This is how rich people make money.

So, I've been reading a book… and it has fundamentally changed my perception of wealth acquisition. Here's the thing, most people trade their time for money. Wealthy people don’t. Today, I’m going to explain to you how they do it, and how you can start building the same mindset.

The Big Idea:

Most of us have been conditioned to believe the only way to earn more is by working more hours. Overtime, multiple jobs, you name it. But what if there was another way? What if you build an asset that could generate income without depending on trading your hours for money?

I’ll break down exactly why this makes sense, share a short framework to get started, and then wrap up with the most important shift you need to make.

The Problem with Trading Time for Money:

You only have 24 hours a day. Even if you earn a high hourly rate, there’s a ceiling. The idea of ‘just work harder’ or 'just charge more per hour' is like a treadmill. You can run faster, but you’re still stuck on the same belt. Wealthy people know this and focus on building assets: real estate, digital products, even a YouTube channel that grows while you’re offline.

The Asset Mindset:

Assets are anything that can generate ongoing value, something that requires minimal to zero maintenance after they've been constructed. Picture a digital course you create once and sell for years, or an ebook that pays royalties while you sleep.

The key is to shift from ‘I need to work more hours’ to ‘I need to create or acquire something that works for me in the background.’

A quick example: let’s say you’re great at Photoshop. You could crank out client work all day. Or, you could turn your Photoshop skills into a course. Once you’ve set that up, it’s an asset that keeps earning.”

The 3-Step Asset Framework:

1. Identify Your “Zone of Value”

Pick something you’re already skilled at, curious about or passionate about. It could be cooking, coding, graphic design—anything that provides value. If you don’t know yet, start experimenting.

2. Build a Minimal Viable Asset

Create a product and content around that skill / passion / curiosity. A mini eBook, a digital workshop, a newsletter, a youtube channel. Keep it simple at first to see if people actually value what you have to say. When people value your free resources, then it's a good indication to start thinking about how you can package the value you provide into a product (asset) to help people further in a more elegant or innovative manner.

3. Refine & Scale

Once you see demand, keep improving and refining your asset. The point is, you reinvest into the asset to make it grow. Like nurturing a tree, keep watering it until it starts to bear fruit, the effort you exerted into caring for it while its young will pay off when it grows. Once a tree is mature, it no longer requires regular maintenance (perhaps a slight trim once a year). It produces fruit even if you've stopped manually watering it with a watering can.

Why It Matters:

It’s about using your limited time to build something that multiplies. This way, you’re not stuck in a never ending sigma grind-set. That’s the biggest shift in mindset. Once you feel that shift, you’ll think about time differently, I hope so at least anyway.

So here’s the bottom line: Wealthy people understand that in the long run, building assets is more lucrative than renting out your time (generally speaking). You start small—figure out your zone of value, build a minimal viable product, and then reinvest as you grow.

May Allah place barakah in our affairs and make our intention to seek wealth a means of attaining His pleasure.

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السلام عليكم.