Over the holidays I was talking to my father about a new business project, and he made the comment that he needed to make a million dollars in the next couple of years. That started me thinking, how hard would it be to make a million dollars, and what if you could do it in one year.
So I sat down at lunch today and pulled out the yellow Meade notepad. Soon I realized that making a million bucks in one year would be a large task, but it is possible. Here are the numbers as generated by my pen and handy notebook pad.
We each experience 8760 hours in a given year, unless it's leap year and the number is 8784. Out of those 8760 hours we sleep approximately 2920 hours, or 33% of our day is spent in bed. The other 67% is broken down as follows, 2800-3300 hours a year are spent at the office, and the other 3000 plus hours are spent eating, playing, raising kids, etc....
So we spend 32-35% of every working day at work, and probably 1/2 of that time is actually productive. So when you break it down, you need to make $500-714 an hour during those productive hours to make a million, or $7.75 a minute, or .12 cents a second.
The question is how many jobs out there pay $500 an hour? Doctors, Engineers, Attorney's, sports figures (some make allot more then $500 an hour). How many of us can realistically make $500 to $700 an hour? Not many most of you would agree.
The contrast is startling. Let's take the average couple making $60k a year. The numbers break down to $18.00 an hour, or .30 cents a minute, or 1/2 cent every second. So if you are not blessed athletically, or you missed out on the schooling, is there really any hope of making a million bucks in one year?
But what if you could work every second of the year, including the time your asleep? The numbers are much better, but your still going to have to be a miracle worker. You'd have to make $114.00 an hour for every hour of the year, or $1.90 a minute, or .33 cents a second. Not too hard right???
So what has to happen to allow a common schlep like myself to make a million bucks. Do I need to win "Deal or no Deal", or can I do it on my own? Obviously I'll need some assistance when I'm asleep. What's the best way to make money when your not awake? That's right, it's called INTEREST. Interest is relative to return, and to have it work for you there needs to be something to work. So the key is developing that nest egg that is going to work for you and getting it invested in the right account.
But developing that nest egg could take along time. How do I make my million when I'm younger. That depends on a number of factors, but your not going to do it just working at Walmart. Often creativity and thinking outside the box are often not associated with just getting by each year. So to make a million in one year it may take an extraordinary effort, but it's possible. You don't believe me, look at all the self made millionaire's in this country. Making a million isn't even the big feat it was once thought to be. There are 20 something kid's making millions all over the globe and many of them are not much different then you or me.
I'm sure much of it's psychological, some of it's is determination and perspiration. But the key from what I can see if exploiting the proper opportunity at the right time. Opportunity happens every day, it's the person who seizes opportunity that makes good things happen in their life. Those who are content to always look for better opportunities, or those whom like to tear down others efforts are the ones doomed to never achieve success. Kind of like the glass half full half empty analogy that we've heard so many times. There is probably allot of truth to that analogy.
Now back to making a million bucks in one year. If you do it now, or do it when your 60, I think the results will still have impact in your life. Making a million really isn't the end all of success, it's just one milestone that we look at as some type of monument or insurmountable barrier. The reality is we're all going to make more then a million dollars in our lifetime, the question is how much of it are we going to retain, and how much will be spent.
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