The saying "Time is Money" is not true... once you learn to generate income without using your time!

When we talk about generating income, the vast majority will think to get a job and work by trading their time directly for payment. Working 35 to 40 hours per week for an employer in order to recieve a weekly salary is the fall-back position of the vast majority.

Some people try to take things a little further by starting their own small business as trades people (plumbers, electricians, etc) or becoming a "consultant" and working as a contractor. Though this may sound exciting to some (and it can be), there is not much difference between a salaried worker a small business person except that the salaried worker gets paid leave, sick pay and benefits that the self employed person does not receive. The small business owner is still trading their time directly for payment.

If a small business owner stops working, their income stops too.... but the bills do not!

The upside of a small business, is that you control your salary, your taxable income and what can be business deductions.

There are many ways to generating income, and not all are labour intensive that require you swapping your time for remuneration. Here are some examples of how people can generate income:

• Employee: Working for a company with a relatively fixed number of hours per week that essentially swaps your time for money. The trade off here is that one gets relative security of income and paid leave, but foregoes higher income and also is unable to take advantage of tax laws available to entrepreneurs.

• Self Employed: Working for yourself has some distinct advantages in that generally, but not always, income is higher than a normal employee. Hours can vary and the more you are willing to work, the more you can earn. However, you are still trading your time for money. Since there is no paid leave, the moment you cannot work, your income immediately stops.

• Business Owner: This is one of the best ways to generate income - especially if you have employees. The business, once established, produces earnings and income. It may be labour intensive to start, but should get to the point where it then runs with you (or an employee) managing and overseeing the business. It should get to the point where your income from the business is NOT directly related to your hours worked. The aim is to get the business operating profitably and generating constant income whether you are working 5 hours per week or 75 hours per week.

• Passive Investment Income: My favourite form of income, where I make money while I sleep! Investments such as property, equities etc generate rents/dividends whether you are asleep or awake. Income is generated without your active involvement.

I used my business income and profits to invest in passive income generating assets such as property and equities to eventually build a portfolio of assets that generated enough income for me to never need to work again.

When it comes to generating income, the best way is not the way most people think. If you are trading your time for money, then you have limited your earning capacity by the available hours that you have to work.

Think about it for a moment... if you have 60 hours per week to work, and you earn $30 per hour, then your earning limit is $1,800 per week and that is it!

What would happen if instead of exchanging your physical time (labour) for money, you exchanged your creativity? For example, this particular blog may take 2-3 hours per week of my time to put together, and let's say that rather than making it free, I charge a subscription of (say) $5 per month. If I can get 1000 subscribers from around the globe, then my income becomes $5,000 per month - for 2-3 hours per week work.

If I want to then increase my income by 20%, then all I need to do is increase my subscriptions by 20% (200 more). Now, bear in mind that it may take a little time to get the subscriptions up 20%, but once it is done, I then go back to my normal 2-3 hours per week and now I am earing $6,000 per month for the same amount of my time.

What I am trying to say to you is that the most valuable, precious and limited resource you have is TIME. You must learn to make the most of it and avoid trading it for money. Use your brains and creativity to "create" an income that is not time-intensive.

My business focussed on a niche market. It sold a range of products that other businesses needed, and had to purchase for compliance purposes. Once we established a customer, the income they generated for us was constant month after month and year after year. Sure, it took some effort to set the system up and establish the business and customer base, but once achieved, it became a "cash cow" that just generated constant income and profit - no matter what hours I worked. Customer orders kept flowing in whether I was in the office, at home, in a cafe, on the beach or on vacation on some island in the Mediterranean!

• Do not limit yourself.

• Learn to create income streams that do NOT require a direct trade of your time for money.

• Learn to make money while you sleep.

• Learn to value your time and understand that this is your MOST valuable, and MOST limited resource.

• Get to the point in life when you spend your time doing the things you love, instead of trading it for money.

• If what you love spending your time on also makes you money, then that is a bonus... but you also need to think of a way that it can create an income stream without your time........ an example maybe online via paid subscriptions?

• Learn to invest your excess profit/income to generate future passive investment income streams.