Happy Tuesday!

In October 2022, I took the Taiwan Rail for the first time. As I sat on the window seat and admired the view outside, I realized that, like different modes of transportation, there are many different ways to experience life:

• Walking
• Public Bus
• Public Metro
• Private Car

The analogy gave me immense clarity about how I want to live my life, and I want to share it with you today. I’ll be covering:

• How these modes of transport differ
• How I relate these modes of transport to different levels of time and financial freedom
• What I feel is the “right” mode of transport to experience life

Let’s dive in!

How do these modes of transport differ?

These modes of transport differ in terms of their autonomy, speed, and cost:

Walking:

• Free—only requires your raw effort.
• 100% autonomy over the desired route.
• Very slow and laborious.

Bus:

• Paid—you pay for software (or someone) so that you can exert less raw effort.
• Less autonomy—the route is already determined, and you’re just a passenger that will get off at your desired stop.
• Faster than walking.

Metro:

• Like public buses, but usually faster.
• Sometimes, there might not be nice scenery to look at—just the dark walls of the underground tunnel you’re in.

Private Car:

• The most expensive mode of transport.
• 100% autonomy over the desired route and traveling speed.

How do these modes of transport relate to different levels of time and financial freedom?

Walking:

• Low-wage jobs; making barely enough to get by.
• You might not be able to admire the scenery along the way because you need to pay attention to where you’re going.
• If you stop working, your life derails—things come to a standstill.

Bus:

• Jobs where you exchange time for money, allowing for some savings.
• Sometimes, you'll have nice scenery to admire through the bus window—pockets of time to spend on your relationships, interests, and skills.

Metro:

• Income streams in which you exchange time for money, allowing for savings and investments.
• Sometimes, you don’t have scenery to look at because the train is going through an underground tunnel.
• In an underground tunnel, you’re working hard. You might be working 10 hours or more a day, perhaps during the weekends too, just putting up with the dreadfulness of your tasks for the paycheck.

Private Car:

• Income streams that are based on performance—not time—and allow for savings and investments.
• Has the most time and financial freedom: You can stop anytime you want, for whatever reason, without things falling apart.

What is the right mode of transport?

As with most things in life, it depends… on:

Your values

Some people value certainty.

Being able to reach the destination for sure makes them happy. They can live their days on autopilot mode to get through any unpleasant phases in their journey.

In that case, the metro suits them best because it gets them to where they want to be—quickly and certainly. They can also autopilot their way through any dark tunnels they encounter along the way.

Your present circumstances

In 2017, I wanted to represent Singapore in the world’s largest web design and development competition.

I had no programming skills, so I had to walk: I practiced programming and designing for 8 hours every day after school.

In 2020, I didn’t have enough money for college. To solve this problem, I took the bus, working full-time at IBM in my gap year.

In both cases, I achieved what I strived for. I also exchanged a lot of my time for those results and experiences.

In 2023, I’m still short of money, but I also have more experience and skills to capitalize on. This enables me to start considering other modes of transport, especially those that don’t require exchanging my time for money.

Important: There’s no shame in walking.

I want to emphasize that no one likes walking.

Those who walk are often forced to, due to birth circumstances or unfortunate events outside of their control.

If you're walking right now, know that it's okay and that there's no shame in that. You're already stronger than those who were born into more privileges than you, and with some planning, you will be able to jump to a better mode of transportation.

I’m curious—which mode of transport have you been using for your life thus far? And which one would you like to take going forward?

Feel free to reply via email or send me a DM on LinkedIn.

If you know someone who might find this analogy useful, feel free to share it!