Follow The Money
Topic: My Story -The Creature from Jekyll Island
Back to my story…
I came up for air in early May of 2020 after going down entirely too many different rabbit holes, and when I finally took a breath I decided to go back to what has always fascinated me… making money. I’ve always been insanely driven…maybe a little too driven sometimes, but what frustrated me the most during my brief career in corporate America were the limits that came with a salaried day job.
Salary - a guaranteed amount of income for a specified amount of work. On the surface it sounds great, but what’s hidden underneath are the golden handcuffs that nobody tells you about.
Big corporations will pay you just enough to keep you working for them, but never what you’re truly worth. And if you fall into the trap of keeping up with the Jones’, financing your life to high heaven, and never actually learning how our financial system works, you’ll be a slave to the almighty dollar… FOREVER. And that’s exactly what they want us to be… slaves.
I figured this much out in my early 20’s and thankfully when given the chance, I took the road less traveled. My first venture into the world of entrepreneurship was a side business that I started when I was 23 years old in the network marketing space.
Flashback:
It was the fall of 2002. I was working 10-12 hour days at a nuclear power plant in Port Clinton, Ohio and was completely miserable. From first hand experience, I can tell you that money alone doesn’t make you happy because between all the corporate perks, overtime, and perdium expenses, I was bringing in $9k/month, but I was desolate. I spent what little free time I had shopping, trying to fill a void that I didn’t even know I had… buying new clothes, new shoes, a fancy apartment, a brand new car… and still something was missing.
Noticing my misery, one of my co-workers decided to set me up on a blind date one weekend in October. That weekend ended up changing the course of my entire life because the blind date is now my husband of 16 years, and the weekend we met he took me to a tailgating party where I connected with my first business mentor. As a result of pursuing entrepreneurship alongside my nuclear engineering career, I was able to leave the corporate world when I was 28 years old, and I never looked back.
Book Recommendations Including Links:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Entrepreneur Rollercoaster by Darren Hardy
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
Back to May of 2020:
I started listening to some different podcasts and I kept hearing the term “the FED”. I remember asking my husband, “What the heck is the FED?” He had no idea.
Left to my own devices, I started following some well known patriots on Twitter, and after one of my social media binges, I stumbled on a book called The Creature from Jekyll Island by Edward Griffin.
Daunting as it may seem, this 600 page masterpiece is worth every ounce of your time to read. It explains everything…why the poor get poorer, the rich get richer, and the middle class stay the same.
By the way, it’s no accident, but rather a carefully crafted plan put together decades ago by the world’s wealthiest elite. The enemy is not free enterprise or capitalism. It’s the fact that our free market has been manipluated and controlled for over a century by the Federal Reserve System and monopolies have been created as a result. Step one of getting out from under this financial tyranny is developing a good understanding of how it works in the first place.
Some highlights:
The Federal Reserve System is the monetary system of the United States of America and it’s not Federal and there are no reserves. It’s a privately owned corporation designed to keep the Federal Government in control of our money supply… and thus in control of us.
Cash is literally just paper worth absolutely nothing. The only reason it can be used to purchase goods and services is because it’s declared legal tender by the government. If we were taken over tomorrow by China, our currency would change to the Yen and all of our money would be worthless.
Inflation is a hidden tax, and until or unless we go back to a currency that is backed by gold or silver, something with intrinsic value, we are never going to get out from under it… EVER!
Great news, eh?
So what’s the solution?
In my opinion, learn how to think like an entrepreneur.
Live below your means. Drop the keep up with the Jones’ mentality. If you don’t have the cash in the bank to pay for something, then you don’t need it. It’s okay not to drive a brand new car that’s financed to the hilt. The used one with no car payment attached to it might run just fine if you take good care of it. I had to learn this lesson myself the hard way.
Have multiple streams of income at all times. Never put all your eggs in one basket. If your day job is your only source of income, what happens if/when it goes away… or when the COVID vaccine is mandated and you don’t want to take it?
Learn how to create passive income generating assets that aren’t connected to your time so that your income isn’t directly related to your ability to provide a good or a service. This will create long term financial stability and security.
If you’re not already doing this, get into the flow of God’s financial system by understanding tithing and giving… more on that in a separate publication.
Good story. Safety vs. risk taking and self-fulfillment. If we don't fail, we haven't lived. Keep up the good work. What you are doing creates value for many of us.
Cliffhanger!