10 Reasons to Chase Your Passion & Not the Money

We’ve all been in that situation…

We had to decide between whether or not to chase something that makes more money, or something that we are more interested in.

So what do we do?

Answering this question is not easy. It may seem easy because everyone around you is telling you to follow your passion. But in reality, it’s much tougher because some part of you still think you will be happier with the money.

10 Reasons to Chase Your Passion

Today I want to share with you 10 solid reasons, which I learnt from successful people, on why you should chase your passion. Not the money.

1. Becoming really good at what you’re interested in can bring you even more money, even if you think it can’t

Now, I’m not one of those spiritual gurus who will tell you that you can make infinite money from any skill or passion or interest you can think of. If it was that easy everyone would already be doing it.

What I am saying is simply that if you can become really good at what you do you can make a lot of money doing it. If there is market demand for your skill. Of course, some interests are very tough to turn into money.

Very few people, if any, will pay to watch you sit on a couch and watch TV.

But one thing I can tell you is that you probably underestimated how many skills can be turned into passions. For example, most people do not think that you can make a decent living let alone a great living off a topic like spirituality.

But when you dive into the subject, you find people like Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer who have made a lot of money off that exact topic.

2. Money can act as a crutch you depend on

There are tons of successful wealthy people who depend on money to validate their existence.

Some of them use money to show off to others. Some of them use it to show their superiority. And Some of them buy all these expensive things just because culture has told them that this is what success is.

The problem is that deep down they still feel unhappy and unfulfilled. I hear stories about this almost everyday when I listen to podcasts of successful entrepreneurs.

By first establishing a solid independent foundation where you do not have to depend on money, you can live freely once you have it. Otherwise your possessions end up owning you rather than the other way around.

3. Money can come and go

There are very few things in the world that we can really fully control.

As hinted at in the last point, if you do not have a solid foundation of internal love and independence, you leave yourself open to being dependent on factors of life you cannot control for your happiness.

And when you leave your life up to a couple of factors that can change in a moment’s notice, they sometimes do change.

Sometimes it can seem like you have a rock solid business or career that is generating a lot of money for you. But all the same, one day, you lose that money because that career or business meets unexpected obstacles.

If you can find internal passion, you can still find love and joy and delight at what you do regardless of if you are broke, middle-income, or rich.

4. Money will not bring you as much happiness as you think

In the past, any advice on what brings happiness was purely based on opinion.

And the problem with opinion is that you don’t know if it’s actually fact or not. Nowadays, there has been extensive scientific studies done on the science of happiness. We have definitive evidence on what brings happiness and what does not.

Science has shown the amount of extra long-term happiness, as you’re increasing how much you earn, rapidly diminishes after you hit a modest first world middle-income.

The craziest part about modern society is that 99% of people still case excessive money. Based on a false belief that it will give them a huge long-lasting boost in happiness. save yourself some time.

5. If you start with money, you can end up miserable

This is a simple but often overlooked fact. Many people chase, and chase, and chase the money until they get a lot of it. But then they look around and they find themselves in a career or business that they cannot get out of and no time to spend that money.

The worst part?

They absolutely hate every single second that they spend working because they found themselves in an industry that they hate.

I don’t know about you, but I do not think success is working 10 to 12 hour days at a job that you hate to make excessive amounts of money that you don’t even have the time to spend or enjoy.

6. By chasing money first, you can end up in a cycle of constant never-ending chasing

Many people who chase money first end up in an addictive cycle of chasing more and more, even once they hit their financial goals. They quickly get used to the money that they achieved and it’s never enough.

The scientific term for this process, taking the money we have for granted, is called the hedonic treadmill.

Now, notice how I said “many.”

Some people are smarter than that. Some people who chase money first quickly realize that money shouldn’t be their main goal. And so they start sculpting their career into one that follows passion as well.

Others eventually learn that this cycle is not the right way and they turn to passion, purpose and fulfilment.

You can get a head-start by starting with passion and purpose to begin with. I’m not saying that you should never take any money.

Money is good. I am simply saying that while you are reaching and moving towards higher and higher goals, you should always have a sense of independent fulfilment, that doesn’t depend on more money for your levels of happiness.

7. Status, Validation and Ego end up being meaningless

Countless successful people strive their entire lives for awards, medals, and achievements.

Some of it is healthy. These are people who want to break the mold, who want to break records that have never been achieved, or even change the entire industry in a way that no one has ever seen before.

But others do what they do for internal validation or unhealthy psychological reasons. Many successful entrepreneurs made all their money simply because they were never validated or proved as a child. This can lead to an unhealthy, unfeeling desire that never ends.

The biggest reason why spending too much time chasing your self validation is that you will die one day. There are plenty of people who have all these awards and accomplishments at their deathbed but they still feel unfulfilled when they die and no one really loves them.

I really like the billionaire Warren Buffett‘s philosophy on this topic because he believes that he would rather sacrifice making more money so that the people that he wants to love him actually love him.

He came to this conclusion after seeing a lot of rich people he knew who had all these monuments named after them yet no one that they wanted to love them actually love them. Everyone was simply there at the funeral to see if they can get any money.

8. Money gets old

It’s very tough for someone who never had much money to really understand the idea of money gets old.

But one way of relating, is to think of something that you really used to love or look forward to as a child that you now have and you have gotten used to and taken for granted.

This could be your clothes, the food that you can buy, or just the privileges you have. for me, it is the indoor plumbing and access to ice cream that I did not have as a child frequently that I now have all the time.

In a similar way, a lot of wealthy people have admitted that their expensive toys get old.

Many of them sell businesses that they are passionate about to play on the golf course every day. But after a couple months or years playing at the golf course, they get bored and end up returning to business.

Especially when you are young, having a lot of money and no passion can lead to a lot of boredom. Many people who stumble upon a lot of money end up quickly losing that spark within a couple years.

They should realize that they have losing that spark within a couple years. They should realize that they have Decades of their life ahead of them and not much else to spend their money on decades of your life ahead of them and not much else to spend their money on.

9. With a passion, you have something that is with you no matter where you go

Passion stays with you.

No matter how tough your day is or if you have a lot of money, you always know that your day will mostly be filled with enjoyment because you love what you do.

On the other hand, if you only have money, you don’t know how the rest of your day will turn out. In fact, your day could be completely horrible most of the time because you are at a job that you absolutely hate going to and every moment is driving you insane.

10. A passion is like wine. It gets better with age (unlike money)

Many people get more and more interested in their craft as they progressed and become Masters at their craft. They end up being able to do more interesting sophisticated and pool things as they get older and have more years of practice under their belt.

Every year becomes more and more exciting as they can try out new things. Do more intricate and complex things. And get greater results because they’re building skills.

Money, on the other hand, gets old. The older you get, the less utility it has for you. Maybe you wanted to travel the world when you were young. But now that you’re old, your body cannot handle travelling. And your eyes are too weak to really experience the sites.

A lot of the cool experiences you wish you had dulled with age. Or they just become less of a priority or less enjoyable.

Warren Buffett calls this saving up sex for old age. You can still have a lot of fun when you are old but it’s also important to realize that many things were meant to be enjoyed young.

Conclusion

Money is important. I’m not saying to give up on making money. I’m actually saying that you should have it all if you want it. If you want to do it right though, you should start with finding out what is your passion and your purpose.

It doesn’t have to be your end-all-be-all grand answer. Just start moving towards it or testing different things out.

By starting with your passion and purpose, your happiness will naturally rise and stay there based on science. And you will have a solid foundation to continue living your life and improving it to make more money.

This leave you with a castle built with a solid foundation. Instead of one built on sand pillars that easily crumble.

Unfortunately, most people build their castles on sand by chasing the money first. They ending up quitting a highly profitable job or business, because they cannot take the lack of interest anymore.

Wrapping up

Now, I have a question for you:

What’s the number one reason that really impacted you on this list?

Let me know in the comments below and let me know why it help you so much. your import could really help another reader make the breakthrough that they have been seeking.