get that first job one gets hooked on it and truthfully we don't really think about different ways to make money since clearly this one is already working.

A thought I just had was that if I want to truly be rich and change my life for the better, that includes non-action and poor thinking/acting and poorly thinking about money and what I believe about myself then I'll need to completely challenge and change everything I'm doing.  Why?  Because I'm poor and what I've been doing has me poor.  And don't equate poor with me being unhappy or discontent, because my life is actually pretty great.  I've got a beautiful wife, kid, another on the way, and I've got good skills and education.  I am financially poor however and am still very much in the rat race with no end in sight any time soon on my current path.

This reminds me of how an addict is.  They want to change, but then when faced with all the hard work they quickly give up or try for a little bit but then get overwhelmed.  The realization extends to the fact that addicts in recovery often say they need help every minute or hour or day.  I think this same thinking needs to apply to me in making money.  Clearly I'm not making money right now, but if I want to be rich, i.e. the opposite of poor, then I need to do things completely different.

I think about people working 16 hour days and I'm not sure how that is possible, but that is what I need to do I think.  Maybe not 16 hours per day, but when I have free time to make more money after taking care of family duties.  I think challenging and putting injunctions on not making money when I should be is something I want to work towards.  I think this realization is going to have me questioning my healthy thinking about money and what the truth is about money.

To be continued...with more insights I'm sure.