For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this strong drive to make my work so enjoyable that it doesn’t feel like work.
I always hated the idea of just getting an “okay” job. It was such a strong disgust that it fueled me to do everything I can to escape from that.
Taking the biggest risks and passing on so called “unmissable” career opportunities.
I am happy I passed on them, as I got to dedicate myself to finding work that would be the perfect match of the 3 goals most important to me:
- I must enjoy and excel at it
- I must make a positive impact
- I must have freedom: financial freedom, location freedom, and time freedom.
Chasing these 3 goals consumed pretty much all my energy in the last 2 years, to the point where I worked 80 hour weeks trying to make it happen.
I started a non-profit, built it to a team of 12, and shut it down again. I experienced high-impact work volunteering in Ghana. I started a business to work with impact entrepreneurs. I started a podcast, twice. I made YouTube videos about impactful work.
I did everything I could.
So much just to find all those 3 things in my work: Enjoyment, impact, and freedom.
And to be honest, after 2 years of chasing all 3, I ended up doing mediocre in all of them.
My strong focus to make work not feel like work, actually ended up doing the opposite.
I had put such high expectations on myself and how work should be, that it consumed 90% of my energy and it took away from my life in general.
Recently I felt it was getting pointless, I was just running around without getting anywhere. Running around in 3 directions trying to achieve all 3 goals at the same time.
So I knew I needed to change something. This wasn’t working anymore.
So I did a complete 180, and did something I never thought I’d do:
Become 100% focused on making money. That’s it. Just making as much money as possible.
Why?
Well, because it is the only one of the three that you need to stay alive.
I want to eliminate the worry/need for money, at least for a while. Then once I have that solved, I can start thinking about the other stuff.
And money can do quite magical things for me right now. It’s the thing that allows me to take 0 responsibility.
And when I have 0 responsibility, magical things start happening.
I start asking myself different questions, I realize what’s actually important to me, I get in a state of great energy, my intuition becomes super strong. It’s just beautiful.
I had this once in my life, 3 years ago on university exchange to Calgary, Canada. It was one of the best times of my life, and it brought me incredible clarity of what I wanted to dedicate myself to (which was to start the non-profit at the time).
That state is exactly what I need right now. A break from running around all the time, to realize where I actually want to go.
I’ll write another wishy washy philosophy piece about intuition and all of that, but that’s for another day.
The point here is that I need money to buy myself that freedom.
That is why I have shifted my focus and view on money. I now see it as a tool to buy me freedom.
If I spend €3000/month, then having €36.000 saved up buys me one year of freedom.
So that is my savings goal: €36.000
Or as I prefer to say it: my savings goal is 1 year of freedom.
I have abandoned the goal of making my work as enjoyable as possible, and making a positive impact with my work. I’ll get back to those later.
For now the focus is completely on making money. That’s the only focus.
And pffffff. It’s such a relief.
The moment I switched to that goal and 1 focus, I instantly felt less stressed and way more excited about the future.
Less stressed because I don’t have the pressure on me to find the perfect work already.
More excited because I finally have a goal that’s worth working towards, 1 year of complete freedom.
How beautiful is that.
Kees (closed)
P.S. If you want to read how I’m approaching this, read this article.