
To Be Successful In Life, Work Like An Immigrant
I must say, I’ve “had it up to here” with people born in the United States complaining about money, jobs, “the rich”, “can’t get ahead”, telling successful people they’re lucky… all of it.
You know who doesn’t complain? Immigrants. Immigrants who’ve been given a chance to make something of their lives here.
Immigrants are happy just to be here.
Some immigrants took extreme measures to get here. Regardless of where you fall on current US immigration policies, you can’t deny that many people try to flee extreme circumstances just to live here. How would you like to worry if you’re going to be randomly captured and burned to death? Or get hit by a missile or an IUD? Or run out of food? You can find better food in garbage cans here better than some people in other countries eat every day. Shall I go on? Many people not born in the US go through terribly trying times on a daily basis. They’ll do anything to get to a free country just for the opportunity to work in peace… and even better, maybe even try to start a business. They’ll risk their lives crossing the ocean in a rickety boat. Or swimming across dangerous waters. Or risk getting shot or captured trying to flee their country.
Yet, the people blessed enough to be born here complain. They complain about their jobs. They complain about minimum wage. They complain about how hard it is living paycheck to paycheck. They complain about our government. They complain about the police. And the list goes on…
No, our government isn’t perfect, but our problems as a nation are relatively minor compared to what other citizens have to deal with.
Don’t take your luckiness to be born in the US for granted.
I hate the word “luck” 99% of the time. But, for sure, I am lucky to have been born in the US. Anyone born here was lucky. Don’t take your opportunity for granted. You have freedom to choose your work. You have choices from a young age as to what you want to pursue in life. If you were born in a free country, you’re way ahead of others on the opportunity ladder. For those born outside the US, their #1 goal in life is just to get here — and you were born with it.
Stop complaining.
Seriously. Just stop. Your life could be far worse. Far worse. You don’t know how it could be far worse? Go back and read the previous paragraphs.
Practice gratitude and count your blessings.
Be grateful you were born here (or any other free country). I practice daily gratitude simply that my life is not as hard as what my father’s life was. And as hard as even his life was, it still wasn’t what it could have been had he not been born in the US.
If you struggle with being grateful, I challenge you to simply get a notebook and write one thing down, everyday, that you’re thankful for. Before you know it, you’ll have a super long list that you can look at anytime you’re feeling less grateful.
Work like an immigrant.
Immigrants wake up every day with joy just for the opportunity to go to work. Think about that! Their internal gratitude is about the opportunity to work! Many in the FIRE community could learn from this, too. Don’t be so whiny about having to work. Be thankful for the opportunity to work. Work is a blessing. It gives you personal satisfaction of a job well done. You earn money. You can buy food. You can eat. You have freedom to do a few things like watch TV or go to a movie. Work is good. And of course, with the money you make, you get to invest it and grow it so big you never have to work again. They are happy with working, because they understand that work (and money from work) produces freedom.
Immigrants aren’t sitting around complaining about their bosses. Or how long they had to work. When you start to think about complaining about your job, think about the immigrant who’s just happy to live in a safe country, have a job, and have the opportunity of a better life and freedom.
Be thankful for any kind of work. That doesn’t mean you have to like or enjoy all work. But be thankful for it.
For the politically correct…
- This post isn’t about saying the US is “better than all other countries”. I respect all countries and am a big believer in individual choices and freedoms. This is about being thankful for being born in a free country.
- This post is in no way making fun of immigrants. Immigrants who come here and make something of their lives and their children’s lives are heroes. I hope that’s clear.
- If you were born here, and you’re offended by this post… good. Keep reading it until you’re not offended anymore.
Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.
Ralph Waldo EmersonBe thankful for the opportunity to work. Some people dream about just having the opportunity to work.
Mr. Hobo MillionaireThoughts?
I’d love to hear what you think of this post. And if you don’t know what to say, simply post something you’re thankful for…
Being born in the United States (or having an opportunity to grow up in the US) is like winning the global financial lottery. There are an abundance of opportunities here and limitless upside. Don’t be afraid to cash in your winning lottery ticket.
I can see being handed something as opposed to earning it can lead to different appreciation levels. If someone just hands me a million dollars I would probably be less careful with it. But if I have to claw, crawl, and climb my way to $1 million during decades of hard work and savings, I would definitely be more protective of it.
Maybe this is the same with the immigrant mindset. There are immigrants who worked hard to get to America. Therefore, they don’t take the opportunities here for granted since they might have given a lot to get here.
>>claw, crawl, and climb
Yes, struggling to your first million (or any 25x number) vs it being given to you definitely makes you more protective of it. I’m having to walk a very fine line with my son on this matter.
Excellent post MHM!! I love your optimism. Life is so much better when you go through it with a positive attitude and a thankful heart. It’s telling as well how you see the apostles in the Bible imploring thankfulness.
We really do have it great here in America. I am thankful to be able to have access to financial mentors like yourself through the power of the internet. I am thankful for the community/relationships and the ability to correspond with multimillionaires at a few clicks of a button!
I am also thankful for all of the extra time I’ve had lately to spend how I please and be with my wife and son.
>> I am thankful to be able to have access to financial mentors
I agree 3FI. The internet has given us access to an unbelievable wealth of knowledge (I think folks take that for granted, too). I had many financial and business mentors, too. A lot of it came from books and magazines (like INC) pre-internet.
This may or may not sound much like a financial mentor to everyone else, but it was to me. There was an article written by John Hawkins in Data Based Advisor magazine many years ago regarding how to calculate consulting rates. He said when trying to estimate billing costs, try to think up every little cost that may occur, pad it a bit, AND THEN TRIPLE whatever number you calculated! The first time I read it, I thought it was crazy advice (and maybe even gouging people). But over the years, I’ve used that advice MANY times and it’s saved me. People (we) are terrible at estimating costs and work (especially if you are in technology).
So, a long winded answer, to agree about financial mentors. What seemed like a technical mentor was very much a financial mentor to me.