Let’s talk about our lifestyle. It’s about my answer to the question, “Follow your passion. Money comes later. Is it true?”
Does money come later?
Several weeks ago, someone tweeted on SNS, “Successful people sometimes say, Follow your passion. Money comes later. But is it true? I don’t have money. When will it come?” Perhaps the person didn’t get enough money, although he had followed his passion.
I think this is an interesting question. Because I have had different results every time. Sometimes money followed my passion. However, sometimes it didn’t.
Perhaps the people who had followed their passion and made money said so. In my case, sometimes it was true. And many people would have different answers to this question. So in this article, I’ll write my answer to this question.
My answer is, “Sometimes money doesn’t come later, even if we follow our passions. But such a time, other exchangeable values come.”
What is “value?”
To explain that, I’ll talk about two factors: “product shapes” and “exchange ways.”
First, we need to understand that “product shapes.” To explain this, let’s assume that we have a tree. If we want a spoon, we can make a wooden spoon from wood. This means that the wooden spoon is one of the product shapes. And it has some value.
There could also be a lot of different shapes of value. If someone wants a plate, we can make it from wood. The wooden plate is one of the shapes. And it also has some value. If someone wants firewood, we can dry some wood and sell it. Sometimes, someone would want a big tree to make a large desk. Sometimes, someone would want a small seedling for planting in his garden.
Each of them is one of the shapes of the tree and has some value.
From a different perspective, we are changing their shapes to make them valuable. Vegetables and meats are shapes of values. But other shapes also have value. We make dishes from vegetables and meats. Every shape could have value.
We have many “exchange ways”
Next, we have “exchange ways.” This makes things turn into other shapes. There are many exchange ways, such as money, skill, social status, human attraction, human networking, knowledge, wisdom, or passion.
For example, we can get a spoon by paying money. It means that we exchanged our money for a spoon. And we can also give orders to our minions to make a spoon. It means that we exchanged our resources of social status for a spoon. Of course, we might also be able to make a spoon with our skills.
We are just exchanging our resources to fit our desires. And sometimes, we provide them to others who want them.
Money is just one of the values
And our passion is one of the “exchange ways.” When we are passionate, we create something from our resources.
In other words, when we are passionate about something, the result could take various shapes. Sometimes we get “spoons.” Sometimes we acquire skills. And sometimes, we get money. Money is just one of the shapes of exchange ways.
Then we can understand that we don’t need to stick to money. Of course, money is one of the most useful tools. But other shapes of values could also be valuable. A product could be valuable for some people. Skill or social status could also have value. We don’t need to stick to money.
And we don’t need to worry about what product is the most valuable. Because all shapes could have value, even if we made a weirdly shaped spoon.
At such a time, “Who wants this?” might be one of the key questions for us. This question might give us a different perspective. And sometimes, it will help us when we feel failed. Our “weirdly shaped spoon” could be someone’s sincere desire.
Conclusion
So if I asked, “Follow your passion. Money comes later. Is it true?” My answer is, “Sometimes money doesn’t come later, even if we follow our passions. But such a time, other exchangeable values come.”
If I were to say something inspiring like that, I would say: “Follow your passion. Passion produces something. Sometimes it will be the most affordable resource to make something, even if we don’t have any other resources.”
If we understand this logic, we might be able to find and create values.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
