When I was in the U.S. Military every year, I received a pay raise. It usually wasn’t much, but it was always nice to get one. Year after year, I had a pay raise and a cost of living allowance that went up like clockwork. Man, those were the days! Once I got out of the military though, I started to work for other businesses and companies. Sometimes there were pay raises and sometimes there were not. I remember that I, as well as other employees would hang around after work for a couple of minutes, to get our usual I hate my job and I don’t get paid enough session out in the parking lot. After all, we had done the same dumb job for years and we were entitled to more money, weren’t we? I mean let’s think about it, I was doing the same exact thing for a company for 4 whole years and they weren’t even nice enough to give me a cost of living raise. Who the heck do they think they are, anyway?

One Thing You Can Do For Yourself…

Well, the fact of the matter was that I didn’t deserve a raise and neither did my cohorts. You see, we failed to do the one thing that we should have been doing since the day we started to work for an employer. The one thing that we should have done, was we should have added value to ourselves. While we were working, we should have been learning new skills. (Preferably skills that will actually make you money) We should have been taking classes, we should have been reading and starting a small business on the side to increase our incomes. We should have been doing tons of things other than wasting our time complaining about how someone didn’t give us a life.

Honestly, I Practice What I Preach

So one of the things I have learned from people that are affluent, is the fact that they have specialized skills and knowledge that no one else has. Now, please don’t send me any complaints telling me how you don’t have any time to learn or do anything else, because I work from 6:00 AM until midnight or even 1:00 Ahem most days. Hey, I still manage to squeeze in time to watch Jeopardy with my wife. But after Jeopardy is over, I’m back to work on classes, Websites and other projects that will add value to my life.

I am literally a self taught: music composer, Web designer, writer, artist, historian. I run an embroidery business and two other Websites plus I write for their blogs as well. I am currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education Technology with Boise State University Online. (Believe me when I tell you that the projects those teachers throw at me are not easy.) On Thursdays, I teach a private lesson to my trombone student. Oh, did I mention that I teach 5 History classes, one Bible class and Physical Education class every day too?

One Thing You Can Do Immediately is.…

Here’s a clue to those of you that can’t find the time to better themselves……Turn off the TV !!!! I find that I get a much better education when the tube is off. If you are doing work that doesn’t require concentration, then you can listen to talk radio. There are tons of excellent shows on the Internet as well, if you have streaming audio or broadband. There are finance shows that teach you how to make the most of your money , like the Dave Ramsey show, There are car shows, yes, even sports talk (Duh).

Or you can go on eBay or Amazon and buy Sales courses that are on audio. It is amazing how much valuable information you can gather with your time.

Remember, if you take any one message from this article, it should be this:

Use your time wisely, because they aren’t manufacturing any more of it and acquire and learn new skills and knowledge so that you can add value to yourself !!!