This week I have been sick and I was forced to take a few days off work. I finished work on Monday and took Tuesday and Wednesday off. Normally I'm keen to get back to work so that I can start earning money and get closer to my goal of complete financial independence, but I still wasn't 100%. Most people would have gone back to work at this point at the risk of not only making other people sick, but not allowing themselves to get better as quick as possible. Thursday morning rolled around and I decided that I was going to take the day off as well so that I could fully recover.
This left me with a two day work week. Which was enough to pay all of my bills.
I should mention
that I'm a casual so I don't get paid if I don't work. I only worked 6 hours on Monday and will work 8.5 hours on Friday, for a total of 14.5 hours. I earn roughly $28 an hour (Entry level job, we get paid a lot in Australia because our houses are some of the most expensive in the world, but that's another subject), therefore I will earn $406 this week, which more than covers all of my expenses. Allowing me to fully rest up, enjoy what I could of my time off, even though I was sick it's still nice to have an unexpected day off, and get back to it tomorrow, while not having to stress about not earning enough money.
Now obviously, if money weren't an issue, no one would work if they weren't feeling 100%, but being in an industry where getting sick is quite common (we work with a lot of people), I see people nearly every week who not only say they feel like crap, but actually look and sound all nasally and sick.
Why? For the most part, is because people need the money. If they have too many days off, they can't pay their bills. Can you imagine the stress?! Literally being forced to do something you are barely physically capable of doing because you need to "Pay the bills". Therefore, by reducing your expenses to an acceptable level, you can avoid this unnecessary stress. If you have a savings rate of 50%, you can literally take 50% of your time off work and still have enough money to enjoy your life. In my case, I spend roughly $320 per week, so earning $400 by working 14.5 hours this week gives me enough money to splash out $80 this weekend if I want to. I don't want to, I'm going to climb a mountain instead.
My ultimate goal is financial freedom, and sometimes spending too much money or not saving or earning enough money (taking time off) can cause me some stress because it's pushing my goal further away, but one thing I've come to learn over the years over a few different areas, is that:
It's what you do on average over the long term that determines your destination. Short term hiccups and fluctuations can steer you off course a little, and maybe push your goal further away, but if the majority of the time, you stick to your plan, you will still get there in great time.
This is true for a number of different areas including fitness. For example, if for the most part you exercise regularly but have a couple of weeks off and then get back into it, you will still reach your goal, it's not the end of the world. If you're trying to lose weight and 6 days a week you eat clean and healthy and one day you go on a complete binge, you will still probably lose weight (read the 4 hour body and the slow-carb diet). So while your goals would be achieved faster if you were perfect and disciplined 100% of the time, this is not realistic, or enjoyable.
Stick to your plan, for the most part, and you will reach your goals and still be able to enjoy yourself along the way. Relax and bask in the glory of not having to worry about money.
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