Finding the Balance between Passion and Financial Stability
Being aware of reality
Early misconceptions
I used to say things like: “We all know money does not bring you happiness.” In the last couple of years, my thoughts on this idea have changed drastically. My parents would always ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I would tell them that I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. The only reason for this response was because my Uncle was a mechanical engineer and made great money doing it. I never had any knack for building things. Engineering was definitely not for me. Programming on the other hand, was just out there waiting for me to discover it.
After discovering programming, I finally had a path to aim for. I was going to go to college, get my computer science degree, and go from there. My Mom would always tell me that whatever I ended up doing needed to make a lot of money. I would go back and forth with her on this issue. I wanted to do something that I loved for a living. The money did not matter to me whatsoever. How could the money matter if you woke up to something that you hated doing every morning? As long as I was doing what I loved, then I would be happy. At least, that’s what I thought…
A different point of view
Let’s imagine four different scenarios:
- You do what you love, but do not make a lot of money
- You make a lot of money, but do not do what you love
- You do not do what you love and do not make a lot of money
- You do what you love and make a lot of money
Note: Obviously, the phrase “a lot of money” is subjective. With respect to this article, I define “a lot of money” as the amount of money needed to allow you to become financially stable. I also define being financially stable as having money left over at the end of each month after all your expenses have been paid.
If you go through all the scenarios, the most appealing option (at least in my opinion) would be the fourth scenario. This being that you do what you love and make a lot of money. Let’s face it, at the end of the day, there will always be some kind of bill needing to be paid. The struggle of not being able to support a family financially is a crushing reality that no one should ever have to experience.
I have realized after some time that making a lot of money and doing what you love will not bring ultimate happiness on their own. These two things need to be acquired together and not separately. I knew that I needed to be financially stable if I was ever going to have any chance at supporting a family. At the same time, how could you go through your only life doing something meaningless?
Coming to terms with reality
I wanted to do something that I was passionate about. However, living a life paycheck to paycheck was not suitable. The only solution was to find a balance. The balance would have to be a combination of doing what I loved and making enough money to be financially stable. This has been my current aim. It seems like the best possible option. Could this be a reasonable pursuit?
It is definitely rare to hear about someone that has obtained this best possible option in their lives. This may seem like an unattainable goal. People beat the odds every day. We should no longer except the normality of the lives most people end up living. The tides must change once and for all. I cannot continue to watch as more and more people get stuck doing something that they hate for the rest of their lives. Find what you love to do and make some good money while you are at it too. We all make mistakes, but the one mistake we cannot make is failing to become everything we could be and more.
