◆ Gems
Ep 34How to Work 3 Days a Week & Earn More
0:55

Career & earning · 0:55

This family put their money into the sports car, not into air conditioning

Jeff Cohen

Ep 34Sep 18, 2022

How to Work 3 Days a Week & Earn More

with Jeff Cohen

I didn't need 9/11 to take charge of my career. I should have been thinking that way anyway.

Jeff Cohen

More moments · 6

0:44
When layoffs hit, your boss gets told: five names on my desk by five o'clock
0:54
My dad 'generously' took only two slices, until the pizza guy asked if he wanted his usual
0:50
My first boss said: on your weaknesses, the best I can do is make you average
0:45
I didn't quit. I negotiated three days a week.
0:48
List your last three jobs, then your favorite project in each
0:48
Our real estate empire plan, until one terrible tenant

Try this · top 3

Quotes

“The things that you're not good at, the best I can hope for is to make you average at them. (his first boss at American Express)”

Jeff Cohen

“When times are tough at a company, the people who don't have a good relationship with their boss are always the first to go.”

Jeff Cohen

“The person who gets the promotion is the person who's already operating at the next level.”

Jeff Cohen

“What you're going to get paid is what the other person is willing to give you.”

Jeff Cohen

“None of us have any idea really how anybody is doing.”

Jeff Cohen

Takeaways

  1. 1 He grew up secular in New City, NY. A rabbi's warmth at a first class, and his young son loving their first Shabbos, drew the family in.
  2. 2 Parental footprint: we absorb our parents' views on career and money as fact. His were: stay at one company for decades, and live within your means.
  3. 3 A 40-year net-worth chart at age 21 made him question the one-company path.
  4. 4 Build on strengths. A boss steered him to projects that used his writing and speaking, and another moved him from marketing to HR.
  5. 5 He survived 9/11 near the towers. Within six months he had negotiated three days a week at American Express and used the other two to build his own income.
  6. 6 Rental real estate earned money but didn't suit him because of a nonpaying tenant. Match income streams to your strengths, or hire a property manager.
  7. 7 His main income streams became HR consulting, executive coaching, speaking and writing books (an advance, then royalties).
  8. 8 A corporate job isn't as safe as it looks. He saw tens of thousands laid off in downturns.
  9. 9 He plans his 168 hours a week the way you'd budget money.
  10. 10 Most new work comes from repeat clients and word of mouth. Online marketplaces helped at the start.
  11. 11 Helping 79 people in his shul with resumes and interviews, for free, later led to paid work - without his planning it.
  12. 12 Age matters less than people think. Start from where you are.

Full episode

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