19. Income, Lifestyle, Then More

In mathematics, there are certain rules we learn, and one of them has to do with the order of operations, the order in which we calculate things. If you're trying to work a four day work week on a consistent basis, there are a couple strategies you can use to get things in the right order. One of them is called income, lifestyle, more. Very often when I talk with entrepreneurs or employees about working a four day work week, they'll talk about that they can't get themselves in a situation where they can do it because they can't make enough money. First thing we got to do is make sure that your income is enough to support you working four days a week. Whether that means that you reduce your expenses or you make more money or a combination of the two, first you want to put yourself in a situation where you can afford to live your life. Once you're doing that and you have enough income, then you can start looking at how do I make the same amount of income in less time? That's the lifestyle piece. Now, you can start working on your lifestyle before you work less hours because we want to make sure you develop your lifestyle as much possible with whatever free time you already have.

That's a skill we focus a lot on in the four day work week apprentice. But once you've made enough income, then you can start saying, Okay, well, what if I could make the same income in four days a week? Or to be even more precise, what if in a month I normally work 20 days? I'm going to oversimplify things. Let's say I work four weeks a month for five days. What if I could make that income in 19 days? Could I take one Friday off per month? And then what if I could make that income in 18 days? I take two Fridays off a month and progressively make the same income. Let's say then I get to my four day work week. I'm making the same income now. I have enough income and I'm doing it in four days. Now is when we say, now let's scale that up. Let's keep it four days and let's see how you can make more money in those four days. So again, income, lifestyle, and then more. Now, a lot of people do it the other way. They'll say, I'm going to just do income, income, income, income, income, income, income, and they think that magically the lifestyle is going to happen.

I know lots of people that just keep making more and more income but aren't enjoying it. And then on the flip side, there are people that just go for lifestyle at all costs but then they can't afford it. So if you can balance this, it's like how you manage credit card debt. So to give you an idea here, let's say you get your credit card. I remember when I first got my credit card, I was around at the time when they first started giving kids out of college credit cards. And I got my credit card and this is so awesome. And I'd get my credit card and my parents taught me to pay off your debt of your credit card every month. So I'd pay off my statement every month. And then at that time, some of the companies started giving cash back. It's like, Wow, I'm gaming the system. This is awesome. I'm making money off of this. Until I missed a payment. Bam, 20 %, 30 %, whatever it was. Wow, that stinks. So if you're ahead of your credit card debt, if you're paid up and you're on time, you can earn your 1 % cash back or whatever it is, and you're working the system in a good way.

You're benefiting from it. On the other hand, if you're just one day late, the day after your credit card bills due, but you're one day late every month, now it's costing you 25 % to 30 % perhaps for that same amount. Similarly, if you go for your lifestyle before your income is there, then you're always financing that lifestyle off of credit card debt or some other form of debt, and it's costing you more. When it costs you more money, then you have to work more hours to make that money. Whereas if you simply get your income in line first, then first work on that, and that might take working 50, 60, 70 hours a week, whatever it is, get your income to where it needs to be, and meanwhile, of course, manage your expenses so you don't need as much income. Then when you do that, focus on the less hours of work, if that's what you want to do, all the while optimizing your lifestyle as much as possible. Then when you get to the number of hours you want, most people will find that they do like to work in some form or fashion.

They like the social aspect, the productivity, contributing. Once you find that amount, then look to make even more. Reach more people, help more people, make more money once you've already, again, earned the income, established the lifestyle, and then scale that up. I hope you find this helpful. If you have any questions on this, let me know. To create your own four day work week game plan, go to 4day gameplan. Com. That's number 4day gameplan. Com. As always, I look forward to helping you make more money in less time. Do what you do best. Thank you.