Back in my early 20s, I used to work at a gym. People would come in to cancel their membership, and they’d say, I’ve been a member here for three or four years, and I’ve never shown up. Now, I used to call that a fat tax, a payment that you would make just because you had a certain condition that was going on. In this case, you paid because of your self-conscious about having this gym membership thinking that you might show up and be thinking that you might go, knowing that you really wouldn’t, right? That was a tax. It was a fat tax.
But I’ve also noticed that I pay a fat tax in other areas in my life. I pay what I call a freedom tax. What that is, I run multiple businesses, but I also have freedom of my schedule, freedom to travel with my family, and that’s why sometimes you get these revisits because I’m off traveling, and I’m not connected anywhere. This is what I call a freedom tax. The reason is, is I’m paying people to do work that I could easily and capably do, and it allows them, obviously, a job, but really I’m paying a tax for this freedom. I could have more money in my bank, my family could fly a private jet, or whatever it may be if I wasn’t paying this tax. But the tax is very worth it to me. Unlike that fat tax, the freedom tax is one that I really enjoy paying. Each and every time I pay it with a smile on my face because I know exactly what that’s going to get to me.
So, we have a bad, what I’m going to call a bad tax, and a good tax, right? The fat tax and a freedom tax. What I’m going to ask you to do is grab your journal, write out your five to thrive. In each area, where are you paying a tax? Where do you have a subscription, a service that you’re paying for, or maybe you paid to go to a Cross Fit, or Orange Theory, you’re paying thousands of dollars a year, yet, if you would just cut out the beer, and the nachos, and the pizza, you wouldn’t have to do any of that, right? So, that’s a tax for you. But, this could be in any area of your life.
Once you’ve identified that, see if it’s worth it to you. You might be surprised. Like myself, there are definitely areas that I’ve cut, and I’ve definitely made some changes once I’ve realized the financial and emotional expenditure that I was getting out of that.
That’s it for me today. I’d love to hear your comments as always and the author of your own story community. And of course, share this with at least three people that you know, so you can build a tribe for yourself. I will talk to you tomorrow. Have a great day, and remember, go out and be the Author of Your Own Story.
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