We Live In A Bucket-Carrying World
Who are you? A bucket-carrier or a pipeline builder? Do you get paid only when you show up for work like Bruno the Bucket Carrier? Or do you do the work once and get paid over and over again like Pablo the Pipeline Builder?
If you're like most people, you're working the bucket-carrying plan. It's the time-for-money-trap. The problem with bucket carrying is that the money stops when the bucket-carrying stops. Which means the concept of a "secure job" or "dream job" is an illusion. The inherent danger of carrying buckets is that the income is temporary instead of ongoing.
If Bruno woke up one morning with a stiff back and couldn't get out of bed, how much money would he earn that day? ZERO! No Work-No Money! The same goes for any bucket-carrying job. Once bucket-carriers stop carry buckets for any reason, they won't continue to get a paycheck.
Why?
Because bucket-carrying is the model that our parents followed and the one that they taught us to follow. The bucket-carrying model tells you here's what you do to get ahead:
- Go to school and learn how to carry buckets.
- Work really hard.
- Earn the right to carry bigger buckets. (get promoted).
- Resign from "Bucket Company A" to work for "Bucket Company B" which lets you carry even bigger buckets.
- Work longer hours so you can carry more buckets.
- Put the kids through bucket-carrying college.
- Try to get promoted from carrying metal buckets... to carrying plastic buckets... to carrying digital buckets.
- Dream of the day you can retire from bucket carrying after 30-40 years. Until then, keep carrying those buckets... or, the bucket-carriers dream comes true.
- You hit the big lottery! (the odds are 1 in about 14-15 million against them, but hey most all bucket carriers think it could happen to them, so... until then, keep carrying those buckets).
The Results?
Today North Americans work the longest hours in the world. Yes, even more than the work-obsessed Japanese. Is the earn-more-money-by-carrying-more-buckets plan working?
No. Here are the facts. Consumer debt is at a record high. The average household has 95 cents worth of debt for every dollar earned. The proportion of women working to support their families more than doubled over the past 20 years. More people are taking second and third mortgages on their single biggest asset... their homes... to pay the bills.
No. Here are the facts. Consumer debt is at a record high. The average household has 95 cents worth of debt for every dollar earned. The proportion of women working to support their families more than doubled over the past 20 years. More people are taking second and third mortgages on their single biggest asset... their homes... to pay the bills.
All Buckets Eventually Dry Up
All buckets dry up no matter how big they are. Pipelines, on the other hand, are self-sustaining. But pipelines require sacrifice. Pipelines don't build themselves. You have to be willing to put in the time and effort to build them.
A Bigger Bucket Won't Solve The Problem. Why?
Carry as big a bucket as you can but build a pipeline on the side, because as long as you carry buckets, you have to show-up to get paid, and no matter how big the bucket is... it will dry-up. Many a person has gone from the "Millionaire Next Door" to the "Bankrupt Person Next Door".
It's Your Turn To Choose
What sounds like the best plan to you? Remember, most of your friends and neighbours won't understand! They've been taught to carry buckets.
Timing
Some people put off building their pipelines because "right now isn't a good time for me." Guess what? Right now is a bad time for anybody! We're all stressed. We're all busy. We're all putting out fires and dealing with unexpected emergencies. There's a word for these bad times. It's called life!
Some people waste their lives waiting for the "perfect time" to do x, y, or z. Well, they'll die waiting because there's no such thing as a perfect time. If someone told you they'd give you $1 million dollars if you'd sit in a corner and knit for two hours every day for one year, you'd find the time right?
It wouldn't matter if your son broke his arm... your car wouldn't start... the cat got sick. Rather than forfeit $1 million dollars, you'd find the time no matter what.