I was reflecting on this yesterday. Right now I'm in a situation where I consider 3 options:
1. Focusing on my newsletter full-time, which gives me a ton of autonomy and free time — but no money yet.
2. Finding a freelance part time job to sustain myself while I grow on Substack.
3. Building my own startup — since I got a funding opportunity for one of my projects recently. This would leave significantly less time for Substack and for my hobbies, but could be quite rewarding from a financial perspective and as a learning experience.
I agree adulting is hard. But what if you extended your time horizon and tried all three? Then you wouldn't have to wonder what if. You could give each one your full focus for a certain amount of time and see what lights you up the most!
Yet another banger idea that you could turn into a best-selling book. But then you wouldn’t be underemployed anymore, you’d be doing book tours. Or you could just write the book and walk away, and keep your private aimless tours of your neighborhood.
Haha I've heard from so many bestselling authors that the tours and the fame take them away from doing what made them bestselling authors in the first place...writing in obscurity!
I don't disagree AT ALL. Having been a shift worker for many years, I've been known to turn down occasional shifts JUST because the sun was shining that day and I'd rather go outside and nurture my peace of mind!
I had this exact thought last night while I was still trying to rationalize a recently declined promotion. 13 people applied and there were 4 positions and I was one of the other unfortunate 9 not selected (see me softening the blow to my ego?). It was a couple weeks ago, but I'm still trying to make sense in my feeble consumer/monkey brain "why not make more money? Why they better and get choosed over me?"
I had a very similar conversation with myself including the points you laid out here and realized I'm not actually ready to take on more work or stress right now. I'm totally comfortable with making the same and focusing on growing in other areas, like :learning to manage my stress better, focusing on my health, focusing on trading, improving musical skills, etc.. I asked myself how much more money they must be making and if it's even worth it given my individual situation and the honest answer on further examination was actually "no."
We are hardwired culturally, I think, in a lot of way as you put it to always seek more.I couldn't agree more that being slightly underemployed to your abilities is a blessing in ways. You want to have a good earnings-to-stress ratio. We need to stop putting so much weight on our value as people by how much money we make. Imagine that, actually having enough and being enough rather than constantly seeking more, more, MORE to compete with the next man. A foreign concept to the average "consumer" in the modern age, I know.
Colin! That earnings-to-stress ratio is such a good point, beautifully worded too. No matter how much more we acquire (whatever it may be), there will always be someone ahead of us who still has more than us. It's a suckers game we've been fooled into playing.
According to me the concept of "I want more and more money" will never work for happiness. You have to check out your monthly expenses and specify the amount which is 'enough' for your healthy and happy life. The concept of 'enough' needs to be there. And have multiple income routes rather than sticking to a disgusting job with higher salary and with high tension.
Fantastic take -- thank you for this. Glad that the sports-team misery still makes its way into the underemployed joys, just properly offset with other desserts this time.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Nick! Haha I've tried several times to drop my sports fandom once and for all after an excruciating season but I find myself coming back like a drug addict every single time...
The future shrinking as we get older is a fantastic way to say it. I think we should track our net freedom more closely than our net worth!
I found out how little I needed while living out of a backpack staying in hostels in foreign countries for months at a time. So true how little we really need.
I was reflecting on this yesterday. Right now I'm in a situation where I consider 3 options:
1. Focusing on my newsletter full-time, which gives me a ton of autonomy and free time — but no money yet.
2. Finding a freelance part time job to sustain myself while I grow on Substack.
3. Building my own startup — since I got a funding opportunity for one of my projects recently. This would leave significantly less time for Substack and for my hobbies, but could be quite rewarding from a financial perspective and as a learning experience.
Adulting is hard!
I agree adulting is hard. But what if you extended your time horizon and tried all three? Then you wouldn't have to wonder what if. You could give each one your full focus for a certain amount of time and see what lights you up the most!
Yet another banger idea that you could turn into a best-selling book. But then you wouldn’t be underemployed anymore, you’d be doing book tours. Or you could just write the book and walk away, and keep your private aimless tours of your neighborhood.
Haha I've heard from so many bestselling authors that the tours and the fame take them away from doing what made them bestselling authors in the first place...writing in obscurity!
Agreed. Mo money, mo problems.
What are things and external validation compared to reading, writing, coffee, and football?
Mo promotions, mo problems may have been a better title for this piece haha
I don't disagree AT ALL. Having been a shift worker for many years, I've been known to turn down occasional shifts JUST because the sun was shining that day and I'd rather go outside and nurture my peace of mind!
100% money is not my driving force.
That's a tradeoff more people should be willing to make. Never underestimate the power of a lazy day spent in nature.
Amen to that!
I had this exact thought last night while I was still trying to rationalize a recently declined promotion. 13 people applied and there were 4 positions and I was one of the other unfortunate 9 not selected (see me softening the blow to my ego?). It was a couple weeks ago, but I'm still trying to make sense in my feeble consumer/monkey brain "why not make more money? Why they better and get choosed over me?"
I had a very similar conversation with myself including the points you laid out here and realized I'm not actually ready to take on more work or stress right now. I'm totally comfortable with making the same and focusing on growing in other areas, like :learning to manage my stress better, focusing on my health, focusing on trading, improving musical skills, etc.. I asked myself how much more money they must be making and if it's even worth it given my individual situation and the honest answer on further examination was actually "no."
We are hardwired culturally, I think, in a lot of way as you put it to always seek more.I couldn't agree more that being slightly underemployed to your abilities is a blessing in ways. You want to have a good earnings-to-stress ratio. We need to stop putting so much weight on our value as people by how much money we make. Imagine that, actually having enough and being enough rather than constantly seeking more, more, MORE to compete with the next man. A foreign concept to the average "consumer" in the modern age, I know.
Colin! That earnings-to-stress ratio is such a good point, beautifully worded too. No matter how much more we acquire (whatever it may be), there will always be someone ahead of us who still has more than us. It's a suckers game we've been fooled into playing.
According to me the concept of "I want more and more money" will never work for happiness. You have to check out your monthly expenses and specify the amount which is 'enough' for your healthy and happy life. The concept of 'enough' needs to be there. And have multiple income routes rather than sticking to a disgusting job with higher salary and with high tension.
Completely agree. The concept of enough is so overlooked.
Fantastic take -- thank you for this. Glad that the sports-team misery still makes its way into the underemployed joys, just properly offset with other desserts this time.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Nick! Haha I've tried several times to drop my sports fandom once and for all after an excruciating season but I find myself coming back like a drug addict every single time...
The future shrinking as we get older is a fantastic way to say it. I think we should track our net freedom more closely than our net worth!
I found out how little I needed while living out of a backpack staying in hostels in foreign countries for months at a time. So true how little we really need.
Absolutely agree. I do think age has a lot to do with where our comfort meters sit. The older I get the less I want and need to be content.
Why do you think that is? Maybe because the older we get the less we feel the need to impress anyone else besides ourselves?
Sometimes the best questions don't even need to be answered. Just asking them is enough.