How to be rich and happy
Please don't make the mistake I made.
When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. That was my dream. I loved reading and the feel and smell of books. I haunted libraries and bookstores, imagining my own books in the windows and on the shelves.
I was a voracious booklover. Non-fiction and fiction. Business, marketing, biographies, history; mysteries, thrillers, detective novels, science fiction. And books on writing.
But while I have written extensively throughout my career, ahead of schedule on, I in some way convinced myself that writers don't make much money and I needed to do something more remunerative. Make money first, then I can retire and write all I want.
I now know this is folly.
To deny your passions, no matter the financial ramifications, is to deny the truth of who you really are. Working to make money so you can then do something else is simply terrible advice.
But what if what you are passionate about is a one way ticket to financial mediocrity? At some point, you have to question yourself, "What's more vital, money or happiness?" Yes, money is vital and having more of it gives you more options. But having money does not guarantee happiness. Legions of miserable wealthy people attest to that.
How about asking a uncommon question: "What if what you are passionate about can lead to wealth and happiness?" It can, you know. In fact, I believe that following your passion is a much better road map to prosperity than working for money.
I've accomplished a lot in my career. I've done well financially. And now, decades after my childhood passion first stirred in me, I am writing. This blog is just the tip of the iceberg.
How does it feel? It feels. . . right. I can't describe what I feel as excitement, it's more a feeling of serenity, of "this is who I am and where I belong".
But I also have flashes of unhappiness.
What if I had listened to my inner outcome, the one who wanted to be a writer? What if I had ignored the voice of "logic" that told me to do something else? Where might I be today?
I don't know if I'd be rich, but I know I'd be pleased.
If I'd read the tale of "The Rich Fisherman," I might be in a uncommon house today:
There was once a manufacturer who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village. As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few huge fish. The manufacturer was impressed and questioned the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman answered, “Oh, just a small while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The manufacturer was incredulous.
“This is sufficient to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The manufacturer then questioned, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman answered, “Well, I usually wake up ahead of schedule in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”
The manufacturer offered a suggestion to the fisherman. “I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as doable. When you have saved sufficient money, you could buy a larger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to meet the expense of to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production sow for canned food and delivery network. By then, you will have went out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continued, “And after that?”
The manufacturer laughed heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman questioned, “And after that?”
The manufacturer said, “After that, you can finally retire, you can go to a house by the fishing village, wake up ahead of schedule in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, and sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”