I am a millionaire. I came from nothing. A poor background. And so I know a lot of people are upset because they aren’t willing to put in the work to make a decent life for themselves or don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I do empathise. But I just don’t see people putting in the same work I did to make it, buy a home, and get to the point where they’re not worried about money. And I want to explain how I got to where I’m at for anyone who wants to get there too- anyone can do this.
Please just hear me out because anybody can do what I did:
I started working at McDonald’s for five years. 8 hours a day. $7.25 an hour. And just moved my way up. I didn’t go to Starbucks. I didn’t drink alcohol or party. I didn’t buy dumb shit like Avaado toast. I didn’t do any of that nonsense. I worked every single day. Five years straight. 56 hours a week. I showed up early everyday and left late. And I made about $18,000 a year. I saved 15% of every paycheck and invested it in bonds. I never lost sight of my goal which was to move up, and become financially secure. So I never called out sick. Even when I felt terrible. I never complained. I worked hard. I even volunteered to train everyone off the clock. What people don’t understand is that these kinds of small sacrifices can and do add up if you’re smart about it and make sure the right people take notice. And they can create value even if you don’t see them in your pay check. You’ll see them in a future check maybe a few months from then maybe a few years you just have to keep at it.
Every single day I clocked out, but before leaving I mopped the entire store. Off the clock. Because I wanted my boss to know I took pride in my work and wanted the store to be absolutely perfect for the customers.
After five years I had saved up $16,000. Or enough for a down payment on a $200,000 house. Obviously I wasn’t in the position for a mortgage so I’d have to wait but I had already taken significant steps towards my future goal.
I was tired, I was exhausted but I told myself, on my fifth year I would take my first day off to reward myself. It was always part of the plan. And even though I didn’t ask for a raise, my boss saw my hard work and raised my wage to $7.45 so at that point and I also treated myself to a cheap bottle of wine every Sunday with the extra I was saving from my raise. I wish I didn’t but Its nice to treat yourself. Nothing fancy though I just got the $3.97 stuff from Walmart. But this particular Sunday I bought myself an expensive bottle of champagne. I had never had a $20 bottle of champagne, but I earned it. And my plan was to ask for a raise soon and so I wanted to celebrate my hard work because I felt like everything was coming together nicely. And when you imagine yourself making it, you’ll make it. So the champagne was more about keeping my mental health ready for success. But I knew it was coming because My boss always called me honest, a hard worker, said he needed more people like me. Called on me whenever he needed someone to cover a shift. We had built a strong relationship. So I knew I would get the raise. Still I was worried about how things would be at the restaurant without me, because I trained everyone, I knew it would be okay. And before the champagne I also went to the store, and bought the nicest suit I could find- it was $2000 dollars. I wanted to look my best before I asked for a raise.
So anyways I showed that Monday. Dressed in my usual uniform. The place was running smoothly, and the floors were looking absolutely pristine. I was worried if I weren’t there they wouldn’t get mopped but I did tell my coworkers what times I usually mop them. And when I walked in my colleague shouted from behind the register thank god your here we’ve been trying to reach you al…
And before he could finish I walked in, head raised high, busted my ass on the wet floors and slid my way to financial freedom.
See, here’s the thing, when you’re the only one who mops the floor, no one else knows where the wet floor sign is. When my boss tried to say I had schemed this whole thing, I subpoenaed every video of him telling me I was honest and a hard worker. They asked if putting the wet floor sign was part of the training, and told the judge I don’t really know I just show people the ropes in my free time. So they weren’t trained by McDonald’s corporation? No, come to think of it, I guess not. And it was easy because I had money for a lawyer, money for a lawsuit, and you had better believe when I asked the judge for a raise in my new suit I looked like a million bucks, $2,000 of that look was from the suit I wore in court, and the other $998,000 from the settlement afterwards.
Honest hard work, long term planning, and time off the clock and you too can move up and make it.