Did you know that a salary is the bribe you are paid to forget your dreams? Too many of us determine our worth based on how much a company decides to pay. That’s a dangerous way to roll and a damaging way to think. Many of us suffer from a form of PTSD because we have allowed someone to convince us that, say, a garbage man cannot rise to the level of owning a successful cleaning business. Don’t believe the hype.

Your earning potential is LIMITLESS once you understand that no one has the right to define you unless you GIVE THEM THAT RIGHT. And you’d be a fool to allow it.

According to the societal thinking process, I should have topped out at thug level, maybe worker bee level, at most. After all, so many other folks from my neck of the woods fell for the okey-doke, so why not me?

Peter Gabriel’s song, “Big Time,” says it best. He sings about coming from a small town that limits the thinking and potential of its inhabitants. It’s like an anthem of triumph, the video being an energetic, rather cartoonish affair to which most can relate.

Using that song figuratively, no matter where you come from, it is a small place. I’m from Chicago but was being smothered by the concept of remaining in a familiar neck of the woods. I love my hometown but decided to live elsewhere and see the world.

There is something awesome about the familiar but it can also limit your desire to reach beyond an established comfort zone. A job can get to be that: comfy. Like lab rats, many of us can get used to receiving a biweekly paycheck, being fed in regular intervals. If the scientists see fit to cut your rations or change the frequency of feeding times, you’re stuck in the maze, starving.

Fortunately, we are allowed to hu$tle. In fact, I highly encourage it. The ready availability of the internet alone has been a game-changer. Suddenly, you can work a 9-to-5, come home and grind in our pajamas at odd hours of the night, if we wish. Nobody cares what you look like, your religious affiliation, gender, or the color of your skin, as long as you can provide a quality service.

Most superheroes have secret identities. They may be mild-mannered reporters by day, but going out and saving the world at night. It sounds so damn cool, too. You can do the same, minus the need of a uniform or any special powers. You just need to be smart enough to take advantage.

But maybe you’re about as technologically savvy as a moss-covered boulder (Note: I am about one step above that and damn grateful to be!) and want to do something that doesn’t mean staring at a screen. There are other gigs that can be worked and several websites that post openings for those types of side hu$tles.

Looking for the time to dedicate to said grinds? Sacrifice some of the hours spent staring at screens (whether tablet, computer, or television). Keep in mind, the actors, producers, and writers of your favorite TV programs are already making their money. Value yourself enough to where you can state the steps you are taking to improve your earning potential over sports statistics.

Here are a few things to consider:

1. Realize your worth and refuse to be simply satisfied with vicarious living

2. Understand there are holes in the myth of keeping up with the Joneses; set your own standard

3. Be open-minded, curious, and daring enough to consider other ways of making money that are not limited by or tied to your existing job

4. Spend your time with other likeminded folks and build your team from there; limit your proximity to those who enjoying struggling from paycheck to paycheck

5. Proceed with more passion and enthusiasm than you would in hyping someone else’s vision, sporting event, or television show