When we spend money on tangible items, we expect an immediate reward.
Yet when it comes to intangible investments and education, we have to patiently wait and cross our fingers that a quarter of a million dollar investment or above will eventually pay off and ideally return more.
Thatâs terrifying.
Would you bet $90k per year on something besides a degree?
Not many would except some for a rock NFT.
Even that is stretching itâŠ
For material items, we hope to put it to good use ASAP. Whether itâs to please strangers or dump dopamine into our brains, thereâs always something we are chasing after.
Thereâs an incentive behind every purchase no matter if itâs logical or not.
Yet experiences on the other hand are more complicated and personal. Iâve always wondered why people would pay close to $10k for a U.S. Open ticket to see their beloved Roger play in the finals or dish out $20k on Coachella for 5 days.
I understand itâs a once in a lifetime memory that cannot be replaced by the TV or Spotify soundtrack yet at the same time it seems like a complete waste of money considering everything is nearly replicable from the comfort of our homes or devices.
Itâs Worthless
As the personal finance enthusiast as I am, spending on experiences is most challenging for me. Although buying any piece of clothing over $100 for myself is a stretch and makes me burst into a sweat, having to book $300 plane tickets or $200 to see some game when it can be free and more comfortable is on a whole other level for me.
Iâm sure Iâm not the only one who thinks this way.
Iâm not a âDebbie Downerâ. I promise. In fact, I prefer to get out than stay inside.Â
The reason spending on experiences feels like a stretch is due to the uncertain nature of it.
Experiences provide no guarantee they will be as great as you hoped they would be.
Just like the best part of a trip tends to be when we pack and plan for it, experiences can have a bad aftertaste.
Some drunk conservative guy might refuse to wear a mask on the plane forcing a delay or Justin Bieber might be late by 3 hours to his own concert!
Life comes up and we must remember that time =Â money.
Experiences are overpriced because they can be.
Most of us only take advantage of 10% of what we are truly paying for. No wonder everything seems so expensive!
We arenât utilizing it correctly or fully.
Itâs hard to negotiate something that doesnât exist.
Everything seems better than it really is, especially experiences.
Iâve attended a fair share of concerts and overhyped events in the years and none of them exceeded my expectations. And the bar was pretty low. Not only do they tend to be a royal mess, they arenât as enjoyable or magical as expected especially an ear drumming sweaty concert.
As cheesy as this is, I believe the best experiences are the ones that are free, what money cannot buy. The serendipitous moments that you donât expect to happen are the real drivers.
Yes we certainly need experiences as part of life and canât just rely on our devices in our pockets to make life a thrilling ride, yet itâs vital to realize overpriced events are advertised to be better than they seem.
Thereâs nothing like a Calvin Harris concert or attending the Super Bowl, but what if we could feel less guilty about dishing out on future activities and experiences that can provide a better ROI?
This might be contradicting the whole point of going out and about, living in the present and not worrying about the money spent, but rationally speaking, we always need to pay attention to where we are devoting our hard earned earnings and time.
Untapped Reservoir
Taking advantage of every opportunity and maximizing potential is a great frame of mind to have to never miss out on anything in life.
This starts with looking outside of the box. What you are secretly paying for that isnât advertised or utilized enough. Sure you can pay $80k to go to a private school and just attend class and sleep for the rest of the day but that wonât get you as far as an average student who focuses on reaching out to other networks, meeting professors, trying out different events, clubs and focusing on fun not just grades.
Who do you think would be more successful?
An A+ student with no other interests or a B student who mandates having fun and not afraid to fail?
Granted you want to make sure you are realistic and graduate but prioritize enjoying life as well. Thereâs no point in not doing so especially since the most influential and supportive people will be found in the least expected places right there to propel your âshadow wealthâ.
As Iâve gotten older, thankfully Iâve become more comfortable with spending money on experiences and have realized that majority of the greatest learning lessons and opportunities have come about from attending them.
I believe everyone has potential. Where you are now isnât where you will be later on and in order to certify that, you must be willing to get uncomfortable, spend on things that arenât an immediate investment and let your money work for you in unordinary ways.
The most common and easiest way to do that is through networking, not sweating the small stuff and showing up.
People Want People
A network is an insurance policy money cannot buy. Our number one fear in life is public speaking, in front of death so networking doesnât come natural to most people considering weâve all gone through awkward networking brunches where we felt forced to share our business cards and ask questions that we didnât care about.
Thatâs no way to use your time or money.
The key to networking is to never stop. You donât network when you need to, a.k.a when you need a job or lost one. It is a life-long continuous process to check-in with people. Professional relationships are no different than your personal relationships. Ultimately people just want to feel good and know you care if you ask them to talk about themselves and what they want to talk about. Hopefully they enjoy their job but that isnât their whole life.
Utilizing your network, taking advantage of whatâs around you, meeting people with differing interests, not identical to you and taking the opportunity to fail fast and forward are the best ways to maximize your untapped wealth. My most lucrative income streams have all come from people who I met at random events and fun gatherings, not coordinated networking events or email introductions.
Donât be forceful.
Be you and look to what can work on not what everyone else is doing. If you are already spending an arm and a leg on an event, might as well take advantage of the other perks. Not just free food! Meeting more people will always pay off but only if you practice it. You can never know too many people. Itâs a small world. Dancing with strangers or being in their presence not reconnecting doesnât no good.
Career Goals
If you market yourself correctly, you will be able to unleash your âhidden wealth potential.â This is what seemingly distant yet powerful politicians to activists do all the time. Although the average salary for a policy maker in Washington and actor is shy of $120k, their untapped wealth potential is huge. Just by attending several events per year or been seen hanging around with some celebrities, their wealth building opportunities flourish.
Something Iâve learned early on in HS that has helped me capitalize on myself is remembering that, âit isnât always about what you know but who you know.â When it comes to hiring, although companies must publicly state they are accepting external applications, they tend to hire internally first and first look to someone they know.
Part of human nature is to want to be around someone that thinks, likes and looks like us. Whether you are trying to get your foot into the corporate door or arts world, spending time around more people is your best bet. Just like networking and any application process, itâs a numbers game. The more initiative you take to know someone and let them remember your name, the more opportunities come your way.
Luck starts to flourish once people start remembering your name even if you havenât done anything!
Showing up is the easiest thing to build rapport, trust, reliance and even wealth!
Hidden in Plain Sight
If you think back to your most accomplished moments, how did you get there?
Iâm assuming in some shape or form, someone helped you get to that spot. We are social creatures and cannot do everything on our own. Whether that moment of fulfillment was based on earnings, fame, appreciation or connection, it most likely involved someone else. That means they took the time to believe in you and be by you side. You donât help just anyone.
No path is linear and if you want to take the conventional route such as getting a degree, studying your butt off, getting stellar grades and working up the corporate latter, go for it, but strolling on a more bumpy divergent uncertain road can bring more power to you in the long-run. If you make it a goal to meet someone new each week, eventually more opportunities will flourish than sitting in a cubicle and going out to lunch with the same buddy each day.
You have more control than you think and it starts with breaking down the fears that others are better than you or you arenât worthy to be in their presence!
By putting yourself out there more and not following the cookie cutter traditional standards that are competitive, draining and have pay walls, will allow you to stash dividends back into yourself and make life more enjoyable than any tangible item can provide.
My first paid job was as a tennis coach in middle school. Iâve always enjoyed casually playing the sport but never intended on making it to the varsity team in HS let alone coach anyone! I had a poor ranking and was at base level yet I got along with all kinds of people. Elders to babies and decided to buy a $10 permit to play at the local tennis courts a couple times a week.
After organizing some games and being a ball caddy, I got an offer from an older group of tennis players who needed me to help them pick up the balls as they played each Sunday. I would become the village ball kid and overtime I helped anyone, anytime on the courts with their serves to ball machine. Just by showing up and putting a tiny investment into a tennis court permit, I got noticed by everyone in town and most unexpectedly from the tennis pro at a competing professional tennis club. If I hadnât made the small investment to play at a random court, I wouldâve never had the opportunity to be noticed by an elite country club and work for them making 8x more than in town along with the opportunity to meet elite members from Wall Street to Silicon Valley and eventually work my way into the FinTech world! Tennis to tech; who would have thought that could be possible for a below average boring 16 year old!
I could have gone directly to the country club and asked the desk clerk for a job not knowing anyone yet having gone through the side door and put in the time every day, I got noticed much faster.
Work smarter not harder. There are far too many folks that work too hard for nothing.
Just like in the market, the best opportunities arise when you arenât looking for them.
This is out of dozens of instances where a stroke of serendipity propelled my career. Ironically all opportunities tend to happen this way. If you plan life to the second, plan for it to go badly.
If you have the right attitude, timing, and patience, that small investment will pay off big time. Even today, if I hadnât gone to meet people with unrelated interests of mine, spend money on âoverpricedâ events and not divert from the traditional recruiting path, I wouldâve never had the opportunity to scale my startup or grow my income streams let alone be writing here!
Free Hidden Market
If you market yourself correctly, are authentically you, invest in something that others donât bother with, not quit until you are proud and have a mission, it will serve you more than any investment in the market.
When we are younger, we have nothing to loose by asking or trying out different things! This is your time to embarrass yourself and fail before real responsibilities come about.
Iâm appalled when I find students just go to class, eat and back into their dorm room to live off their phones. They are convinced their tuition only covers class, studying and nothing else. That is a poor way to use up a quarter of a million dollar investment.
What you donât pay for, you should tap into and what you do choose to pay for, whether itâs a World Cup seat or Cold Play concert, look at what else you are paying for that is hidden because the cost is always more than what it really should be.
For those looking to climb societyâs ladder and get through the side door, look no further than to the resources right in front of you and anyone to give you a lift. No prerequisites, net worth requirement or major. Anyone can help anyone, anywhere if you are kind, a good listener and patient.
All you need is to be seen and remembered to land a lasting impression on someone. Make them feel good and they may or may not end up contacting you but at least they know you are reliable, easy going and fun willing to get out there.
By paying for an experience to meet others, it can multiple your earnings 100% more than doing a traditional task and sticking to the conventional route. Having fun doesnât hurt anyone as long as youâre looking for that investment.
In fact anything that brings joy is a worthwhile investment. Donât just be obsessed with invisible or non-existent investments. Having your crypto coins skyrocket 20% in a day doesnât provide any value if you donât cash out and spend it on real investments.
After getting to know enough people, you can generate enough that you donât even have to pay for anything anymore and get paid to sit court side at the Lakers game or test out free gadgets like a round trip to Dubai!
Itâs shocking how the seemingly simple tasks and low cost investments lead to unbelievable returns better than any unicorn company can return.
Have some fun today.
Itâs mandatory.