Road to freedom

Modern day slavery is quiet prevalent everywhere.

A large number of folks are busy doing jobs that they do not like in order to buy and consume things that they do not even need (most of the times).

How do you find your freedom then?

This question was on my mind for a really long time.

After a lot experimentation and struggles, the following seem to be some of the solutions.

Your machines (technology), capital and people must do a better job for you if you wish to achieve and maintain your freedom.

Freedom of choice related to work, people, place and time.

The Technology

Software is eating the world as they rightly said by A16Z, one of the best venture capital firms in the world.

How are you using technology to create leverage that in turn will lead to your freedom?

There are many ways to go about this. Here are a couple of them.

a) Either you build and own technology that is valuable to the world.

b) You own the piece of the world class technology (e.g. Tesla, Microsoft, Google etc) through public markets or private markets (as an angel or VC investor).

You see, the largest wealth creators of our times are mostly tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, NVIDIA, Taiwan Semiconductors Manufacturing Co, Meta and others. Earlier they used to be either energy conglomerates or banks.

The Capital

Every penny you have is a like your soldier. This soldier has to work hard for you even when you are sleeping / not working / working on really long term projects that take time.

That means investing in smart assets that will not only protect your capital but also give you good returns in order to save you from not only inflation, but also taxes, currency depreciation, market fluctuations, transaction costs and much more.

Recently I re-read this excellent book "The richest man in Babylon", and where the author beautifully explains how to generate, protect and grow wealth.

He talks about 5 laws of gold (money/capital) that are timeless.

They revealed in a campfire tale by a wealthy camel trader.

Gold (or money), he says, accrues only to those who understand the laws governing it.

1) You acquire gold (capital) by saving regularly to build wealth for a secure future.

2) Gold (capital) grows when you invest it, along with the interest you receive on it, wisely.

3) Your gold (capital) will stick around and grow if you follow competent advice from financial experts.

4) You’ll lose your gold (capital) if you follow bad advice or rely solely on your own judgment when you lack experience.

5) You’ll also lose your gold (capital) if you succumb to the allure of get-rich-quick schemes or risky investment strategies that promise huge payoffs.

As George Bernard Show said, "Lack of money is the source of all evil".

The people

If you can find people who are better and smarter than you and also possess integrity, and if you can let them do the magic, that can work wonders as well.

More about this in some other article.

The technology, the capital, the people can provide you the path to freedom provided you are committed to make it work.

Either you keep working on things that do not make you feel happy or appreciated or leverage technology and capital (through your own enterprise or through others) to find your freedom.

As always, the choice is yours!