As a follow-up on the previous post about the Theory of Work, I was thinking about how different are the worlds of an Employee and a Businessman. On deeper evaluation, I realized the entire difference lay in how they approach life…

When an employee starts his work, he is a fresher, right out of college. Maybe he has acquired some higher/niche skills because of which he might start at a pedestal or two higher. But the essence remains that he gets embroiled in a RAT Race where he is aiming to go higher and higher up the corporate ladder, ensuring he doesn’t become redundant. What he forgets is that even if he succeeds in touching the highest pinnacle, which is highly unlikely, he will still be in the RAT race. Moreover, in this entire process, he will lose his life – of which he has just one; and his energy – which will get sapped. Even if he is the chosen one, touching the highest pinnacle, it is the glass ceiling beyond which he cannot even think of breaking through.

If we look at this slightly deeply in correlation with the Theory of Work, what he does is spends his life working for someone else in a sort of a prison. On weekends when he gets a couple of days off he behaves like a free bird trying to do

everything that is possible within his reach to feel good about his life. But he knows he has to go back to the prison again the next week. So, he keeps grinding through his life and most probably dies thinking if he could have done better.

On the other hand are business owners. For them, the pyramid looks like this, starting from the top –

When a business owner starts work, he gets paid ZERO. He puts in his hard work, his blood and sweat, his life’s worth in building up his idea, his business, with passion and hunger for success. It is not necessary that he succeeds in the beginning – he might fail and falter multiple times. But if he remains true to himself, he learns and imbibes good things, steers clear of his mistakes, and slowly starts to build up the business. He puts together a team that shares his vision and is tuned to the organization’s mission and then the multiplier effect slowly sets in and the leverage shows up. He then keeps building the business and gets paid more and more while his work keeps on reducing and reducing.

This happens till the point he reaches Financial Freedom, a stage where he becomes redundant. At this stage, he does not need to work to ensure that money flows into his bank account. He has built the business and now his team carries it forward whilst he relaxes and enjoys his life. For all the hard work that he puts in for those 5-10 years, he now gets back double. And what he leaves behind when he dies is a LEGACY – for generation(s) to come…

Where do you want to be – in the RAT race or building a legacy? Do leave your comments…