Are You Working at Your Pay Grade?

I am a huge fan of New Rich thinking . Over the years I have devoured books like Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and, in addition to reading the books of Robert Kiyosaki (author of the financial book all time best seller, Rich Dad Poor Dad ), I have interviewed him several times on my radio show . In fact, there are few major authors in the New Rich space I have not read.

Tim Ferriss coined the modern expression of New Rich thinking, stating The New Rich (NR) are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility. The objective is to create a lifestyle that empowers people to enjoy maximum freedom as well as a high income, and do it today.

Recently I interviewed Doug Thorpe , a professional coach with Headway Exec . He was on the program to discuss one of the most important elements in successfully pursuing a New Rich lifestyle , which is to be diligent about avoiding the wasteful trading of time for money. Thorpe reminded me of the many conversations I have had with Kiyosaki. The Rich Dad author told my radio audience that at one time he had one of the most successful (and expensive) attorneys in Hawaii and that, in spite of how much he made, he would never trade places with him. Fundamentally, Kiyosaki does not trade time for money.

This strong approach is not possible for everyone, at least immediately, but until they get there, Doug Thorpe offers some very practical advice. Thorpe stated (both in this and previous interviews ) that:

• Business leaders should actually determine what their time is worth on an hourly basis. It is simple, just take your salary and divide it by the hours you worked to earn it.
• Business owners and leaders should continuously evaluate the activities they are doing and ask, is this a good expenditure of my time based on my salary? There is a high likelihood some of those things are not and they should be serious about eliminating or delegating activities that are below their pay grade.
• Do an inventory of the things they regular do, line those things up with your salary, and come up with strategies that remove themselves from those things that simply do not make sense economically. Are you opening mail? Are you reviewing letters that go out that can be handled by the support staff? Are you even doing janitorial work (tidying up the break room, etc.)? Start eliminating the items on the list that do not meet your pay grade. Assign them to someone else or to automation, whenever possible.
• In most cases, business leaders just pick up those wasteful activities simply because they had nothing better to do with their time. Thorpe argues that business leaders should leave tasks below their pay grade to others and use opportunities of free time that comes up to either take it off and refuel, or use it to work on their business. Thorpe believes it would be a much better use of a leaders time to work on new systems, seeing if there are new technologies that are available to better a business, or simply focusing on better delegation of menial tasks. Any of these things would be better than doing tasks beneath ones pay.

New Rich thinking is full of possibilities, but discipline and diligence are essential elements in reaching the heights of success. Get a coach, read and study from great thinkers in business, and be aware about the importance of constantly working on your business, rather than merely for it. Own your time and do not be wasteful in the use of it.