When You Create Instead Of Consume, You Build Assets

If you’re new to my story, I’m financially independent and went part-time at my W2 job last October.  Since then I’ve had a lot more time to create things.  I wrote a while back about my schizophrenic brain, I have a technical side that loves math, data, and science, and that’s where my career has focused.  And I have a strong “soft” side that loves music, design, writing, and art. 

I was thinking lately about the creating versus consuming dynamic.  You often hear people say it’s better to create than consume.  Or that we should spend all of our free time creating rather than consuming. 

Consuming is watching TV.  Creating is writing a screenplay.  Consuming is buying your mom a Hallmark card for Christmas.  Creating is making her a scrapbook of your last trip together. 

Consuming is passive, lazy.  Creating is stimulating and imaginative. 

I get all that. 

But to be a good creator, you also have to consume.  You get ideas from other creators by consuming their creation, then taking pieces of it and weaving in into a creation of your own. 

Anyone who thinks they create in a vacuum and with complete originality is fooling themselves, or in denial.

The Beatles wouldn’t have happened without Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, and most rock music afterward wouldn’t have happened without the Beatles.  And of course Elvis was just making his own stew using ingredients from Big Mama Thornton, Hank Williams, and Fats Domino among others.  You get the point.

All this said, in the end your main focus should indeed be on creation.  Why?

Because when you create, you create assets.  What is an asset?

Robert Kiyosaki who wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad predicated his entire book on the clear line between assets and liabilities.

• an asset is anything that puts money in your pocket. 
• a liability is anything that takes money out of your pocket.

To become rich you create or acquire assets, and get rid of or avoid liabilities.  So for creative people this is great, because when you create something, you’re building an asset. 

Take my two side hustles – this blog, and my graphic arts side hustle.  When I write a post or make a design, those things instanty become assets.  I own them, and they can put money in my pocket, possibly for a long time to come. 

People can visit my blog, or buy a coffee mug with my design on it.  That one time creation can keep producing income, with no more energy spent.  Heck, I created this design in 2009, and it’s still sells pretty well today!  

Consider a musician.  They can write a 3-minute song once and put it out there, and it can provide them income for the rest of their lives.  If it’s good enough it can also make their kids and grand kids money long after they die!  No more work needed.

If they want to do more work using the song they can perform it live and it will make them even more money.  All from that one little 3-minute asset.

When an author completes a book, months or years of hard work are done.  But now they have a creation that can generate income for the rest of their lives and beyond.

Royalties, licensing, and republishing among other things allow people who create to continue making money from the their creations for a long time.  This also goes for podcasters, speakers, course curriculum creators, coders, and photographers among others. 

My blog buddy Freddy Smidlap is creating assets on his own blog by writing, and has a very talented wife who creates art.  She’s sold some pieces for pretty big bucks!  Freddy and his wife are creating things, and building wealth.

When you create, you create assets. And when you create assets you can use them to build wealth.

 

Treat Your Job As A Training Class

Many of you create things now within the confines of your W-2 job.  Your day job may require you to do some of these things such as code, or write.  But you’re probably doing it for someone else unless you own your own business.

You’re creating an asset for them.

Many other jobs don’t really allow you to create it all.  They force you to push paper around and do meaningless tasks.  Or function as a cog in a bureaucracy. 

I’m not saying jobs are bad.  Jobs are where most of us acquire the skills to learn to create! 

I started using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator at my job in the early 1990’s, probably version 1 for each program.  The creations I was making in my job were for someone else. 

Sure, I got paid for creating them, but it was a one-time fee.  But the skills in those two software packages I acquired are the very skills I now use to make $300-$400 a month selling graphic designs!

If you’re working in a job you don’t like but cannot get out of, what resources do you have available to learn and build skills?  You may have access to software or databases now that will allow you to create and build assets later. Or perhaps access to expensive tools and machinery that would be prohibitive to purchase for yourself.

Don’t ignore them.  Make the best of your situation and try to learn what you can.

 

Time To Build Assets

Having the free time to create assets and more importantly to create them for myself is one of the biggest benefits of being financially independent and semi-retired for me.

I now have about 500 graphic designs and 140 written pieces on my blog.  These assets are indeed making me money. 

Truth be told, my hourly rate isn’t very good at all, it actually sucks! 

But the good news is these creations could keep making me money for a long long time.  Most importantly, creating them is fun.  And doing fun “work” when you don’t really need the money is a great position to be in.

How About You AF Readers – Are you creating assets?

*This article contains affiliate links. Using those links throws some change in my pocket at no additional cost to you. Here’s my disclosure.