Aim High & Think Big

[CCarter]

[Derailed & off-topic convo moved from another thread]

I want financial freedom. About $7k a month would give me that.

Where do you people live to calculate this? How is financial freedom $84k a year? Even at a sale of 33x multiple that's $231k. And all that is BEFORE taxes.

I'm not trying to be dick but, what? I'm sorry but this can't be real life.

This dude @Satvrn is doing $9 million a month in profits. I can't even sleep because of him. Satvrn literally haunts my dreams when I sleep.

What are you going to do with $7k? Come on guys, aim fucking higher.

 

[jplizz]

Where do you people live to calculate this? How is financial freedom $84k a year? Even at a sale of 33x multiple that's $231k. And all that is BEFORE taxes.

I'm not trying to be dick but, what? I'm sorry but this can't be real life.

This dude @Satvrn is doing $9 million a month in profits. I can't even sleep because of him. Satvrn literally haunts my dreams when I sleep.

What are you going to do with $7k? Come on guys, aim fucking higher.

Yeh I totally agree. To clarify, we have a house paid off and $84k would be enough for our basic living costs. I could then quit my job and do this full time.

My overall life goals are bigger, but I find it more motivating to break down a big goal into smaller steps. Trying to get my head around going from $12 a month to $9m a month is like picking up a guitar for the first time and then trying to work out how to get my first platinum record.

 

[CCarter]

smaller steps

I've elaborated on this multiple times already, but think of it like this - let's say you want to go from point A to point B, and train for it using small steps. That's what most people do - most POOR people. They ALWAYS use the small step ladder theory. That's generally how their brains operate.

And they rarely ever get to their small step goal.

Now let's say your point A to point B is 10 miles and you want to run it - no problem, train to run, small steps.

But what if your point A to point B is cross country - 1000 miles? You aren't going to waste time trying to run that - you need a faster method, and you'll train with that method in mind (bike, car, or plane).

When you have larger goals to obtain and start thinking big those small steps are irrelevant if your goal is larger.

So let's take it to your scenario, you want $7K a month. You are going down the Display / Adsense / Affiliate route. What most people do, wrongfully.

But if you set a goal of $70K a month, you can't think small can you? You have to find methods to generate bigger revenues and therefore your MIND/BRAIN shifts gears to the next level - things you never thought of. You get more creative.

Example there is a guy on this forum that exited in the 7+ figures. He was getting invited by major luxury car brands to test drive their newest cars and concepts cars so he could write content for them about the latest models. They paid all expenses for flights, hotels, and dinner and doing all the events at the track.

They invited A LOT of bloggers there and paid for everything and asked them each their fee was. Why? Cause they had a budget for that.

Do you realize that brands will pay YOU to talk about their latest gadgets? There is nothing stopping you from hitting up 100 major brands and telling them about your gadget website and how you review products.

A lot of major brands have marketing budgets SPECIFICALLY for bloggers.

Are the gears in your head turning? One guy I know charges brands $10K per review, another one charges $2.5K, and another charges $7K. Did you know this world exists? Probably not if you think small.

If you have a goal of $70K, using the high number it would take simply 10 product reviews a month to hit that. The small brainers think "I can't do that!" - Yet major brands like Samsung pay bloggers every single day to write reviews.

Why? They need more brand exposure.

It's why Coca-Cola continues to advertise daily, they pay gas stations to put their displays up. They pay grocery stores to show their brand at entrance of the aisles. The major brands pay other businesses for exposure - yet consumers go pay those same brands to wear the brand's logo on their shirts. #HustlingBackwards

You contact 100, 200, or 300 brands to offer reviews, all it takes is 1 major one and they can fund your $7K a month "goal" with a single product review. All it takes is one good contact and you whole understanding of the world and how it works will change.

A single right contact can make you millions. But it requires you picking up the phone, meeting people, and human contact - that dreadful thing SEOs are afraid of.

But you don't get to those levels by taking baby steps.

You can't walk to the moon guys. There is a reason big guys think big and take big steps. You think Elon Musk took small steps?

Dan Peña goes in a bit more about this:

Smaller steps = No. Don't do shit poor people do. Do the EXACT opposite. EXACT Opposite.

 

[harrytwatter]

Yeah poor people.. fucking scum that lot. Be a rich dick OP.. that's all that stands between you quitting your job and not. Have you read Art of the Deal yet? What about How to Win Friends and Influence?

Build what you can afford. Earning enough to quit your job so that you can allocate 40+ hours a week to your business is a very pragmatic first step.

On number of sites, splitting time results in less impact per site vs focusing in on 1 or 2 projects. Spread your content and links and optimization too thin and nothing seems to grow. Only after I abandoned 6 sites to focus in on two did I start seeing substantial growth.

SEO today does seem to favor critical mass so going ham on a couple seems more prudent, both in terms of establishing topical authority and affording quality links as Ryuzaki pointed out. The danger in piling everything into just one basket is that it obviously may not work out and you may be left without capital or energy to do it all over again, I think this is what ends a lot of SEO careers prematurely.

Of course, with the appropriate amount of 90's motivational posters on your wall perhaps burnout isn't a concern, or your rich uncle might be able to front some cash for attempt #2, lot of people who claim independent success have these sort of entrepreneurial safety nets that coincidentally go unmentioned when giving advice. Just something to keep in mind with anonymous forum advice..

 

[freshpeppermint]

I've elaborated on this multiple times already, but think of it like this - let's say you want to go from point A to point B, and train for it using small steps. That's what most people do - most POOR people. They ALWAYS use the small step ladder theory. That's generally how their brains operate.

And they rarely ever get to their small step goal.

Now let's say your point A to point B is 10 miles and you want to run it - no problem, train to run, small steps.

But what if your point A to point B is cross country - 1000 miles? You aren't going to waste time trying to run that - you need a faster method, and you'll train with that method in mind (bike, car, or plane).

When you have larger goals to obtain and start thinking big those small steps are irrelevant if your goal is larger.

So let's take it to your scenario, you want $7K a month. You are going down the Display / Adsense / Affiliate route. What most people do, wrongfully.

But if you set a goal of $70K a month, you can't think small can you? You have to find methods to generate bigger revenues and therefore your MIND/BRAIN shifts gears to the next level - things you never thought of. You get more creative.

Example there is a guy on this forum that exited in the 7+ figures. He was getting invited by major luxury car brands to test drive their newest cars and concepts cars so he could write content for them about the latest models. They paid all expenses for flights, hotels, and dinner and doing all the events at the track.

They invited A LOT of bloggers there and paid for everything and asked them each their fee was. Why? Cause they had a budget for that.

Do you realize that brands will pay YOU to talk about their latest gadgets? There is nothing stopping you from hitting up 100 major brands and telling them about your gadget website and how you review products.

A lot of major brands have marketing budgets SPECIFICALLY for bloggers.

Are the gears in your head turning? One guy I know charges brands $10K per review, another one charges $2.5K, and another charges $7K. Did you know this world exists? Probably not if you think small.

If you have a goal of $70K, using the high number it would take simply 10 product reviews a month to hit that. The small brainers think "I can't do that!" - Yet major brands like Samsung pay bloggers every single day to write reviews.

Why? They need more brand exposure.

It's why Coca-Cola continues to advertise daily, they pay gas stations to put their displays up. They pay grocery stores to show their brand at entrance of the aisles. The major brands pay other businesses for exposure - yet consumers go pay those same brands to wear the brand's logo on their shirts. #HustlingBackwards

You contact 100, 200, or 300 brands to offer reviews, all it takes is 1 major one and they can fund your $7K a month "goal" with a single product review. All it takes is one good contact and you whole understanding of the world and how it works will change.

A single right contact can make you millions. But it requires you picking up the phone, meeting people, and human contact - that dreadful thing SEOs are afraid of.

But you don't get to those levels by taking baby steps.

You can't walk to the moon guys. There is a reason big guys think big and take big steps. You think Elon Musk took small steps?

Dan Peña goes in a bit more about this:

Smaller steps = No. Don't do shit poor people do. Do the EXACT opposite. EXACT Opposite.

I don't get why a brand would pay 7k for 1 review when he doesn't even have traffic tho? Like we are assuming he doesn't have a website yet. Do you think he can STILL do something like this, if he doesn't have an audience?

Also if this is possible still, can it be possible in any niche or this only applies to like SUPER high ticket niches??

Also what about like making enough to pay bills and not be homeless so you can truly think big? If you are barely getting by and are miserable how are you gonna be able to think big? The difference could be between couple mil and a bil.

You also mention "Display / Adsense / Affiliate route", there are people who did AMA's and stuff on here who also have a 7 figure exit using these models. How is the car guy doing this any different?

One more thing, you mentioned in other posts you had invested in bitcoin and sold, stocks and stuff. If your goal is to be a billionaire, wouldn't putting ALL of it into 1 business make you the most amount of money?? SO why do you diversify?

Also what you think about "The Longer the Delay The Bigger THe Ask" Alex talks about this in this vide, this means going years without making a penny then making A TON near the end. You always advocate for making money quickly from threads I read.

 

[CCarter]

he doesn't even have traffic tho

You think small and that's why your mind is limited by the type of traffic. All you think is in terms of SEO, hence why you can't comprehend there are thousands of opportunities to generate traffic. I've written about to generating traffic from other sources ad nauseam.

TikTokers are make $10k a month posting videos on the internet. They get hundreds of thousands to millions of views for 20-30 second videos. What's the likelihood your blog post is going to get a million views? Or 100,000 views? Hell what about 1,000 views in a week?

TiktTokers are blowing you guys away. YouTubers are blowing you guys away. IG models are blowing you guys away. There are even Onlyfans girls blowing you guys away.

How are all these non-tech savvy people getting all this traffic and views?!?! A real mystery huh?

The internet is an ocean of traffic, traffic that's looking to place their attention somewhere.

If you think small you'll always be small.

 

[jplizz]

You think small and that's why your mind is limited by the type of traffic. All you think is in terms of SEO, hence why you can't comprehend there are thousands of opportunities to generate traffic. I've written about to generating traffic from other sources ad nauseam.

TikTokers are make $10k a month posting videos on the internet. They get hundreds of thousands to millions of views for 20-30 second videos. What's the likelihood your blog post is going to get a million views? Or 100,000 views? Hell what about 1,000 views in a week?

TiktTokers are blowing you guys away. YouTubers are blowing you guys away. IG models are blowing you guys away. There are even Onlyfans girls blowing you guys away.

How are all these non-tech savvy people getting all this traffic and views?!?! A real mystery huh?

The internet is an ocean of traffic, traffic that's looking to place their attention somewhere.

If you think small you'll always be small.

I get that being provocative is your thing, but what you’re talking about is a completely different business.

I don’t want to create TikToks. I’ve grown social accounts before, and it fuckin sucks. It’s a constant hamster wheel of clickbait and cringe. I got 50,000 views on my first TikTok. This is small fry on that platform but what do you actually get for that?

Nothing.

There’s a reason that all of these influencers try to send you from their social platforms to YouTube. It’s the only one that actually pays. And you know how. Display ads and affiliate.

the second you stop creating daily content on social platforms, you stop generating views. That’s one of the main things that is attractive about SEO, building something for the long term.

I appreciate the sentiment about thinking bigger, that’s important and a good thing for me to think about. But if I wanted to be a cunt like Dan Peña and make tik toks all day I wouldn’t be asking for advice on this forum.

 

[CCarter]

sentiment about thinking bigger

If you believe there is only one way to the top of the mountain ... than there is only one way to the top of the mountain.

If you believe only SEO is that route and is "long term", than... okay. But you might be in for a surprise.

 

[zak]

What we're seeing here is the difference between an entrepreneur and an SEO/content-creator/etc.

If doing SEO is your goal, do it. If you just want to be an affiliate marketer, do it.

But one-trick ponies are collateral damage in any revolution. So make your money quick, just in case. The world is changing more quickly than ever, and your favorite method probably won't last.

Entrepreneurs focus on audiences and their problems. We don't specialize in using hammers, but we've got a hammer ready if our audience needs one.

Today, I serve my audience via SEO. Two years ago, I served them via SaaS. Two years from now... who knows.

I don't want to be a TikToker. I don't want to be in the Metaverse. But if my audience moves to the Metaverse, you can be damn sure I'll be there to show them around.

 

[JStuffs]

Where do you people live to calculate this? How is financial freedom $84k a year? Even at a sale of 33x multiple that's $231k. And all that is BEFORE taxes.

I'm not trying to be dick but, what? I'm sorry but this can't be real life.

This dude @Satvrn is doing $9 million a month in profits. I can't even sleep because of him. Satvrn literally haunts my dreams when I sleep.

What are you going to do with $7k? Come on guys, aim fucking higher.

You don't want to be a dick but you sound like Dr. Lexus from Idiocracy.

€7K is €4K net profit a month from a company after taxes.

My sister has a Master's degree in business management and earns €2K a month. This is a lot more than at least 80% of all other people.

If you can earn €4K a month with limited effort, this is actually pretty amazing in real life, especially if you enjoy what you're doing.

All that earning "$9 million a month" or whatever is just total BS IMHO. What matters is if you enjoy what you're doing and can live comfortably doing whatever you want.

On topic: It's indeed hard to reach that first $1K a month. I decided to focus on 2 sites, get one on Mediavine and one on Adthrive. After that, I'll focus on getting smaller sites into Adthrive as the threshold for second sites is just 30K pageviews.

I believe that in a few years I can comfortably earn enough to stop writing myself, have 5 to 10 money earnings sites, and enjoy the good life while earning more than 90% of people with a regular job.

 

[CCarter]

Master's degree in business management and earns €2K a month.

Uhhh... that's ridiculous and you need to tell her to shop her CV/résumé.

€4K a month

Jesus.

stop writing myself

A writer... stating €2-4k a month is better than 80% of people... really? Where? This is some heavy trolling.

This low effort is that bar we are going after here guys? Seriously? This is just sad.

You can go work at McDonald's and make more money. Jesus Christ.

This is a first world forum targeting first world livelihoods, yes I can make $1000 and move to the middle of bum-fuck nowhere in some 3rd world, but then I would be living in bum-fuck nowhere in a 3rd world... Why?! Why would anyone literally want to put such low effort in life.

 

[JStuffs]

Uhhh... that's ridiculous and you need to tell her to shop her CV/résumé.



Jesus.



A writer... stating €2-4k a month is better than 80% of people... really? Where? This is some heavy trolling.

This low effort is that bar we are going after here guys? Seriously? This is just sad.

You can go work at McDonald's and make more money. Jesus Christ.

This is a first world forum targeting first world livelihoods, yes I can make $1000 and move to the middle of bum-fuck nowhere in some 3rd world, but then I would be living in bum-fuck nowhere in a 3rd world... Why?! Why would anyone literally want to put such low effort in life.

The average salary in Belgium (my first-world country) is 3.758 euros per month (gross). Deduct taxes and you have less than €2K a month. source

10% earns more than 5.886 euro gross per month, which is less than €3K net income.
Are you living on this planet? This is real life for the majority of people in first-world countries.

A CEO of a major company earns €10.465 gross which is less than €6K net income a month. An engineer € 5.626 gross etc.

If I can reach a point where I earn €4K net income a month by working part-time doing something that I enjoy, I reached my happy spot.

Sure, I want to earn a lot more (and I plan to scale my sites), but if I don't, so what? I'm already happy and can support my 3 daughters. I can travel across Europe during school holidays with my family without having to worry about money.

That's the definition of success to me.

But good luck to you too, I'm sure Dan Peña will teach you everything you need to know about finding fulfillment in life.

 

[CCarter]

If I can reach a point where I earn €4K net income a month

Sounds great, keep shooting for that low bar. You clearly have it all figured out.

 

[freshpeppermint]

The average salary in Belgium (my first-world country) is 3.758 euros per month (gross). Deduct taxes and you have less than €2K a month. source

10% earns more than 5.886 euro gross per month, which is less than €3K net income.
Are you living on this planet? This is real life for the majority of people in first-world countries.

A CEO of a major company earns €10.465 gross which is less than €6K net income a month. An engineer € 5.626 gross etc.

If I can reach a point where I earn €4K net income a month by working part-time doing something that I enjoy, I reached my happy spot.

Sure, I want to earn a lot more (and I plan to scale my sites), but if I don't, so what? I'm already happy and can support my 3 daughters. I can travel across Europe during school holidays with my family without having to worry about money.

That's the definition of success to me.

But good luck to you too, I'm sure Dan Peña will teach you everything you need to know about finding fulfillment in life.

You can't make "2-4k" working at McDonalds @CCarter, also making that with working less few hours a day is 100% better than McDonalds full time.

But I think you should set larger goals in your life. It's fine if you fail but at least you tried. It's fine if you can't do something so you don't try it, but you think it's a good life to live if you can do something but you chose not to do/be ALL that you could be??

Also @CCarter does serpwoo get most of it traffic from traffic leaking from social media or MOST of it from SEO + Paid traffic??

I just don't understand how traffic leaking would be MORE effective than SEO to promoting some little blog post on a low competition keyword?

Is traffic leaking effective if you don't have any social accounts built up or anything?

I am going to be trying to traffic leak on tiktok once I get one of the software tool things I have been getting coded to build backlinks and see how that goes. But I still don't see how traffic leaking for a random blog post on my blog would be better time spent than writing another low competition keyword article.

 

[JStuffs]

Sounds great, keep shooting for that low bar. You've clearly have it all figured out.

I think you just need to come to terms with the fact that not everybody dreams of earning millions of dollars. Not in a million years I would want to trade places with Elon Musk.

I know that might be hard to understand if your mind is infested with Dan Peña's BS but as a moderator here it really sounds pathetic.

So pretty please, with sugar on top, answer OP's questions without spewing garbage.

 

[ORMAgencyDude]

I just want to point out a few things....

McDonalds shift managers start out at $16 an hour and it is a normally a full-time position ( indicated by a job posting I just looked at online which stated it was full-time ), which is 40 hours per week.

A shift manager position at McDonalds can be obtained by anyone with a pulse and a semi-decent desire to show up on time.

Pay goes up to $25 an hour depending on location and experience.

If we settle on $20 an hour for someone that has been a shift manager for 1-2 years, then yes you would be making $2-$4k a month as $20 x 40 hours a week is $800 and 4 weeks at that is $3,200.

So it seems like Carter is right in his math as you would be making $2-$4k.

$3,200 a month is $38,400 a year. At that level of income... you'd only pay $1,500 in federal tax in the USA as a single 22 year old filer with no dependents living in a state like Florida that has no income tax.

$38,400 minus the $1,500 in taxes owed leaves $36,900. That divided by 12 months is $3,075

That $3,075 is between $2k-$4k that @CCarter mentioned.

 

[mj22]

I am loving all the crazy maths!!!! haha

 

[CCarter]

It's a bit painfully obvious several people here are uneducated on current wages nor how inflation works against their finances nor really the economic environment that's accelerating.

1st inflation: Let's start with inflation, it jumped to 8.5% for March 2022. That means $100 a year ago is now worth $91.50. That means a $2,000 a month salary is worth $1,850. THAT'S IT. That's how money value works.

2nd wages: Amazon employees starting salary is $17-18: Along with an average starting pay of $18 per hour

At 4.3 weeks per month working simply 40 hours that's $3,096 monthly. If you have to ask where I got 4.3 weeks per month from - Jesus (52 weeks divided by 12 months = 4.3).

@freshpeppermint - McDonalds is hiring in my area at $17 an hour, that's $2,924 monthly.

Dominos Pizza is hiring at $16 an hour, that's $2,752 monthly.

Target is starting at $15-$24 an hour: Target Increasing Minimum Wage Up To $24 An Hour In Its Most Competitive Markets (That's $2,580 to $4,128 a month).

Do you guys also know what happens when big retail stores increase wages to $15+? Local are shops/stores lose employees unless they can compete with the McDonalds wages. So that again sends prices upward to even have employees.

To get to $2000 a month, that's $11.63 an hour. @JStuffs, Is that really worth a Masters Degree? Seriously?

It doesn't sound like you guys understand the current wages being distributed to low level employees.

And that's putting it kindly.

3rd economic environment: Gas prices - people have to get to work, go buy groceries, and get around.

Do you guys not understand the basics of what's going on out here?

Do I have to break it down like I'm talking to a 5 year old?

What happens when you start with less money than McDonald's employees, and then inflation erodes your money's value and then gas prices and other essentials hit you???

Jesus Christ...

It's really really painful you guys aren't aware of basic math. There is a certain intelligence level we assume you have when having a conversation here, but if you guys are even unaware that McDonalds, Dominos, Amazon, and most retail employers are starting at $15+ an hour... Wow.

Edit: I can't even believe this is a real argument...

 

[JStuffs]

I think things in the US are very different if I see how you look at things @CCarter. The €2K a month is net income. Taxes are deducted, and social security is included. You don't even need to bring your wallet to a doctor's visit.

Secondly, income is adjusted by the wage index based on inflation. This happens automatically.

Thirdly, you get paid for going to work based on the distance. You actually get paid for driving to work.

I noticed OP had a mortgage on his house. I checked mortgage rates and they are 5% in the US. In Belgium, it's only 1%, PLUS, you actually get paid by the government if you secure a mortgage so you can pretty much loan for free, a loan that erodes as your salary grows due to inflation.

Yes, the income is lower than in McDonald's in the US as you elaborately explained, but the added benefits in my place are immense. That's why €2K with a Master's degree as a starting employee is a very normal salary and 30-40% above average in Belgium.

Do I envy that?

No, I want to work part-time and earn €4K while living in a mansion, driving a nice car, and traveling 3 or 4 times a year, which is possible with that kind of income because of the way things work in my place.

Do I want to earn more?

Of course, I will scale my sites, but my level of happiness won't increase by a whole lot, which was my entire point.

You're not poor if you earn that kind of money, and you don't need millions of dollars to be happy in life, seriously...

 

[freshpeppermint]

I just want to point out a few things....

McDonalds shift managers start out at $16 an hour and it is a normally a full-time position ( indicated by a job posting I just looked at online which stated it was full-time ), which is 40 hours per week.

A shift manager position at McDonalds can be obtained by anyone with a pulse and a semi-decent desire to show up on time.

Pay goes up to $25 an hour depending on location and experience.

If we settle on $20 an hour for someone that has been a shift manager for 1-2 years, then yes you would be making $2-$4k a month as $20 x 40 hours a week is $800 and 4 weeks at that is $3,200.

So it seems like Carter is right in his math as you would be making $2-$4k.

$3,200 a month is $38,400 a year. At that level of income... you'd only pay $1,500 in federal tax in the USA as a single 22 year old filer with no dependents living in a state like Florida that has no income tax.

$38,400 minus the $1,500 in taxes owed leaves $36,900. That divided by 12 months is $3,075

That $3,075 is between $2k-$4k that @CCarter mentioned.

Idk what shift manager means but, you start out as a cashier. Here the minimum wage is like 15$ CAD. So that's what you get.

15$ x 8 hours x 5 days x 4 weeks = 2400 CAD which is only 1,761.00 EURO, 2000 EURO = 2,728.64 CAD.

 

[Jesse]

The average salary in Belgium (my first-world country) is 3.758 euros per month (gross). Deduct taxes and you have less than €2K a month. source

10% earns more than 5.886 euro gross per month, which is less than €3K net income.
Are you living on this planet? This is real life for the majority of people in first-world countries.

A CEO of a major company earns €10.465 gross which is less than €6K net income a month. An engineer € 5.626 gross etc.

If I can reach a point where I earn €4K net income a month by working part-time doing something that I enjoy, I reached my happy spot.

Sure, I want to earn a lot more (and I plan to scale my sites), but if I don't, so what? I'm already happy and can support my 3 daughters. I can travel across Europe during school holidays with my family without having to worry about money.

That's the definition of success to me.

But good luck to you too, I'm sure Dan Peña will teach you everything you need to know about finding fulfillment in life.

I don't have a dog in this fight, so to speak, but those numbers are very low for first-world countries, and I wouldn't take Belgium as an indicator of the rest of the countries in that grouping when it comes to salaries if what you said here is true.

 

[ORMAgencyDude]

Idk what shift manager means but, you start out as a cashier. Here the minimum wage is like 15$ CAD. So that's what you get.

Shift Manager: https://g.co/kgs/Zf772b

You said min wage was 15$ CAD. - That's only what you get if you purely have no desire to earn more.

Min wage is still $7 where I live. Does that mean that's what I get? No. I can ask for more and I can ask for a different job that doesn't pay min. wage even if I have no skills.

Considering the hiring panic almost all companies are in, you can simply ask for MORE and get it, without having any negotiation skills. It also means you can come in as a shift manager and get paid as a shift manager, not a cashier. Sure, you might need to learn how to cashier, but you are the shift manager.

 

[Asad]

Numbers don't lie. Self limitations do.

 

[harrytwatter]

I think you just need to come to terms with the fact that not everybody dreams of earning millions of dollars. Not in a million years I would want to trade places with Elon Musk.

Everyone has different definitions of success, and not all of those necessarily align with happiness. If I had to estimate, I'd say a majority of Americans define themselves almost entirely by their material possessions. Lots of simps get raging adoration boners for Melon Fusk too, like he's some kind of real-world batman that cares about them. Our modern economy exalts greedy cucks and devalues those who actually provide value and do real work. We're all kinds of upside down imo..

McDonalds shift managers start out at $16 an hour and it is a normally a full-time position ( indicated by a job posting I just looked at online which stated it was full-time ), which is 40 hours per week.

And how many of the total employees of a given McDonalds location are managers? That's like pointing to a CEO's multimillion dollar salary and concluding the average corporate drone is rich. Most McDonalds workers are not managers, by simple principal of what managers do, and do not necessarily get a full 40hrs every month, and who often live paycheck to paycheck, which is why there's so much popular support minimum wage increases.

This is a first world forum targeting first world livelihoods,

Perhaps the most presumptuous comment of the entire thread. It's the fucking internet, there could very well be people here not from "first world" (were you born in the 50s?) countries here. On internet forums I generally default to assuming there are shit tons of people from countries that are not my own, given how much of the worlds population resides in Asia and Africa. I'm honestly surprised this isn't a universal assumption..

On everyone wanting "first world" livelihoods, have you never heard of this whole digital nomad movement? Remote work? Matt Diggity ring a bell? Glen Allsopp? I've met so many SEOs content to make $7k/m (or more) and live a dream life in a tropical paradise like Thailand or Bali. I know others who prefer to live in the middle of nowhere America cheaply and in a self-sufficient manner. As a community moderator shouldn't you be conscious of potentially alienating members who happen to NOT be from the same "first world" as you with these kind of brash statements?

On the whole, I think the big disconnect here is having an absolutist's mindset. Just because someone would be content making x amount per month does not necessarily mean they will stop working once they hit that amount, nor limit the total scope of their business to confine themselves to that amount.

One can dream big and also plan pragmatically at the same time. Shoot for $xx/month, then $xxx/month, then $x,xxx/month and so on. If an individual works their way up to an amount in which they can live comfortably and be happy who is anyone else to tell them otherwise? Who is to say YOUR definition of financial success or happiness or contentedness should be MY definition?

Liberty and the pursuit of happiness is an ideal that is held be individuals, there is no right/wrong. Just because you want to live a gaudy 80's Trumpian lifestyle or NEED to play keep-up with the Johnsons doesn't mean everyone else has those same insecurities and wants. Conversely, just because you are happy living in a van driving cross country 365 days out of the year doesn't mean I would be.

Some of my friends make way less than me and are most definitely happier. Some of my friends make way more than me and are definitely less happy. It's weird saying this to presumably a group of full grown adults but let's not forget that everyone has a different definition and different threshold for what they consider success and what makes them happy. Nobody is in the right to tell them otherwise.

 

[MrMedia]

So much chatter. It’s all noise. What is your monthly revenue and profit. Are you happy with those numbers?

If yes. Continue. If not. Work harder.