How to outperform your peers
You reached this world around the same time, being brought up within similar environment, and you are now fighting for your future. Some people are doing extremely well, some just so so. If you are just an average guy, what are the things that you can do in order to outperform your peers who are doing as good as you? I’m talking about financially outperform here.
Some of the things that off my mind:
1. Turn your hobby into something profitable
Photography can be an expensive hobby, but if you are good at it, you can actually take some freelance photo shooting jobs, etc, which is a real good money right now. Or if you are into cars, may be you can approach some of the websites to offer your expertise as a freelance reviewer/editor? Or if you like to do online shopping, may be you can help to organize spree and make some pocket money or good deals out of it?
2. Investment
I think it is important to start investing since young, although it may not guarantee monetary return, the training will help you to manage your money in a better way. Parents used to ask their children to save as much as possible in olden days, i think this is not true anymore. To me, saving as much as possible meaning putting your money in the bank only. You don’t get to utilize it, as a result, you don’t get to learn how to make use of money except spend that for necessities.
There are different types of investment, from equity to forex, bonds, insurance, T-bills, etc. You may lose money at the beginning, but the knowledge you gain will help you make better decision in the future. While expecting investment gain, you will be able to manage your money more effectively than your peers.
3. Freelance
If you are an IT programmer or graphic designer, that will be easy for you to get freelance job. I think it is easier to get freelance jobs for IT related projects, as things can be done remotely and after office hour.
4. Start a business
Well, this can be anything under the sun.
At the end of the day, I think knowledge and information is very important. Some people may try very hard to save money on daily basis, for example take a 15-20 min walk instead of spending less than 1 dollar for a bus ride, he may end up a lot poorer than his peers if he does not know how to get better home loan deal and how to refinance it at the right time.