Work For Passion vs. Work For Money

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One of the more obvious problems in our society is the overt obsession with money and financial gain. Everywhere I look, it seems that people are living their lives based on how much money they make or can make.

The decisions that people make. Where people go. Where they spend their time. Who they spend their time with… More often than not, it seems that many of these actions are directly correlated with their belief on how they can make more money.

I’ve had a few conversations recently that have forced me to think more deeply on the issues of money and passion. This is something that I’ve been writing about since I joined Steem. It’s a core issue for me and something that lacks in most people that I meet.

When people ask what I do, I talk about crypto and other markets. I’m a full-time investor and that tends to raise a lot of eyebrows from people. I’ve been investing since I was a kid… other kids talked about being a musician or a doctor. I talked about being an investor. It’s almost as if it was in my blood from the beginning.

Most people think of investors as money-hungry, blood-sucking human beings who are out to make themselves more rich. While I love money and certainly love making more of it, my core focus when investing is not to “get rich” or “make bucketloads of cash”.

My core focus has always been: freedom.

Freedom to do the things I want to do.
Freedom to pursue points of passion.
Freedom to explore the world.
Freedom to invest in new technologies.

Inevitably, people ask me how much money I actually make. They see the hours I put in behind the screen.. researching this or writing that. Finding new arbitrages. Building SteemLeo and working hard to make the project a success. They hear about SteemLeo and immediately say: “wow, you must make a lot of money from doing that”.

For some reason, looking at something like SteemLeo elicits a response that whoever is steering the ship is getting absurdly rich from it. As a Steemian, you know all too well that nobody on this chain is really “getting rich”. We’re all working toward a greater mission, but most of us are here for passion and future abundance rather than stacks of cash.

I’m sure that some people are on Steem simply for the money, but I know plenty of people who aren’t. I am more than willing to place some large bets that the vast majority of people on this chain are here for passion rather than money.

Many people in my family tend to ask me why I don’t go back to consulting with small businesses. For those who don’t know, I used to do small business consulting & marketing — working with local businesses to get a website up and running, run online ad campaigns, social media marketing, email marketing, etc.

It was a lucrative thing to do. I grew up on technology and social media so it all happens naturally for me. It’s easy for me to look at a business and imagine what their social presence should look like and then make an ad campaign to get more traffic to their website or physical people in the stores. Physical stores were actually my specialty. I ran some pretty creative campaigns and generated some great foot traffic back in my day.

The thing that I hated about it was that I started to hate it. I get bored easily and when I’m bored, I need to move on to something new and exciting. Discovering Steem 3 years ago was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was in my first year of college and I found something that was truly inspiring.

It was a fast-paced, online society of people who were smarter than anyone I’d ever met. When you come to Steem, you find a melting pot of international developers, web designers, artists, writers, business people… you name it.

Steem is the melting pot of the internet. I’ve never seen such a diverse set of people all huddled together around one core mission: web 3.0.

The best part about it all is that Steem is changing every day. Some people have called out Steemit, Inc. as being slow to innovate. I’ve even heard people call them lazy and entitled. While I don’t completely disagree with those accusations, I think they’ve turned a new leaf since ahem new management has stepped in for the children in charge.. shall we say.

What is most fascinating is that without much of any innovation from Steemit, Inc. in 3 years, the blockchain looks radically different today than when I joined. It’s got nothing to do with the central entity and it’s got everything to do with the community at the core of Steem.

If the community on Steem wasn’t so fast to innovate and so passionate about the core mission, then I wouldn’t have stayed. I don’t think many people would have stayed either. If development of this blockchain was reliant upon one group of people, then this chain would be long dead.

Steem is alive by the sheer will of the community. The passion that we all bring to the table and the innovations that spring from loving what you do rather than exhibiting rampant plutomania.


Word of the Day plutomania (noun):

Excessive or frenzied pursuit of wealth.

Origin —> Mid 17th century; earliest use found in Thomas Urquhart (1611–1660), author and translator. From pluto- + -mania.
Pronunciation —> plutomania /ˌpluːtə(ʊ)ˈmeɪnɪə/
source

I was looking for a sexy word to end this post and found plutomania 🤷🏼‍♀️


Posted from https://steemleo.com



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Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.

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I agree with you about the passion for being on Steem. Most who are here each day do have a bigger vision. Yes, they want to get the financial benefits that come from being an early adopter and putting in the effort. However, I think many keep plugging along because there is a higher ideal they have within themselves.

The money situation is tough and most pursue the money because that is what they are in the greatest need of. We live in a system that has left most behind and keeps consolidating the wealth. I believe cryptocurrency offers another solutions.

That said, if you are hungry, you are going to pursue food. So while the masses are stuck in this need to "make ends meet", the money is going to be the primary motivator.

I foresee a day when crypto spreads so much that a lot more people will have the resources to meet their basic financial needs. When that point hits, then it will be easier for many to pursue the passion.

Steem is going to make a lot of people comfortable, very quickly. I feel 2020 is going to really show people what can take place. Each person that achieves financial freedom will be an example for everyone else.

I like what you wrote about nobody getting rich on Steem.

Think about it, 1M SP is roughly $130K. That is a whale on Steem but in a Tesla, as an example, that isn't even a large shareholder.

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How it goes...

Do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life.

This one is such a cliche but it holds some truth in it.
Probably the most attractive thing about Steem is that everyone can find there niche here, something they love to do and are good at, and actually earn something out of it. Its the freedom to do what you love ... that you highlighted as well. Not to mention the feeling that you are a part of something new and exciting.

That is something worth pursue.

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I actually spend too much time on steemit and steemleo, yeah the potential of a future revenue stream is nice, but what I love most is the platform has allowed me to express my view of the markets. And I personally think, anybody in this for money will get burned out and bored. However, if you are in it for a great cause or this platform ignites your passion...will that light will never go dim or out.

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Hi, @khaleelkazi!

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Love your post.

I get bored too.

Easily. And it i not a good thing. But reading and writing keeps my interest, and I love the possibility of being able to earn a future income doing what I love.

Thank you for sharing your perspective and lovely picture.


Posted via Marlians.com
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We'll I need busloads of cash to purchase my freedom on an hourly basis!
I found the secret to making money is all the subconscious. I am abundant with money, money clings to me! Money jumps in my lap! lol
Dear Khaleel Kazi,
I'm sorry for misusing your STEEMLEO tag in the past, I didn't always do it on purpose - sometimes the tag would slip into the mix with my other post topics. Would you please consider removing my steemleo ban/block? If I could get back in I promise I would not misuse and or abuse the steemleo tag and would only use it to manually post about investing serious posts only.

Thank you for your consideration,

@coininstant

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Hi @khaleelkazi
This is a goal and purpose to life that many realize much later then you:

Freedom to do the things I want to do.
Freedom to pursue points of passion.
Freedom to explore the world.
Freedom to invest in new technologies.

You are truly blessed to have realized this so young.
Many of us are propelled or driven by the goals, dreams and aspirations of our parents, mentors or other aspects of our culture. We sometimes wake up in our forties or fifties realizing what we do every day doesn’t bring us enough joy to sustain ourselves emotionally and that traditional education mainly prepares us to be employees. Replacing serfdom and slavery with economic bondage. For many of us the blockchain has two potentials Life changing knowledge and life Changing financials. The first can bring about the second. But most and perhaps more importantly it allows us to do something that brings us joy and satisfies us emotionally. One day I may have the freedom you describe, but until then I will just have joy.
And that shall sustain me.
✍️ Shortsegments

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im trying to get you to reply me on discord but nothing works.

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