I’ve lost 200k following my passion.

by Yann Girard

That’s the real price of following your passion. The price no one usually talks about. Because we’re all busy selling dreams.

I’ve lost 200k over the past two years following my passion.

I left my well paid job two years ago and went on a journey to follow my passion. My dreams.

Well, not exactly. The first year I spent a lot of time figuring out what my passion might actually be.

And after more than two years I still haven’t really figured it out, yet.

But I’ve come closer and have a slight idea of what it might look like.

And to be able to buy myself some freedom I had to sacrifice a lot. I sacrificed a job that would have paid around 200k (all in) during these two years.

All I was able to make instead following my passion was less than a tenth of what I’d have made if I stayed at my day job.

Sure, I could have done freelancing or consulting gigs but that would have distracted me too much. At the end of the day this stuff usually takes up more time than an actual day job.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying any of this to complain about it. I love what I’m doing. I love my life. Even though I had to sacrifice a lot. And live on a shoestring ever since.

I don’t have a place of my own anymore. No girlfriend. No fancy dinners. No nothing. That’s the real price of following your passion.

And again, I’m not complaining. I just want to put things into perspective. Because I think a lot of the stuff you read online is just people trying to sell you the dream. Or their product. Or their service.

I also don’t say any of this to discourage anyone from following their passion.

You absolutely have to follow your passion. Or at least give it a shot and see if you can make it work.

No. That’s wrong. You don’t have to follow your passion.

It’s your absolute duty to follow your passion. You owe it to the world. And yourself. The world needs to hear your story. It needs your gift.

All I want to do with this right here is to put all of this “follow your passion” BS that’s out there into perspective. And yes, I’m part of the problem as well. Even the title for this post is an absolute click bait.

There are so many people out there trying to sell you the dream. They want to tell you how awesome it is to follow your passion. How you can create your own freedom. And how to follow your dreams. And some more BS.

Like how amazing it is to work on a beach. You know. All of this digital nomad stuff. Where they tell you how awesome it is to be a digital nomad and so on.

I don’t know about you. But if you’ve ever tried working in the sun for like 10 minutes without air con you’d know that it’s impossible. You’d be sweating like crazy and wouldn’t be able to see what’s written on your screen. But that’s the stuff that sells. That’s the dream.

What being a digital nomad really is all about are many years of super hard work and a lot of loneliness. Until it all works out. In case it ever works out. But this doesn’t sell so well.

Most of the time you can buy this freedom and follow your passion stuff for just 99 bucks a month.

What all of this stuff really does though is that you’re paying for someone else’s freedom. But not yours.

When people try to sell you the dream and you buy into it, you put money into other people’s pockets and pay for their freedom.

Will it really help you to create your own freedom?

No, probably not. But then again, I really don’t know. I haven’t bought any of these courses, yet.

And why should I? Why should I pay for freedom? Isn’t freedom supposed to be free?

But this shouldn’t be a rant. It should be about putting things into perspective.

So the truth about being able to follow your passion is that you need cash. Some serious cash. And a hell lot of time. Which again costs a lot of cash.

And if you think you need 1 year of cash in the bank, you’ll probably need ten years worth of cash in the bank. If you think it’ll take you two years, you’ll probably need 5 years of cash in the bank..

Being able to make a living following your passion will always take you a hell lot of more time than you might think right now. I thought I’d make it in the first year. Now more than two years later I can still barely cover my expenses.

The thing about trying to make a living following your passion is that you’d have to be among the top 1%. Only the top 1% are able to make a living. Everybody else makes just a tiny little bit of cash. Definitely not enough to get by.

And again. I’m not saying this to discourage anyone. I’m just putting things into perspective.

Here’s the thing..

The only way you’ll ever be able to make a living following your passion is to be one of the best of the best. And to get there you’ll need time. A hell lot of time.

How much time exactly? I don’t know. Maybe four years. Maybe five years. Maybe even ten years. But I really hope it’s just three years..

So what can you do if you don’t have cash in the bank (or rich parents or won the lottery) to buy yourself some time and ultimately some freedom to become the best at your craft? To be able to follow your passion.

Well, there really are only two options. Maybe there are more. But those are the ones I can think of right now.

The first one is that you keep your job as long as possible, try to get as much money out of it as possible, save as much as possible and don’t spend money on stupid things. And once you have enough cash in the bank you quit your job.

But this is probably not the best way to do it. A better way is to start planting seeds while you still get a paycheck at the end of each month. To plant as many seeds as possible.

And maybe one day one of these seeds might turn into something that allows you to feed yourself and your family and to quit your job. Maybe not. But that’s the only way to go..

And if you’re not willing to do any of this, you can still be a nice person and buy one of these courses for 99 bucks a month and help someone else to buy themselves some freedom. Which isn’t too bad either, after all..

Thank you for reading this! Feel free to hit the ♥ button below if you agree and want more people to see this.

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