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Coming up on 7-year anniversary of going free-agent. The opposite of the utopian dream of passive income was dystopian nightmare of panic income that drove the first 2-3 years. Now I’m in the middle. I rarely hit panic mode since I’ve acquired a few short-term cash flow knobs
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But that has also killed motivation to do better financially. Taking care of cash flow/savings needs one quarter at a time feels like taking care of physical health. Minimize-effort activity rather than maximize-outcome activity. This is probably a bad thing.
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Just as I sometimes up the gym-and-diet work when it feels like I’ve packed on a few pounds too many, and then slack off after shedding them, same kind of homeostatic regulation of money-making has kicked in: around lifestyle level I quit paycheck world at.
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The idea that paychecks are like cocaine and free agency income is somehow “smarter” money, which I bought into initially, is bs. Money is never smarter than attention you pay to it, no matter how you make it. If you’re apathetic to joys of money mindedness it’s all cocaine.
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Basically while I’d like more money (who wouldn’t) I’d have to care more about it to make more of it. This will probably bite me in the ass at some point. Kids, learn to care about 50% more about money than you think you should.
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Moral of the story: How much you learn about (and make) money is a function of how much you can make yourself care about it. I’m no wiser about money than 7 years ago because I haven’t learned to care more about it. I make about the same. I just enjoy and choose the work more.
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And is how much you care passed on between generations? It might be the most important factor limiting social mobility.
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Is free-agent for cats? Because it feels kinda wolf-like more than cat-like. Cats do best with some sort of patronage.
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Shit yeah. Once I have enough panic money my interest in more money steeply declines. Have lately drawn up “you must save(earn) THIS much per year” plan. I am set to hit that in a few weeks at which point my interest falls off a cliff. Awkward when in middle of contract...