How You Earn Is As Important As What You Earn

The pitfalls of "easy money," cannibalism, and the wisdom of Matthew McConaughey

“What would this look like if it were easy?” -Tim Ferriss

“The easy solution isn't the solution, it’s the problem.”​ -Henry Rollins

Lottery jackpots are bigger than ever these days. I still don’t play. But I fantasize about it, imagining the thrill of becoming an overnight mega-millionaire or even a billionaire. It’s the easiest path to wealth – just a ticket away. Except you’ve got better odds of getting struck by lightning twice than striking it rich with winning numbers. So, essentially impossible… but easy. 

This fantasy, however, makes me wonder: Does the way we acquire wealth shape how much we value it? Stories of the easy path suggest the journey to earning money can be as significant as the amount earned.

For starters, consider the numerous cautionary tales of lottery winners whose fortunes ironically led to their downfall. Average 9-to-5 workers suddenly squandering millions on gambling, extravagant spending, and misguided financial choices paint a common picture. It’s as if there’s some kind of financial law of thermodynamics – too much wealth too soon overwhelms our ability to manage it. 

Seeking the easiest path to wealth is arguably a natural instinct, rooted in our ancestral past. As hunter-gatherers, we preferred the low-hanging fruit over the risks of reaching for higher branches. This strategy not only ensured survival but also elevated our status within the tribe.

It explains why financial media publishes so many articles glorifying supposedly lucrative yet easy side hustles. They generate a lot of clicks. (Real article title: “31-year-old mom left her job for a ‘simple and easy’ side hustle—she brings in up to $101,000 a month, works 30 minutes a day”.) 

Becoming wealthy isn’t complicated: spend less than you earn and invest the surplus. While straightforward and achievable for almost anyone, the real challenge lies in the patience, discipline and emotional resilience required over many years. It involves enduring market fluctuations and potential losses, as investing is a long-term game. 

As Warren Buffett succinctly put it:

“Investing is simple, but not easy.”

Perhaps, it’s better this way. We might not actually want it to be too easy. Fair, but not easy. 

It often pays to defy our instincts and opt for the harder path. Because “easy” in the context of money can be a dangerous word. It frequently signals three pitfalls: excessive risk, deception, or a sense of dissatisfaction. 

Grifters and cannibals

Open a browser or social media app and search for “easy ways to get rich.” You’ll quickly find a plethora of “experts” touting various strategies, from maximizing credit card points to managing apartment rentals. 

And there’s no shortage of platforms eager to help you try these methods. During the hysteria of NFTs and other digital assets, a CNBC survey found that the main attractions for people investing in cryptocurrency were “the ease of making trades” along with “encouragement from social media personalities.” 

However, what often gets left out or lost in the hype is the high risk associated with the potential for high returns. A prime example is the meme-stock frenzy, where many new investors suffered heavy losses. You are sold on how easy it is to get started but rarely warned about how hard it is to recover if it fails.

In many instances, individuals flaunting a luxurious lifestyle aren’t actually wealthy due to day trading or property flipping. Instead, their wealth often comes not from their strategies or hacks but from selling courses for them – they are essentially grifters. 

While some of these grifters might theoretically offer a path to wealth, others are explicitly trying to deceive. They prey on our instinctual yearning for the easiest path to a desired reward. 

A particularly harrowing example of the dangers of such deception is the story of the Donner Party in 1847. These California-bound settlers were misled by a guide more interested in bolstering his own reputation and business than in their safety. Enticed by promises of a shortcut, they instead encountered treacherous terrain and a devastating snowstorm, leading to a desperate struggle for survival that infamously included cannibalism.

However, it’s not just external deceit we need to be wary of; sometimes, the allure of an easy path can lead us to deceive ourselves.

The “effort paradox”

The pursuit of what’s easy often leads to a life marked by dissatisfaction. We frequently deceive ourselves into believing that the easy path will lead to happiness, but experience shows us otherwise.

It’s an intriguing paradox in human nature that while we often crave “easy,” we tend to value “hard” all the more. After all, we look at a paycheck and money found on the ground differently.

This is what researchers in a study call the “effort paradox”. They posit: “When given a choice, humans and non-human animals alike tend to avoid effort… we suggest that the opposite is also true… effort can also add value. Not only can the same outcomes be more rewarding if we apply more (not less) effort, sometimes we select options precisely because they require effort.”

This, in turn, motivates us to be persistent in working toward greater things in life. 

Someone familiar with the greater things in life is actor Matthew McConaughey, who once commanded millions per movie as a romantic comedy heartthrob. But as he revealed in his memoir, he felt a diminishing creative fulfillment: “Romantic comedies stopped presenting a challenge for me. I could read the script today and play the part tomorrow... I felt like I was playing a part instead of being myself. What started as a personal creative expression increasingly failed to nourish my spirit.”

So, he chose to step away from rom-coms, despite the financial security they offered. He faced a challenging period of two years without significant roles in a deliberate move to pivot to dramas, a decision that spurred the era known as the “McConaissance.” Reflecting on the meaning of success, he writes:

“We can get rich quick on an Internet scam, be an expert at nothing but everything if we say we are, get famous for our sex tape, and attain wealth, fame, rank, and power, even respect, without having a shred of competence for anything of value.”

Believe it or not, the McConaissance mirrors a broader truth: our value of something is often commensurate to our effort to obtain it. His journey underscores the value of pursuing a path that challenges and fulfills, even when it means foregoing immediate gains or enduring temporary setbacks. 

Maybe we all need to create a road to our own McConaissance. Many of us remain in well-paying but unfulfilling jobs, leading to a paradoxical situation where financial security coexists with deep-seated misery. This is echoed in a survey that shows 90% of workers would accept lower pay for more meaningful work. The implication is clear: how you earn is as important as what you earn.

Coda

The temptation of the easy option is always present, yet it’s not always the wisest choice. Better to take the harder road, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be quick about it. Save as much as you can and keep investing. Value perseverance. Focus on consistently striving for the greater rewards in life, recognizing that the most fulfilling achievements often require time, dedication and resilience.

Take it from a thirteen-year-old survivor of the Donner Party, who imparted a timeless lesson in a letter recounting her ordeal: “Never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can.”

To that, I say: “Alright, alright, alright.”