Why I abhorr the idea of working for an hourly wage/salary.

[mlc82]

I've finally realized why I despise this idea so much, and it's because it is one of the least-motivating concepts ever thought up. When you're making a set amount of money working, either per hour or per year, what is the motivation to work your hardest? Assuming of course you aren't doing something that you really enjoy, I can't see why there would be any motivation to really get down to business and complete all of your work at record speed, when you're getting paid the same regardless of whether you're working your butt off, or just "getting by" with the minimum.

I'd love to do work that would allow me to really crack down and finish for the day in a few hours, and still earn the same money as if I'd done the same amount of work in 8... Looks like self-employment is going to be the only way to go for me in the future...


(Hopefully this makes sense, I'm a little wired and kind of rambling.)

[SeriousKidding.com]

Boy, do I have what you need. It costs nothing.

[Kiba]

Hey I hate the idea of exchanging time for money too!


So I work on building a revenue source. I never have a job in my life yet I am still earning money! Life is so wonderful when you make money and yet can spend much of your time doing something else.


Let hope I will never have to get a job. The income, while 100% positive cashflow doesn't give me enough money to live on. I am making only cents here.

P.S: The middlemen get a cut of the payment but I don't consider them cost.

[mlc82]

I'm checking out both of your websites right now, I'm working on one of my own which is different, but with the same goal of eventually building enough traffic on it to bring in advertisers. I have no experience with building income streams though so kind of feel like I'm firing blind at the moment!

[Stu]

You should take a look at this article, which I found originally through this post over at Escape from Cubicle Nation.

For me, an hourly wage is so insulting because when you really think about it, you only get so much time on this earth, so why sell so much of it so cheaply? It's clearly quite valuable, we should be using it to do great things, not sitting at a desk pushing paper.

[Kiba]

Originally Posted by mlc82

I'm checking out both of your websites right now, I'm working on one of my own which is different, but with the same goal of eventually building enough traffic on it to bring in advertisers. I have no experience with building income streams though so kind of feel like I'm firing blind at the moment!

whom websites?

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Stu

You should take a look at this article, which I found originally through this post over at Escape from Cubicle Nation.

For me, an hourly wage is so insulting because when you really think about it, you only get so much time on this earth, so why sell so much of it so cheaply? It's clearly quite valuable, we should be using it to do great things, not sitting at a desk pushing paper.

I agree completely, from that perspective, even $1,000 per hour sounds like a gigantic rip-off considering the relatively short amount of time we'll spend alive. Checking out the article now.

[Shamou]

I honestly believe that anyone who works primarily for money has missed the boat...

If we want to live in a society... we must contribute to that society... therefore we should have some kind of a function... or mission... however, the purpose of our work should be self-contribution, self-expression, self-satisfaction and self-growth... and the money should be the icing on the cake...

Anyone who works for money will never have any...

.

[Kiba]

I don't think anybody here miss the boat about working for money. Pretty much everyone that posted in this thread so far agree that making money via working for hours is pretty stupid. I guess we're all here to make a difference in society.

For me, as an example, I just want to live a middle class income with preferably a minimalist lifestyle.

Mostly, I just want to work on projects that I believe will make a difference to the world. I also am interested in the abolishment of the patent system and strongly advocates Free softwares and Free contents over proprietary contents and softwares. I regard myself as a libertarian of some type, borderline anchro-capitalist, miniarchist, and other labels that fit my views of the world. I hate the government a lot for taxing my family and everyone else with all sort of taxes. I also wishes to abolish social security. That's just one of many views.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Kiba

I regard myself as a libertarian of some type, borderline anchro-capitalist, miniarchist, and other labels that fit my views of the world. I hate the government a lot for taxing my family and everyone else with all sort of taxes. I also wishes to abolish social security. That's just one of many views.

I honestly wish you the very best... but I see some bumps on the road that you will be traveling... however that's your choice... challenging society comes at a price... just hope it will not be too steep for you...

.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Kiba

whom websites?

Your's and SeriousKidding's.

[silicon toad2000]

you're right, working purely for the money is not much incentive. I sincerely doubt there are many people in the workforce who do work just for the money, there are loads of other drivers involved.
For me personally I have the driver of money, the promise of more money, the chance to make a difference and the look of respect on people faces when I walk through the place.
I earn a salary, but I work to get the job done.

[AndrewJ]

I really enjoy not having a boss and working from home these days. The freedom is great but I have found a little self discipline is required to get things done.

Andrew

[Addict]

I agree completely, from that perspective, even $1,000 per hour sounds like a gigantic rip-off considering the relatively short amount of time we'll spend alive. Checking out the article now.

If you think $1000 per hour is a rip off, then I guess you've decided to be poor for the rest of your life...

No matter what you do for a living, you're still going to have to put time into it.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Addict

If you think $1000 per hour is a rip off, then I guess you've decided to be poor for the rest of your life...

No matter what you do for a living, you're still going to have to put time into it.

Of course. The point is that time is a very valuable thing, and so if you're going to use your time to make money you should be doing something that gives you meaning, contributes to society, and leaves you with enough time to do other things. Most typical, 9-5 type jobs don't meet any of those requirements.

Of course it's your time, so spend it however you think is best

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Stu

Of course. The point is that time is a very valuable thing, and so if you're going to use your time to make money you should be doing something that gives you meaning, contributes to society, and leaves you with enough time to do other things. Most typical, 9-5 type jobs don't meet any of those requirements.

Of course it's your time, so spend it however you think is best

This is what I meant by my statement, not that I wouldn't like $1,000 an hour right at this moment...

[1000feet]

I wouldn't say that most regular jobs don't contribute to society... in 95% of them you're at least helping out the customers. It's nice to talk about changing the world, but a lot of people wouldn't be as happy if there was no one to help them out when they have problems with their cell phones.

[richie]

Originally Posted by 1000feet

I wouldn't say that most regular jobs don't contribute to society... in 95% of them you're at least helping out the customers. It's nice to talk about changing the world, but a lot of people wouldn't be as happy if there was no one to help them out when they have problems with their cell phones.

It depends on your perspective.
Do you want to be the one helping 100 people having cell phone problems daily or the owner of the company who serve thousands if not lacks Indirectly.

[Eggzachery]

Originally Posted by mlc82

I've finally realized why I despise this idea so much, and it's because it is one of the least-motivating concepts ever thought up. When you're making a set amount of money working, either per hour or per year, what is the motivation to work your hardest? Assuming of course you aren't doing something that you really enjoy, I can't see why there would be any motivation to really get down to business and complete all of your work at record speed, when you're getting paid the same regardless of whether you're working your butt off, or just "getting by" with the minimum.

I'd love to do work that would allow me to really crack down and finish for the day in a few hours, and still earn the same money as if I'd done the same amount of work in 8... Looks like self-employment is going to be the only way to go for me in the future...


(Hopefully this makes sense, I'm a little wired and kind of rambling.)

Obviously, no one works for free. In fact, people at least attempt to work for as much as they think they are worth (or as much as they can get). But as others have indicated, working solely for money is a poor motivation. Allow me to suggest a different perspective:

Why one would take pride in a job well done, in going above and beyond what is expected of them, when they won't get paid anymore than the slacker, may be as simple as caring about focusing on the habits that will beget success, especially if they make the jump into self-employment. Perhaps they care about their reputation, which, believe it or not, will likely follow them if they start their own businesses.

If you're only motivated by money, and you only do the bare minimum expected of you, can you not see how slovenly habits will become ingrained in your character?

Perspectives like the one you posted seem as though they are on the right track, but are very indicative of why most people stay wage slaves. The hourly wage a job pays is not your employer's attempt to tell you what you are worth. It is the employer telling you what THE POSITION is worth. If you do nothing to show you are worth more than what the position is worth, how will your employer learn what your true worth is?

[agnostic]

It all depends your hourly wage. As they said: $1000 an hour isn't that bad. This way you can earn a year's worth of money in a day or two if you are frugal.
If you think it's a bad idea, tell me of a better one.

$1000 an hour is bad? Compared to what? And by which standard?

[Kiba]

Originally Posted by agnostic

It all depends your hourly wage. As they said: $1000 an hour isn't that bad. This way you can earn a year's worth of money in a day or two if you are frugal.
If you think it's a bad idea, tell me of a better one.

$1000 an hour is bad? Compared to what? And by which standard?

When you can still earn all of these money without working a second?

[agnostic]

How do you do that?

[justfiverules]

Stu - thanks for posting that great article about Best Buy.

It will be interesting to see how/if ROWE sinks or swims (sorry!) when they test it with the Retail store employees.

BestBuy's program reminds me of Ricardo Semler's book "The Seven Day Weekend".

[Red Willow]

There are pros and cons to all kinds of jobs. I work in a cubicle (doing creative work I love ) 9:30 to 4:30, which gives me time to be with my daughter, always pick her up from school, make dinner.

My husband, on the other hand, works for himself changing the world. He's very successful at what he does. I'd say he has accomplished his dream (so far), but he works all the time, he's always in demand, he doesn't always have time to spend with the family (when he really wants to), he travels all the time, gets sick, stressed out, etc...

Sometimes it's just nice having a job you can leave on your desk at the end of the day.