3 Ways to Escape The Never- Ending “Rat Race”

2020 was a tough year for everyone. It was financially draining, emotionally draining, and morale draining. We lost a lot of people, opportunities, and hope in the world.

Through all the bad, I feel like we’ve come together more as a planet because we’re all share the same struggle of living in this “new normal” and hoping for things to become actually normal again.

According to Moneyfit, “the rat race stems from the primary human mindset of earning more money to sustain an ever-increasingly extravagant lifestyle. It seems people study half their life to earn a degree in order to land a high-paying job and then think their struggles have ended. For many, the battle has just started at that point.”

Money can either be a driving force that can elevate our lives to the next level or it can be the roadblock that holds us back from living the best possible lives that we can.

Through years of trial and error, I’ve developed a heightened sense of awareness and understanding of how to escape the rat race and be less financially stressed out.

Live With Family for Longer Than Most People

Unlike many of my graduating class from high school, I didn’t immediately move out to college and live “the college dream” of parties and sporting events every night.

Staying home and attending community college was incredibly humbling. I had to look inward at myself and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. As someone who’s easily influenced, I’m not sure what my life partying and going out in college may have turned out to be.

Living with my family longer than I expected to make me more caring and supportive. I learned how to cook more, saved extra money from not paying rent, and got to spend more time with myself.

Staying with your parents has a negative stigma attached to it, and it’s incredibly unfortunate. I don’t plan on living with mine forever and look forward to getting a place in the upcoming months.

Living at home gives you so much more leverage and less financial stress that ultimately sets you up for the future. So when you're on your own, you already have savings, investments, and emergency funds set up so that you don’t have to worry about money as much as you would moving out right away.

Try a New Side Hustle Every So Often

Side hustles are an exciting way to make money trying something new. At some point in time, the place you work for (even if it's a dream job) will get stale at some point.

Instead of fleeing your day job and looking for the next one, you can keep it and use time after work to pursue your side hustle. This can be anything from online work, delivery apps, or creating and selling products.

A side hustle isn’t meant to make you rich overnight, but it’s something you can do to alleviate some of the financial pressure you may be under. Covid propelled side hustles even higher because businesses were shutting down and people’s bills kept building up.

I know so many people who have full-time jobs, yet they do Doordash or Uber on the side. It’s admirable. Instead of these people making excuses for why they aren’t happy, they're doing something about it. Oftentimes, it’s the people who are sitting at home doing nothing that complains the most.

The ones who are out and about, doing their side hustles, and finding ways to enjoy them rarely complain about their circumstances. Your actions speak louder than your words. Take a side hustle opportunity, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Network With Succesful People (And Don’t Be Afraid)

Something that’s always bogged my mind is why so many people are afraid to ask for help. You may think that you are inept or inefficient in whatever it is you’re want to achieve, but there are 10 people to every 1 of you who has achieved what you want.

Before I started writing, I joined Facebook groups to get a feel for the community and the expectations that came with it. Everyone was nice and treated me like family.

Ryan Fan

was one of the first people I reached out to and he had over 2,000 followers. I was nervous because I felt like I was speaking to a celebrity who would never return my message. He responded almost instantly and gave me feedback on my writing and gave me pointers on the platform.

Matt Lillywhite is like a brother to me. He always liked and commented on my work even though I was a brand new writer trying to make a dent in the business. He has helped me achieve numerous opportunities through writing and packaging my work.

I never thought I’d be able to have conversations with people I consider my idols in the writing space until I actually reached out to them. At the end of the day, they’re people just like you and me.

Genuinely successful people love to help fresh faces with ambition and drive. I would advise you not to spam someone of elite status if you haven’t put in the work and can demonstrate how much drive you have.

If you’re doing the basics and are trying to break through to the next level, that’s when you connect with successful people. Only until then, are you worth their time. Reciprocate the favors they do and express your gratitude and they can be your biggest mentors and friends for life.

Final Thought

The rat race is often tossed around like something that’s never going to end. People will always find a reason not to be happy with their circumstances, but 1 in every 10 will actually do something about it.

The three things I mentioned above are only small fractions of the many ways to escape the rat race. Fill your head with as much knowledge as you can and take action.

Remember, someone who looks like you and has had your circumstances has escaped the rat race and reached high levels of success. You can do it. You have to find your own way.