I have wanted passive income for as long as I can remember.
The money comes regardless of my time or energy. I don’t need to be there to receive my income. The kind of financial life where you don’t have to worry.
I think this is a common desire among all non-wealthy people. You see what financial stress does to a family, and you make a silent promise to yourself: I will never live like that.
So I’ve been working toward that goal my entire adult life.
This is something I didn’t expect when I got there.
I still Worry.
Dreams don’t come true as you imagined
This is true. No matter how much money you make, life will never be easy.
Anxiety doesn’t go away just because money comes.
The only thing that happens is your worry shift. It will find new things to attach to.
Psychiatrist Gordon Livingston wrote a book called ” never stop dancing He put this concept into words better than I could. He wrote:
“We all want life to be simpler. Virtually every unwanted emotion we experience—fear, anxiety, depression, prejudice—reflects our response to the complexity around us.”
That’s the problem with passive income as a goal. It is indeed a simple wish. Let the complexity and anxiety disappear.
But they didn’t. Because they are never caused by lack of money. They are just part of being alive.
more difficult questions
Livingston has another line in the book that I keep coming back to:
“Is there any compensation for what we lose as we age? Leisure time? How to spend it? Financial security? What to do? Free from the burden of struggle? What meaning do we retain?”
That last part is the part that shocked me.
Suppose you are completely free from the burden of struggle. What relevance do we retain?
What else is out there?
If you stop fighting, you stop living. This is not a metaphor. This is indeed what happened. You lose your sense of purpose.
The reason you get up in the morning. It feels like you are moving somewhere.
You can see this in parents whose children have grown up. Suddenly, a huge void appeared. A child who relies on you for everything no longer needs your 24/7 care.
You get all this free time. But how to spend it?
A friend of mine often says, “When our kids grow up, my wife and I are going to travel the world.”
But you can’t do this forever. You get used to everything, even the wonders of the world.
There are no ideal answers to all our questions.
what am i paying attention to
Passive income has always been considered my destination.
“Oh my gosh, once I have money coming in every month, I’m going to be able to enjoy my life!”
The problem is that we don’t question our own thoughts enough. What to enjoy? Of course, I enjoy reading, playing sports, traveling, watching movies, eating delicious food and spending time with my family.
If I spend all my time having fun, at some point I won’t get much satisfaction from it. It becomes the standard.
What makes life so wonderful? After hard work, it’s time to rest. Going on vacation after being at home for a long time.
type. That’s the key.
I’m not saying don’t build passive income. I’m glad I did it. Financial security is real and it matters.
But organizing your life around this goal is a mistake. Because the day you implement it, you’ll realize that it solves a real problem, but doesn’t solve a deeper problem.
The deeper purpose is to keep challenging yourself every day.
It doesn’t have to be some grand pursuit of mastery. Just a little habit of doing something a little uncomfortable every day.
Yesterday I mowed the grass and trimmed the garden edges. I’m not a gardening person. I don’t like that kind of work.
The grass has been growing for a while and every time I look at it, I don’t like it. So I went out and cut the grass.
It took several hours. It looked great when I was done. I felt really good afterwards.
This is the secret to a happy life.
Just write when you don’t feel like it. Work out at a time when it’s easier to skip. File your taxes instead of putting them off again. When you want to stay home, go out.
It’s not that these things are important in themselves. But because the habit of doing hard things keeps you sharp.
It keeps you relevant. It curbs anxiety better than any passive income.
actual target
Financial freedom is a practical achievement. It gives you options. It eliminates certain types of stress. I am truly grateful for this.
Think of passive income and money as the foundation. What to construct on this basis is the real question.
As far as I know, the answer is to keep challenging yourself. Keep up the good work. Continue doing something slightly harder than yesterday.
Livingston’s question has always bothered me: What relevance do we retain?
Whether you are broke or financially free, the answer is the same. By staying in the game, you stay relevant. Through contribution. Through growth.
Passive income buys you time. Challenge yourself in how you use it.
