“When nature provides a perfect climate and enough food, people sleep all day and do nothing.” – Aristotle Onassis

When I had a job I didn’t value money. Although I started budgeting and saving money there were plenty of frivolous things that I still went out and bought. I made a lot of impulse purchases. If i was in a bad mood or feeling sorry for myself I’d go out and buy something. Now all I spend money on is my gym membership.

Working for someone else makes you lose respect for money. You can goof off with your co-workers, sleep on the job, or procrastinate. As long as your boss doesn’t catch you you’ll still get paid. Things are different now. If I’m not at my desk working I don’t get paid.

$100 is no longer 10 hours worth of work. It’s tracking down a client, selling them on your services, and then delivering something of value. It’s also temporary. I might generate $300 worth of business on Monday and than fail to get any more work for the rest of the week.

While I’m sure there are thousands of eBooks touting the benefits of entrepreneurship and promising European vacations and private jets, I going to make a different argument for why you should start a business. When you make your own money you learn its actual value. The average American only saves 6.2% of their income. I used to think this was because people are stupid, but now I realize that they just don’t understand what money is actually worth. If you’re guaranteed a check for every day that you show up to work there is no incentive to save anything.

Of course this security is a double edged sword. The once layoffs and downsizing start happening people start offing themselves. They’re so used to security that they could never fathom not being handed a monthly paycheck. They’ll have heart attacks and commit suicide before ever bothering to set up their own venture.

The most important thing that I’ve learned from having my own business is responsibility. I’m in charge of how much I make. It’s made me view spending money in an entirely new manner.

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