Forget the House and the Picket Fence. The American Dream is Actually About Control

Alright folks, let's cut through the nonsense. The American Dream as told to you is wrong. You've been led to believe that the American Dream is about buying a house, a car, a dog, and living happily ever after. You've been told that if you work hard, go to college, and get a good job, you'll achieve it. The harsh reality is that the American Dream is not about material possessions or quality of life, and the standard playbook is no longer enough. The rise of software, the internet, and remote work has changed the game, and too many people have followed the same path, making it far less competitive.

Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers are busting their behinds, working themselves to the bone, and what do they have to show for it? A mountain of student debt, a brutal job market, and a one-way ticket to Struggle City. They're discovering that their parents' sources of economic control are no longer sufficient for them.

The real American Dream is composed of two parts: having control over your economic destiny (COYED) and the ability to live a life that aligns with your definition of "good." COYED means generating a consistent, predictable income without being at the mercy of a single entity. It means having a reliable skill set that allows you to make a living within 90 days, without being in constant survival mode. If you're powerless against the whims of a single employer, you don't have COYED – you just have a job.

Building true COYED takes time and effort. It requires developing a diverse set of strengths, including skills, a body of work, reputation, prestigious stamps of approval, cash reserves, relationships, networks, and intellectual property. It's not a permanent state, either. As the world evolves, you need to adapt and sometimes develop entirely new sources of economic control.

When making significant life or economic decisions, always ask yorself: "Does this increase or decrease my control over my economic destiny?" America is a complex landscape, and many offerings are designed to strengthen only the other party's COYED, not yours.

It's crucial to recognize that some decisions may have a negative impact on your COYED in the medium to long term. In such cases, you should proactively define:

• The steps you'll take to mitigate the damage
• When you'll take those steps, assuming everything goes as planned
• The "canary in the coal mine" indicators that signal the need to act sooner than planned
• The system(s) you'll use to automatically remind you to take action when timelines or key metrics are hit

By: Art Efremkin