Perception and Human Capital

When we were in high school, my buddy and I used to go to a relatively empty pool hall in a blue-collar part of town and play snooker for an hour or two. We’d then go to a heavily populated trendy pool hall and play King of the Table for another hour or two, usually only ever paying the dollar for the first game.

The “trick” was that after playing on a very large snooker table, with small balls and pockets, where the margin of error on a shot was very slim, it made playing on a standard pool table seem like child’s play. Just hitting the cue ball in the general direction seemed to produce spectacular results.

What does this have to do with anything?

I view my own human capital as my most prized asset. The return on my investment of time in relation to salary is leagues beyond any stock, bond or bank account. As such, I use it to near full capacity. Living below our means translates into retained earnings that will continue to work for us until they are needed.

Being young, healthy and motivated means that I can devote large amounts of time to producing wages. From Monday to Saturday, an average of 11 hours of my day is work/business related (my longest day being about 13.5 hours, and Saturday weighing in at a mere 8 hours).

Aside from cash, how does this 6-day, 66 hour work week benefit me?  The way I see it, I’m playing snooker now. I have been for the past 4 years, and plan to keep playing snooker for the next two. At that point we plan to move to Canada where, as I see it, a five-day, 40 hour work week will seem like child’s play.

Want to feel less busy? Fill your schedule for a few weeks. When you return to a normal schedule, you will feel as if just smacking the ball will produce spectacular results. 

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One Response to Perception and Human Capital

  1. Pingback: Nearly Everything I Learned About Investing I Learned From My Father, Revisited | In Search of Salt

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