
Chase the Paper, or Chase the Dream? 5 Reasons My Wife and I Turned Away $260k to Live Our Dreams
How much is living a life of your dreams and complete happiness worth to you? Well, for my wife and I, it turns out that our dreams are worth at least $260k!
Just a few days ago, my old boss sent my wife and I an offer to work for him again. The offer was for $130k for me and $130k for my wife. We would each get an additional $5k towards student loans each year. That’s at least 5 times what we’re making now, so it seems like a no-brainer to take the offer, right?
Well, it turns out that we didn’t take the offer, and in this article I’m going to explain why. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I hope you find my words useful.
It’s All Warren Buffett’s Fault
$260,000 to ‘play with puppies and kittens all day’ seems like a decent offer, wouldn’t you agree? Well, the only problem is that I’m not passionate about the job. In January of 2018, I vowed to never punch another clock ever again because I am an entrepreneur at heart and a terrible case of a dreamer! That’s right, folks. I’ve got it bad!
I’m currently in the process of living out my dreams, and even with a generous offer, I’m not willing to stand down.
I can so vividly hear someone from one of my favorite motivational YouTube videos saying, “Don’t chase the paper. Chase the dream.” “You can choose the money, or you can choose what you love.”
I then hear Warren Buffet say, “You don’t want to take a job just for the money or work for a company that you don’t feel good about.”
I’ve probably listened to that video over 100 times, and now I find myself having to put these pieces of advice to use!
Do you think my wife and I made the right decision? Well, let me give you a little more background information before I tell you the reasons we declined.
My Story
I’m a veterinarian by trade, but I’m a motivational speaker, personal development coach, author, and entrepreneur by passion. I’m 31 years old with a 30-year-old wife (also a veterinarian), and a 3 year-old. My wife is also 6 months pregnant with our second little girl.
Combined, we both have almost $400k in student loan debts.
As you may or may not know, 1-in10 veterinarians suffers from psychological distress, 1-in-6 from suicidal ideation, and 1-in-4 from depressive episodes, and for the first 3 years after graduating from veterinary school, I was living proof of those statistics.
There is a myriad of reasons for these stats, and a simple Google search of “poor wellbeing for veterinarians” will land you many of them.
Motivational speakers and personal development books were so useful in bringing me out of my own poor wellbeing that I really wanted to be able to do the same for others!
The funny part is that I was actually really good at being a veterinarian. I was a master of client communication, and I was decent at the medicine. I knew what I could handle, and I knew what I needed to refer out.
In January 2018, I decided to walk away (I had actually strategically planned that exit in January 2017), and I’m now deep into my new business, which provides wellbeing solutions for members of the veterinary community! We do coaching (personal development and mindfulness/meditation), seminars, workshops, and keynotes for the profession. We also provide tons of free resources and content (written, audio, and video) for members of the veterinary profession.
My company is called Get MotiVETed, and we are bringing much needed motivation to the veterinary profession!
The Dilemma:
My new business is less than a year old, and we are just now starting to get hot. The speaking engagements are starting to pile up, and I am already living the dream because I’m satisfying my passion! However, I’m not necessarily satisfying my pockets.
As a matter of fact, I’m at the lowest I’ve ever been in terms of my finances. I could really use $130k, but I can’t go back to practicing medicine. I would simply be doing it for the money, and I can’t ignore Warren!
Our 5 Reasons for Declining the Offer:
If you ever find yourself in this situation, I hope the 5 following reasons will be of benefit to you. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here, but if you’re going to live your dreams, I believe you should stick to your guns. As long as you have a “why”, a plan, and faith, I know you’ll get the result you deserve!
1. Taking a job just for the money goes against everything I believe in — This would literally be selling my soul to the devil! I mean, I started a platform called Dream Life Motivation. The purpose is to help people discover, pursue, and achieve the dream life. I write articles for my audience on why you should follow your dreams! I told them I vowed to never punch a clock again! I would be a complete hypocrite to not take my own advice! As a matter of fact I wouldn’t take the job even if he offered me a billion dollars… OK, yea, maybe for a billion, but you get the point! It would have to be something completely unrealistic in order for me to take it.
2. There’s always going to be a better offer — When you are qualified, you will find no shortage of opportunities that will pay you what you are worth. If I start taking jobs just for the money now, then where will it end? What if someone offers me $180k a month later? What if someone offers me $250k 6 months after that? Where does it end? I refuse to be a money prostitute.
3. Doing what I love on a daily basis is bliss — Since I left my job in January, I’ve been completely enjoying everyday of my life! It’s been hard frickin’ work, but since I thoroughly enjoy the work, it hardly feels like I’m working. I’d rather struggle financially while I build the business of my dreams than sacrifice another day of my life doing something I have no desire to do. Many people stay in jobs for years (sometimes until retirement) so they can enjoy everyday of life later. However, since I’m not even promised to be alive 10 minutes from now lest yet a year from now, I refuse to take the job. If I were to die today, I’d be able to smile. I’d have no regrets.
4. This could be the ultimate test of the universe — I’m a HUGE believer! I truly believe that there is a Higher Power (God, The Universe, Mother Nature, something), and I believe that my wife and I are being tested to see how bad we want to live our dreams. Are we willing to sacrifice an amount of money that would certainly help us rekindle the comfort of being able to spend, save, invest, and handle bills that we used to have? With the new baby on the way, we could absolutely use the extra money. However, we are determined to keep the faith that we’ve been learning about. We are determined to believe that the Universe is going conspire to see to it that we live our dreams!
5. I’m kind of enjoying the pressure of scarcity — I think back to Tony Robbins’ story of giving away his last dime. That story is so inspirational. “Because something inside of me, had finally gotten past scarcity. I finally realized that there is something inside of us that is more than our limits. Especially around this f**cking thing we call money, that I have let terrorize me.” He then goes on to say, “But I’ve never gone back to being that f**king scarce again, and I never will.” It’s just money, and I believe that the $260k offer we received is confirmation that we can continue to push forward with our dreams. We can keep working towards our businesses, and that the results will someday be 10 times the offer we received. Not having the big salary is also helping us master budget finance. Even when I make $20 from a book sale, we celebrate! The scarcity is also helping us to appreciate the non-tangible pleasures of life — the love of family, country, our souls, our hopes, our dreams, our health, and our potentials.
As I end this article, I want to give a word of encouragement to all of you dreamers. How bad do you want to live your dream? What sacrifices are you making? What more can you be doing to turn your dreams into a reality? What fears are holding you back? What actions can you take right now, tomorrow, and next week to make sure your dreams come true?
“In order to have the things others don’t have, you have to be willing to do things others won’t do.” — Les Brown
There is always another level to the grind. Pick up the phone. Go knock on doors. Call everyone you know. Tell the world about your business! Take some risks, but calculate them well. Be willing to take a chance on life!
I’m getting rewarded today for stuff that I did a year and even years ago. A year from now, you’re going to get rewarded for what you do today. So make today count, every single day for the rest of your life, and you will reap the rewards of your labor! Don’t delay the sowing process. If you hesitate to take the necessary actions now, then you are delaying the harvest.
My wife and I are comfortable turning away $260k because we’ve put in the work, and we will continue to do so.
Best wishes to all readers! Keep dreaming! Please visit my website for dreamers: www.dreamlifemotivation.com , and join our community!

