Producer Vs. Consumer – How to Change Your Mindset and Your Life

 in Blog / Budget / Invest

Unless you produce more than you consume you are going to fail. 

It was the first time in my life I realized what the secret was. 

A gradual process has led to a single moment. Something I had been hunting down for some time. The question was simple. 

What do successful people do that others don’t? 

You’ll see the internet plastered with fluff that doesn’t really lead to true results. 

Articles that will say things like meditation or reading books. 

Yes, those are great, and there are reasons to pursue those as part of your growth strategy. 

Yet, many of us can meditate all day and never get anywhere.

This began to fascinate me. 

Was it a collection of the “personal growth” activities that led to an individual’s success or was there some secret sauce that we as a whole can not see in plain view. 

I was determined to find out. 

I began to map out what I felt helped me get to another level. Then I realized all of these things had something in common. 

They are activities of what I call a producer. 

Now, I want to be careful about how I define a producer. This isn’t some pie in the sky definition. It has potential life-changing characteristics; if you put in the work. 

For the past two years, I began to monitor those around me. I watched those who were successful and those who were not successful very closely. 

The difference became apparent. Almost immediate. If you look at the habits or daily practices of those who are successful, they all have one common trait. 

No, it’s not meditation, or exercise, or reading. 

What successful people did was PRODUCE MORE THAN THEY CONSUMED. 

This is the secret. 

Now, don’t worry, I am not going to leave you hanging like that. We are going to dig deep into what this means. It’s not just something you say, but a habit, a way of life of sorts. 

Why would anyone want to produce more than they consume? 

Person playing a guitar

It’s simple really. 

Creating and producing brings us happiness. It gives us a sense of purpose and satisfaction. To live a full life we must produce. 

Once I realized this I saw it littered in every form. It’s in every workplace, every hobby, every economy, every country, every society, every form of life. 

I am going to unfold the steps it takes to understand how this simple phenomenon works. You can choose which path you would like to take. Do you want to be a producer or consumer? To create or to use? To pave the way or follow the path? 

Everything is a Trade-Off

We need to look at how each decision we make creates an outcome. This comes in the form of trade offs. This life comes down to a simple sentence. You can have anything you want, you just can’t have everything. 

You can have your cake and eat it too is a lie. 

Let’s look at something we are all too familiar with in our society. Working out and ice cream:

Now we all know that our instant gratification selves would love to sit on the couch and eat ice cream all day. It tasted so good, so creamy, so rich, like tiny sweet pillows against our taste buds. 

So we keep eating that creamy goodness. Eventually after sitting on the couch for some time we begin to feel some things. 

First we may feel a little guilt. That hasn’t stopped you before so you keep eating that fluffy pillow delectable while sitting on the couch. 

Then, you begin to feel slight anxiety. You know that you are starting to gain weight, but the ice cream is so good. 

Finally one day you go to put on you favorite pair of pants, and whammo! They don’t fit. 

Like a thief in the night an all too well known foe enters your emotional state. Panic. 

You begin to question all your life choices and what the heck you have been doing all these months. Why would you do this to yourself? Who lives like this! 

So you get your plump tush into the gym for a sweat session. 

After a few weeks or months, you sweat your way back to your original weight and all is well again. 

You haven’t had your favorite treat in a while, and gosh darn it, you deserve an award for all the hard work you have done. The cycle begins again. 

Big Purchases vs Crappy Small Purchases

Deep down everyone is looking to make a big purchase. Maybe it’s a home, traveling the world, or even retiring without a worry (yes this is a purchase, you are buying your time). 

Then, something gets in the way. It can consume your every fiber if you are not careful. That something is shiny stuff. These decisions are made with what I call your Big Baller brain. 

Shiny stuff is any purchase that you decide to make in the short term that will delay your long term goal. 

Let’s say you want to buy a house (a crib for all you early 2000’s folks). 

Now your rational brain is going to plan up front. Maybe he will even whip out a spreadsheet and map out how long it will take to save up the cash for a down payment. 

Then, one day, you are enjoying your Saturday morning and your Big Baller Brain sees a shiny new necklace that would look perfect on you. Better yet, it just went on sale! 

Big Baller Brain knows that you can’t pass up such a good deal, so you pull the trigger. It will only put you a few months back on your down payment plan. You’ve waited this long, what’s a few more months.

A few weeks go by, and you and your shiny new necklace are walking through the mall when you see it. A Brookstone massage chair. Big Baller Brain lets you know how badly you need this chair. Your back hurts sometimes during your workout stents and it only costs another two months of your down payment.  No questions asked you buy the chair and Big Baller Brain gives you a shot of dopamine. 

Before you know it, Big Baller Brain has eaten your down payment plan. Worse yet, he has left you to deal with a panic attack brain and the cloud of regret.

Why is this happening? 

You are consuming more than you are producing. If you want that house, you must produce enough to be able to afford that house (unless you are living in 2007, am I right?). 

What is the Difference Between a Producer and a Consumer? 

A producer starts a business, a consumer racks up credit card debt. A producer wakes up to write, a consumer sleeps in from watching TV too late. A producer never misses a workout, a consumer goes to the bar. 

A producer reads non-fiction books to build knowledge, a consumer reads fiction books for entertainment. A producer learns a new instrument, a consumer listens to Spotify. A producer starts a podcast, a consumer listens to a podcast. This can go on forever. 

Activities a producer would partake in: 

  • Earning an income
  • Saving More than you earn 
  • Mowing the lawn 
  • Cleaning the house 
  • Writing 
  • Reading
  • Exercise
  • Gardening 
  • Starting a business
  • Starting a side hustle 
  • Makes Music

Here is what a consumer does: 

  • Watches TV 
  • Spends too much
  • Overeats
  • Pays a cleaning service 
  • Pays a Lawn Service 
  • Pays a Car Wash
  • Goes Shopping
  • Buys Entertainment
  • Watches Sports

How a Producer will spend money Vs. How a consumer will Spend Money 

A consumer looks for ways to be served. They have an attitude that the world is out to get them. It is never their fault. They want everything handed to them without doing the work.  

The producers look for ways to serve others. They value hard work and resourcefulness. They have the wherewithal to realize that “if it is to be, it is up to me”. 

The consumer is greedy and thinks of themselves. If they are asked to give money to a cause they will either not do it, or want credit for giving. 

 The producer gives to organizations, charities, and individuals who he believes in, consistently. They don’t need to be praised, they do it because it brings them joy.  

The consumer will typically pay more in taxes than the producer. This is because they do not spend their money on assets. 

The producer gets tax breaks by providing jobs and housing that results in tax breaks. They plow all their extra money into assets such as businesses, real estate, 401K, or a Roth IRA. 

The consumer’s wealth is calculated in dollars. They only have what they have not consumed. Usually these dollars are set aside temporarily for the next big purchase. 

The producer’s wealth is calculated in cash flowing assets that produce more than just dollars. This could be real estate, websites, or a business. They build these assets for their future. 

A consumer will go out of their way to spend money on their image. They keep up with the joneses. 

A producer will maintain everything they purchase. They don’t buy the next shiny object, just because it is the newest. 

Leveraging Consumption to Produce more

Now there is an interesting phenomenon of what is called a power producer.

 The Power Producer knows that leveraging consumption will take them to the next level. They realize that once their income level is high enough, they should hire producers so that they can produce even more. They are in essence consuming these producers. This is the magic of leverage. 

Take entrepreneur A (EA for short) for example. EA has a number of projects to produce that will increase his income but also needs to produce by mowing his lawn. 

Well, EA can hire someone for $20 while he makes $200 within the same hour. Hiring someone is essentially consuming their service, but EA is producing more income. This makes him a power producer. He is leveraging minor tasks for tasks that will increase his production 10 fold. 

This is how a peak producer performs. If you work for a company, that company is using your production for their benefit. Leveraging the production of hundred if not thousands of employees. This is how they go to the next level. 

Yet, if a company consumes too many employees they can overspend on payroll and go under. Their Big Baller Brain kicked in. As you can see, too much of many good activities can flip into consumption. 

4 Ways to Produce More Than You Consume

1. Track How Much You Consume

In 2018, Apple introduced the ultimate consumer time tracker. They called it screen time. The majority of consumers are now glued to the slot machine in their pocket they call a phone. If you want to produce more than you consume you have to start by tracking. 

Take one day and track how much time you spend in each category. You will be shocked. Most of us consume so much more than we produce, that it is laughable.

List out your biggest consumption items. If you are consuming for hours on end and feel depressed. Know that you can take those same hours and put them to good use. 

2. Plan Accordingly 

Every day you will battle procrastination. It is the monkey on your back that never goes away. I had so many days that I was consuming more than I was producing that I decided that I had to find a solution. 

The first thing I did was set a time to do high priorities daily. For me, it started with reading, writing, and exercising. I decided that time was one of the biggest hurdles.

As the day went on, I would get bombarded with other priorities. When I finally was able to work out, read, and write, I only had time to do one. 

So, I woke up an hour earlier.  I knock out the reading and writing in the morning while I was fresh. Then work out in the evenings, to melt the stress of the day away. It worked so well that I began to produce 10x more! Now, I track my “producer activities” in my calendar. 

3. Decide on Your Big 3 

Make a list of your top 3 priorities. Do those first things in the morning and get them done. Then you can focus on other production activities that are less important to you. 

Use this same approach for the activities you always push off. Just do them first thing in the day. Otherwise, you will allow them to get pushed back forever. This is your procrastination kicking in. 

4. What Do You Value? 

Producers know what they value. This could be making a plan to buy more assets than liabilities. 

Read more than you play video games. 

Learn a new instrument instead of scrolling social media. 

Make a list of what you value and prioritize in every area of life. 

Do you want to be fit? Prioritize spending a little more on better quality food. Want to build wealth? Increase your investing contributions by 1% each month. Want to write a book? Commit to writing 500 words a day. 

Final Thoughts 

Some of you may still be stuck on the consumer hamster wheel because of fear. You are scared that you will fail. Others may judge you. What if you are not good enough? 

This is absolutely not true. The majority of people are so self-centered that they could care less about what you do. This gives you the freedom to create and pursue your passion. Chase after that fire in your soul. You will regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t. 

andrew
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