Decide for yourself

What is the rat race? 

 If you were to look up the urban dictionary it would say: "A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of lab rats racing through a maze to get the "cheese" much like society racing to get ahead financially. The term is commonly associated with an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment."

Put simply, it is where a person trades their time for money. You show up for work, stay and do tasks for the allotted time, then you get paid.

What is wrong with this?

Nothing! It is a lifestyle that has worked for generations. It is a relatively safe lifestyle. (I say relatively since companies can go out of business. If you are in that company, it can happen to you. I went through this. After I got my associate degree I got a good job at an engineering firm. I thought I was set for life. Then the economy crashed and the firm went out of business. I was stuck paying student loans working at a gas station for medium wage.)

Buyer beware. People can have long, great, and very prosperous careers, but it can come to an abrupt stop if something happens along the way even if you are a great employee. 

It takes away from family

This is a big one. While I was single it didn't matter too much for me. I had no one to look after but my dog. My dog was easy to please. If I had to work late, I would call the neighbor. Now that I have met my girlfriend, I really don't want to call the neighbor to go look after her. 

I don't want to spend 40-50 hours a week working for someone else. I don't want my co-workers to know me better than those I love know me. I want more time to spend together and go where we want, when we want. I want those trips to be tax deductible and let the government pay for a portion of it. 

Why doesn't everyone do this?

There are a variety of reasons. Ever one has their own. 

School teaches this principle

Any school teacher will teach you to go to college, get a job with benefits, and work until you reach retirement. That is what I was taught and what I did. This worked well until the economic crash. It really woke me up when I suddenly couldn't pay rent. 

People love their job

I once saw a quote that stated "If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life". I wish I could remember where I saw that because it is a great quote. Some people love what they do and do not want to quit. This is a very good thing, good for them! 

It's what people are comfortable with

You go to work, you get a check on payday. This is a very good feeling knowing exactly when and how much the check will be. 

Why switch?

This is a question you must ask yourself. It will not be an immediate process. It will be something you will need to work on the side before you can at LEAST match your current salary. (I recommend wait until you make twice your salary.) You need to be able to believe in yourself and make sure those close to you will be able to support you. If you don't believe in yourself then you will most likely fail. If you don't have the support of your loved ones, it will be much more difficult as well. 

You need to think of what would happen if you had more time to work for yourself, more money to do what you want, and the knowledge that the harder you work will directly affect how much money you will make. 

What to do to leave the rat race

I will go into multiple other posts about this. There are a number of ways to work for yourself and even make passive income. 

• Invest in real estate
• Flipping Houses
• Invest in house rentals
• Invest in the stock market
• Buy stocks
• Buy bonds
• Partner in a business
• Join an MLM 
• (Multi-Level-Marketing such as USANA)