Speaking with an ex-colleague from my corporate life the other day. We were chatting about business and I found myself sharing one of my key learnings which, even as I say it, it sounds so obvious but before I learned this many years ago I simply wasn’t thinking about it in this way.
It’s the difference between ‘active income’ and ‘passive income’. It’s the idea of having to be present each day to actually earn an income versus having income streams that flow from an asset you’ve built or bought.
The conversation moved on to a quote a client once said to me that has always stuck in my head. It was a way of deciding if an opportunity was worth going for or not. The simple question was “will this be an easy pound or a hard pound?”
You could apply this question to many things. Customers, suppliers, investments, team members etc. Just because you can get something or do something it doesn’t mean to say you should. Some types of work are pleasureable and profitable. Other types are profitable, hard work and less fun.
Now I’m no stranger to hard work. Don’t mistake me. But I’m becoming much more aware of investing my time and money into things I find fulfilling and enjoyable.
