Free Yourself from Wage Slavery: Trade Time for Freedom

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Hey, I missed my 8:30am alarm this morning. O.K. Actually, I didn’t miss it. I heard it, turned it off and went back to sleep.

When 9am comes, I get woken up by a phone call. It is my mom. She asks if I’m free this afternoon, she’s having a repair man coming over to take a look at the AC unit (She doesn’t get off work till 5pm, and I work from home, plus I live right next to her place…how convenient).

Let me tell you how angry I am by the inconsideration of my mom. Thinking that working from home means I’m free and accessible to run around and do her errands. But I stopped myself —

“You have the power to ignore, use it” (I forgot who said this, lol)

Before you judge me about how I’m such a piece of 💩 of a son, who can’t even do my mom a small favor. This wasn’t her first rodeo. I’ve helped her multiple times. Today is the day I set some boundaries. (Sorry mom, I’m busy writing my newsletter today) 

Anyway, I go to the kitchen and brew my morning coffee, that’s when it hits me. It saddens me to realize this. My mom doesn’t own her time. She has no control over her time from 9am to 5pm. Her employer does.

The concept of not truly owning our time is a profound and often unsettling reality that many of us face. In a world where our time, our presence, our attention becomes a commodity. A commodity that we trade for munny, so we can survive and support our families.

This reality has hit me hard.

Last week, I had dinner with a bunch of family members (aunts, uncles, cousins). Oh, my grandma was there, she is too darn old now. She doesn’t remember who I am anymore.

While everyone is chomping their meals, my aunt asks one of my cousin (32 yo) about his MBA program and how he’s doing. I was shocked. I didn’t know he’s still going to school. I later found out that he wants a promotion and they require him to get an MBA (he works at some bullsh*t bank 🤷, idk)

I’m genuinely taken aback by this situation. You see, he’s in his 30s, right? And what strikes me is that after his regular work hours, he invests his precious free time in pursuing an MBA. And all this effort is aimed at one thing: to keep laboring away at his job, sacrificing moments with his daughter in the process. It’s almost like he’s willingly dedicating his time to perpetuate the cycle of trading more and more of his life for the company, all for just a modest increase in pay.

(While I'm certainly a supporter of self-improvement and ongoing education for personal growth, his current pursuit seems to be out of sync with my own values.)

I’m sharing you these snippets of my life not because I want to highlight the fact about how much of an *sshole I am (talking crap about someone who’s trying real hard in life, so he can support his family better)

What I’m trying to emphasize is that we have just this single life. It’s our sole opportunity to experience it.

I want you to pause, and reflect on what you’re doing in life:

• Are you building your own aspirations, seeking to regain your freedom?

• Or are you exchanging time for munny, contributing to someone else’s vision?

Also, don’t get me wrong, 9-5s are great. They are great to earn while you learn. They are great to experience, to try, and to fail. Stack your skills with 9-5, but don’t get married to the idea of staying there forever. Live below your mean, save up a fat stack (of emergency fund). So that you can break free, and soar on your own, towards the direction of your own freedom.

Walking away from this, I want you to be haunted with the idea of trading time for munny. I want you to get scared. I want you to be convinced that you will change your mind, change your plan, and your value.

Justin “trade time for freedom” Nguyen

P.S: If you have been wondering. I write “munny” instead of “m0ney” because I read somewhere that email providers usually flag it as spam. Plus, it seems cool 🤷

P.P.S: This email is a warning about a problem many have, but not all can see. For those who’ve recognized it, I’m diving deeper into how to build a personal brand and make munny from it. If you’re excited, get ready! See you next week.