I often see salaried workers around me who are more immersed in stock charts and real estate communities than their actual professions. They believe themselves to be “awakened” individuals nearing economic freedom, looking down on colleagues who “naively” rely solely on their monthly paychecks. But let’s be objective. If the engine—the profitability of your main career—is that of a subcompact car, can you really overtake a sports car just by changing the tires (investing)?
Investing as a Consumer, Not a Producer
The essence of a wealthy person is being a “producer who creates value.” While business owners build systems to determine the scale of their wealth, the investments of a salaried worker are often “passive acts”—simply sharing the leftovers of value created by others (corporate stocks or real estate). Though the fastest route is to grow the source of capital itself through one’s own work, many people prematurely accept the limits of their labor and lean on luck disguised as “investment.”
Fake Control and the Contradiction of Stance
The “forward-thinking stance” they adopt actually stems from a false sense of control. In the office, there is little one can control; however, in the investment market, one falls into the illusion of being the master the moment they hit the “buy” button. Pursuing growth in one’s primary career is an uncertain and painful realm of “creation,” whereas investing is a realm of “selection”—simply hopping onto an existing market. They mistake this act of selection for skill, using it to quench their thirst for fundamental growth.
The Misuse of Time, the Most Expensive Resource
The most efficient way to accumulate wealth is to invest time in increasing one’s market value or creating a scalable business model. Yet, many employees undermine the value of their own labor by stealthily checking market prices during work hours. Neglecting the powerful assets of networking and expertise gained through a primary career to obsess over small percentage gains is no different from slowly slicing open the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Ultimately, You Must Replace the Engine
Investment can be an excellent set of “training wheels” on the road to wealth, but it can never be the “engine” itself. Those who truly move ahead do not obsess over investment techniques; instead, they contemplate how to turn their work into a business or how to create irreplaceable value.
If optimizing one’s lifestyle to fit a wage income is a “comfortable prison,” then neglecting one’s career to focus solely on investment is like “choosing a better bed inside that prison.” Ultimately, what I must focus on is building my own business and my own work—the very things that will unlock the prison door.
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