So you’re desperate for money and struggle to afford what you want or need?
You might love to do X, Y or Z but it doesn’t pay sh*t and your friends are balling in comparison because they have a car and a nice place.
Maybe you’re still stuck at home with your parents or with sh*tty roommates. But you have something your friends don’t have.
You still have your soul, because you haven’t sold it to your employer for a paycheque.
That means you’re a free person with the potential to do whatever you want… Even though it doesn’t feel like it right now.
You don’t have the money to live freely but you have the freedom and potential for anything!
That’s something many would give anything for–but they have kids to feed! They have responsibilities to waste half their day in a job and hours more in traffic. They can’t drop everything and pursue their dreams like you.
Others are chained to desks and menial workdays because they have bills and credit cards to pay. Because everything comes with a cost.
Whereas if you’re still at home you’re likely paying little to nothing for rent. Even though you likely hate being at home.
I can relate.
You might think you’re a failure because you haven’t moved on but that’s not true!
These days it seems few can afford to live on their own and many more move back in with their parents.
If you’re doing what you love and doing what makes you happy you’re winning. Even if you’re at home…
I can’t begin to tell you how many working folk are absolutely miserable.
If you’re doing what you actually intended on doing–you’re a success!
Millions of people had dreams they intended on achieving and never got around to it because they settled for shiny things and comforts of life.
Failure isn’t about going broke—it’s about not becoming who you set out to be. If you’re aligned with your intention, you’re a success. If you’re not—and it leaves you unhappy—you’re not.
For some of them it’s too already late. It’s going to be much harder for them to excel than for you.
But I’ll let you in on a secret.
It’s a cliche but it can’t be any more true.
Do what you love.
But the truth is that this by itself won’t get you anywhere.
There’s tons of people that are doing what they love but aren’t earning a dime.
They tinker in their basement over the next big business idea but that idea gets lost in the graveyard to collect dust forever. Sure it might bring them joy, but it ends there.
That idea will never amount to anything real because that’s exactly what it is—a hobby.
The real secret is to do what you love BUT you must…
Figure out how to sell it.
Because otherwise you might never leave the cage of a job you work in.
I have a story I want to share with you.
Years ago, I got myself a job working a few levels underground digging tunnels for sewage pipes. I remember overhearing the guys talking in the locker room as we got ready for our shift.
I pulled on my wet gear and boots while the guys bragged about their new cars. They all had the latest model Mercedes’ or BMW’s.
I was 21 years old taking home $1,200 after tax for every 40-hour week, paid weekly. I wasn’t doing any hard labour and none of my friends made as much as me at the time. You can imagine how a typical 21 year old would feel in that situation.
It was one of the best and most interesting jobs I’d ever had…
At least I thought so at first.
Until things changed and I almost got killed a hand full times in my first week working there!
I remember one time where my foreman lost it on me for my lack of awareness as I was almost crushed by the rail car.
They called him “Speedy.”
“What the f*ck are you even doing down here kid?!” Speedy yelled lividly at me.
He then proceeded to imitate me mockingly in sarcasm and anger. I was still trying to pull my soul back into my body from shock in response to my near-death event.
“You don’t f*cking belong down here!” He screamed.
Speedy proceeded to share his experience the previous week, where he had to carry the lifeless body of a kid my age to the surface in a basket.
So he commanded me to get into a Trade and do something meaningful with my life. But the truth was I didn’t know what I was doing there. I just wanted to make enough money to get out of my living situation at home.
I thought it was so cool those guys could earn enough to afford luxurious cars. To me that was hope. Until I learned the truth that they didn’t want to be there.
They had no other choice but to work there because they had families to feed and mortgages to pay for. They lived above their means and splurged on nice cars because they didn’t know if they would make it home alive after work.
So by the end of the week I mustered the courage to quit. I didn’t want to leave the money, because at the time it meant my freedom at the end of the tunnel. It was hard for me to leave that kind of money on the table.
I had this feeling that I needed to get out of there because I knew that next time I wouldn’t be so lucky, even though I questioned it.
Years later I ran into a coworker from that tunnel who informed me Speedy died from a work accident months after I quit.
Looking back, I can’t thank Speedy enough for looking out for me when he did.
R.I.P.
He saved my life and helped me realize the money wasn’t worth it!
No amount of money is worth your life, your happiness or your soul.
So look at your own life and ask yourself…
Are you working a job to buy things for status, attention and validation? Are you selling your potential, freedom and happiness to your employer in exchange for money?
If you are, then you may be stuck in a nightmare, or even worse–you’re already dead.
We think, “If I could only make more money, I can get out of my situation.” So we sell our soul to a paycheque.
Keeping us coming back for more every payday, because the more we make, the more we spend.
They call it lifestyle creep and it chains us to the system forever.
The only way to escape is to give it all up and start over. This time on a different path.
But that’s not easy to do because we grow attached to beautiful luxurious lifestyles.
“The good news is…you came a long way, the bad news…is you went the wrong way.”
J. Cole
Starting over means admitting to failure and defeat. It hurts too much. But you’re here right now on the right path with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Putting off your dreams for later is a certain way to lose them forever. Or waste 30 years of your life and decide to start when you’re old and tired.
So in the meantime, just endure, forget the bullsh*t and focus on your art.
Working on something you enjoy helps you push through the crap, and when you enjoy what you do the longer you can work on it.
The longer you work on it, the better you get. The better you get, the more successful you will become.
Then you’ll have your very own rags to richest story you can tell for yourself.
You might even say,
“I was broke, but now I’m rich doing what I love, and I won’t trade it for anything!”
Your friend,
Jamie.
