Lesson 23: Goal-Setting, Part 8, The Case Against TV
Most American teenagers watch TV for 22 hours a week. Above age 18, TV viewing climbs up to 24 hours a week, then to 34 hours.
Maybe you do not watch TV. This lesson will show you why you need to start a business. The business will let you convert your extra 22 hours a week into a fortune.
But maybe you watch TV. I am going to show you reasons to quit, or to cut way back. If I can persuade you of this, you will make a lot of money. At age 70, you will be rich. How rich? Find out. I want you to prove this for yourself.
First, keep a weekly time schedule of your TV viewing hours over the next week. This is an assignment, not a suggestion. You will have to write an essay on this for lesson 30: (1) how you organized the exercise; (2) what the results were.
Second, for right now, guess how many hours. This is preliminary. You will do this again for your essay in lesson 30.
Third, take your preliminary guess for the number of hours per month. Multiply this by $20 an hour. This is what you will earn at age 20 if you start a business by age 15.
If you start a business, you will make at least 10% per year by the time you are age 20. Trust me on this. Assume that you reinvest 100% of this. Call this your TV expenses account.
Fourth, go to a financial calculator. Enter the monthly figure at $20/hour. Enter 10% interest. Use ten years. (Note: current principal is zero.)
Next, increase your hourly pay to $50/hour. You will make this at age 30 in your business. (You will in fact make a lot more.) Keep the figure of 10%. (You will in fact make more.) Don’t use 34 hours a week, which is what most adults watch. I want you to low-ball this estimate.
Next, current principal is whatever your first decade’s return is, which you wrote down. Insert this in the current principal box.
Now compute it again, but with 40 years as the period (age 30 to 70).
You will then find out why TV isn’t free. This is what you will forfeit if you keep watching TV.
In your essay, you will compare your guess here vs. the actual number of hours per day you track.
It gets worse.
Then — extra credit — do this with your social media time.
I dare you. I triple-dog dare you.