Whether you know it or not, from birth you are entered into a game.

You battle as a toddler to grab the attention of your parents.

Then in school, you battle for social status with other kids. (Literally you are graded against other people since the age of 4/5...HELLO IT IS A GAME!)

After decades of school you then enter the "money" game.

And as you get into old age, you enter the power and "control" game.

Life is just one game after another.

Yet sadly, most people don't realize they are even in the game...so they never bother to learn the rules. And then they wonder why they keep losing over and over and over again. Because if you want to win any game, first you must understand the rules!

Example: If life were a soccer match, most people would be running around with football pads on, picking the ball up with their hands, and getting yellow and red cards all over the place because they don't know the rules. Then instead of learning the rules, they yell at the referee and blame him instead.

Want social status? There are books to learn that.

Want money? There are books to learn that.

Want power? There are books to learn that.

Want freedom? You must define what freedom looks like to yourself, and then read books to learn that.

Instead of spending a year or two learning the rules, and answering some of the questions in the specific game you are playing, you probably have fallen into the trap that most people do...work to be as "busy" as possible just plugging and chugging different variables into your life to see what sticks.

THIS TAKES FOREVER.

It is exhausting. And more frustratingly, it is never ending!

I'd say if you are reading this right now, you probably want FREEDOM. We all want freedom.

Well, in the game we all play, we must make $$$ to earn that freedom.

Everybody makes money though, yet why isn't everyone free?

Because they haven't learned the rules.

To be free it is actually quite simple...

Your Passive Income > Burn Rate (your amount of expenses per month)

Life becomes easy if you master the equation above.

Learn how to build passive income, reduce your expenses, EARN FREEDOM.

Here is a real life example.

Lets say we all graduate college at age 22.

(Sidebar: If every 22 year old knew that the game to freedom was passive income > burn rate, I guarantee they would make different lifestyle choices than they are currently making lol. Of course school does not teach you this, school never teaches the good stuff. Instead, they teach you that you must work until 65 and invest in a 401k until you can "retire." HUGE LOL. Or is that your parents taught you that...because school and their parents taught them that. Are your parents free? Were their parents free? If not, don't listen to them.)

If every 22 year old took 10 years to build passive income, and reduce their expenses, they would earn their freedom from the game/system by age 32!!!

Rough timeline

2-3 years reading/learning/networking while saving $$$ from their job

3-5 years executing (investing in diverse ways), still reading/learning/networking/saving.

2-3 years tying up loose ends

Boom, FREEDOM.

Basically NO ONE DOES THIS THOUGH. :/

Instead, at 22 we spend money going to the bar multiple times a week because we want to show how macho / sexy we are. We then need the nicest car, or newest apartment, and the nice things to fill it with to show how "put together" we are at a younger age.

You can see where ^^^ this story is going.

^^^ this is the American reality for many college graduates.

There are far more different stories. I am only giving one example that I feel touches on the masses.

No matter where you fall on the spectrum, I just want you to realize that you are in a game. And even though it might not feel like you are in control, at the end of the day, it is your choice to understand the rules and start taking advantage of them. Learning the rules is COMPLETELY WITHIN YOUR CONTROL.

**************

Yesterday I turned 30. This is significant because my goal is to retire by age 35. I didn't thoroughly understand the rules of the game until 25...so I gave myself a 10 year timeline.

I don't mean retire in the general sense. What I mean is I will retire from doing anything I don't want to do. No jobs/projects/travel that is "forced" upon me by the game.

I will have complete autonomy over my decisions and my life in general.

^^^ This is "freedom" defined by me.

Crazy enough, I am on track to hit that mark.

Cheers to 5 more years of hustling in the game.

I hope I see you on the field!!!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful for all the people who have impact my life in these first 30 years. I am so thankful for all of you.