Five years ago I\u00a0reduced\u00a0my hours at work by cutting a day off my four day, twelve hours per day, indentured time workweek. I did this out of respect to a new commute and I also wanted to create some mental space in order to pursue other passions.<\/p>\n

I needed (and wanted) to keep my day job, but I was out of balance. reducing my indentured time to 3 days per week, gave me a 3 for 4 trade which weighted the cards in my favor.<\/p>\n

I personally felt wonderful about my decision but I had to overcome a certain amount of initial guilt that was a result of \u00a0pandering to my\u00a0jealous\u00a0critics. And trust me there were (and still are) many critics.<\/p>\n

Critics often make assumptions about “free time” that fit their\u00a0consumerist\u00a0mindset. Free time is not idle, wasted time and this is something most people just don\u2019t understand. \u00a0They also have a very low value of their time, which \u00a0places an equally low value on their life.<\/p>\n

How to Define The “Real Price” – A Real Price Equation<\/h2>\n

Real Price of any item\u00a0 = Indentured Time<\/h2>\n

We tend to define the cost of an item by it’s dollar amount. By doing this, we can easily\u00a0overlook\u00a0the true cost, which is a variable of our time.<\/p>\n

The equation would look like this:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Item price (dollars)\/per hour salary (dollars) = X hours + (X\u00a0 hours * percent interest if financed) = Y hours<\/p>\n

You can then take Y hours\/hours worked per day to figure out how many days of indentured time this item is going to cost you.<\/p>\n

Here is an example<\/b><\/p>\n

In this example we will use an $4,000 item purchased by our indentured subject who is working for $10 per hour and the item is financed at 10% interest. Our subject works 8 hours per day.<\/i><\/p>\n

$4,000 \/ $10 per hour = 400 hours + (400 * .01 interest) = 440 hours \/ 8 (hours per work day) = 55 DAYS of indentured time. OUCH!<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Of course this only applies if your primary source of income is derived from indentured time.<\/p>\n

Let us not forget that most of us working folk must also pay the government before we ever will see our ten dollars per hour and that will make matters even worse!<\/em><\/p>\n

What is The Greatest Threat to Free Time?<\/h2>\n

According to DeMarco (and me) it is Parasitic Debt<\/span>!<\/h2>\n

Parasitic debt is\u00a0 everything you owe the world. \u201cIt is the excrement of Lifestyle Servitude.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

What are some examples of parasitic debt?<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
1. Your shiny new car financed at 60 monthly payments.<\/li>\n
2. Home mortgage financed over 30 years.<\/li>\n
3. Fancy designer clothes four months removed from out-of-fashion, and yes, even that insidious furniture that seemed like such a good idea at the time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   All of this crap creates servitude and forces indentured time. When you\u2019re forced to work, you limit choice, and limited choices close roads.<\/b><\/p>\n

   The leading cause of indentured time is parasitic debt.<\/h2>\n

   Surely\u00a0you’ve\u00a0heard the phrase\u201d thief of hearts.\u201d When it comes to parasitic debt, it is the \u201cthief of lives.\u201d Parasitic debt is a gluttonous pig that gorges on free time and shits it out as indentured time.<\/p>\n

   Any debt that forces you to work is reclassified from free time and shifts it to indentured time. Debt needs a constant drip of blood, and that blood comes from your gas tank of life: time. And since time is fixed, an increase in indentured time comes from only one source: your free time.<\/p>\n

   The next time you buy some fancy gadget on credit, know exactly what you are buying. You\u2019re buying parasitic debt that eats free time and excretes it into indentured time.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

   How to Control Parasitic Debt<\/h2>\n

   Avoid instant gratification, and understand the consequence of debt: indentured time!<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Things that are sure to DECREASE indentured time<\/h2>\n

   Prior to 2009 my income stream looked like this:<\/p>\n

   Income Sources<\/h3>\n

   \n
   1. Corporate job<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Fast forward to 2013 and now my income stream looks like this:<\/p>\n

      Income Sources<\/h3>\n

      \n
      1. Corporate job<\/li>\n
      2. Online revenue stream (content systems)\n
         \n
         1. Affiliate sales<\/li>\n
         2. Product sales<\/li>\n
         3. Advertising revenue<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Changing the ratio to my favor<\/h2>\n

            Right now my job is still my largest income source. I make pretty good income working as a PA so this may prove hard to beat. But, and this is the most important thing to understand, my income source \u201cjob\u201d favors the category of indentured time.<\/p>\n

            Once again:<\/h2>\n

            Lifespan = Free Time + Indentured Time<\/h3>\n

            Current Income sources in relationship to time<\/h2>\n

            Frees Time:<\/b><\/p>\n

            \n
            1. Online revenue stream<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

               \u201cIndentures\u201d Time:<\/b><\/p>\n

               \n
               1. Job<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Analyzing this equation<\/h2>\n

                  I want you to know that unlike many of my friends I don’t hate my job. \u00a0 A career in medicine, especially a career as a PA is wonderful. I love my patients, and I love my practice. But, working for a\u00a0corporation\u00a0is a form of lifestyle servitude. I have very little control over my time.<\/p>\n

                  Income sources that increase indentured time should be carefully scrutinized for their value. Any source of income that increases free time should be considered of utmost importance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  Adding to the Free Time equation<\/h2>\n

                  I have spent the last week staring at this equation and running through ideas to skew the balance further in my favor (I have also watched way too many episodes of Shark Tank).<\/p>\n

                  I have realized that in order to consider an idea worthwhile it must pass this test: It must increase my income and it cannot add to the column: indentured time.<\/b><\/p>\n

                  I immediately threw 2 of my ideas out the window.<\/p>\n

                  A friend once told me the key to becoming wealthy (both in spirit and in money) is to find a need and fill it! Pretty simple right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  There are many ways to provide wonderful value to people and DeMarco’s book has helped me clarify these options in a way that resonates deeply with me.<\/p>\n

                  Value in relation to time, this my friends is the currency by which we should base all of\u00a0life’s\u00a0decisions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  Not everyone in this world can be a producer, but if you have read this far I assume you are. The millionaire\u00a0fastlane\u00a0requires\u00a0a change in mindset, now I only have to remove the barriers of fear that stand in my way, and convince my family that these “barriers”\u00a0are far less fear provoking than life in the prototypical “slowlane”.<\/p>\n

                  Wealth in a wheelchair is no longer an option and it is time for some drastic change!<\/p>\n

                  Next Post: a 2013 plan for attacking and eliminating indentured time!<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  Read:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

                  The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  [dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]I[\/dropcap] have been devouring the book: \u00a0Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. \u00a0I almost [pullquote align=”right”]The irony of your free time is it isn’t FREE; it\u2019s bought and paid for by your indentured time. -MJ Demarco[\/pullquote]didn’t \u00a0buy it\u00a0because\u00a0I\u00a0thought\u00a0the name was proof of just another get rich quick scheme… Boy was I wrong! This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[272,708],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tiSR-1Jo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4hourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}