Your Money Or Your Life: Stock Trading For A Living

There was a Wall Street analyst by the name of Joe Dominguez w
saved enough money to retire at 31. He spent the rest of his life en
ing himself, doing volunteer work, and writing a book called Your Money or Your Life.

We aren’t making a living, we are making a dying. Consider the
average American worker. The alarm rings at 6:45 and our working
man or woman is up and running. Shower. Dress in the professional
uniform—suits or dresses for some, overalls for others, whites for the
medical professionals, jeans and flannel shirts for construction workers
Breakfast, if there’s time. Grab commuter mug and briefcase (or lunch
box) and hop in the car for the daily punishment called rush hour. On
the job from nine to five. Deal with the boss. Deal with the coworker
sent by the devil to rub you the wrong way. Deal with suppliers. Deal
with clients/customers/patients. Act busy. Hide mistakes. Smile when
handed impossible deadlines. Give a sigh of relief when the ax known
as ‘restructuring’ or ‘downsizing’—or just plain getting laid off—falls on
other heads. Shoulder the added workload. Watch the clock. Argue with
your conscience but agree with the boss. Smile again. Five o’clock.
Back in the car and onto the freeway for the evening commute. Home
Act human with mates, kids or roommates. Eat. Watch TV. Bed. Eight
hours of blessed oblivion.

And they call this making a living? Think about it. How many
people have you seen who are more alive at the end of the work day
than they were at the beginning? . . . Aren’t we killing ourselves—our
health, our relationships, our sense of joy and wonder—for our jobs?
We are sacrificing our lives for money—but it’s happening so slowly
that we barely notice.