Is Money More Important Than Passion? The Chair Test
What value do you place on money? Here's a simple test to decide just how much value you place on your time, money, and freedom to pursue passions in life. It may even help you figure out if what you're doing now IS YOUR PASSION.
The Chair Test
Don't laugh. There's a serious experiment going on here!!! Guys in white coats and clipboards are ready to monitor your reaction to.... The Chair Test!
Imagine someone tells you they'll pay you $100,000 just to sit in a chair all day for five days a week. It's a comfy chair, like the one shown in the picture above. Your day consists of a 45-minute drive to an air-conditioned office building, where you get to sit in a chair all day, then a 45 minute commute back home. For this you're paid a cool $100,000 per year!
Sounds like a sweet gig, right?
The only stipulations? You literally have to sit in a chair and do nothing else. No cellphone. No internet. No computer. No books. No writing. No conversations with anyone. But you DO have to stay awake the entire time, or YOU'RE FIRED! =) And you have to agree to do this for, say.. 3 or 5 years.
So, here's the problem. You don't learn anything new. Every day is the same. And there's no forward progress on anything, just time that disappears.
Still sounding like good deal? If you said YES, I'd not be surprised. Some people wouldn't really mind giving up time for a guaranteed amount of money.
But how about we consider reframing this idea in a different way..
The 14-Hour Day
What if someone asked you if you'd trade a 24-hour day for a 14-hour day. No driving anywhere, no sitting in a chair and waiting for time to pass by. That 10 hours of time passes by in an instant.
The only stipulation this time is, you still suffer the same tiredness of having been awake 10 hours longer. Otherwise, *POOF* you magically have $100k/yr and are now operating off of 14-hour days.
Would you take that deal?
14 hours. That's all you got. And it's not much time..
- You need to sleep. There goes 6-8 hours for most people.
- You need to eat. Another 1-2 hours even if you find quick meals.
- You need to get ready for the day. Well, what's left of it. Another 30-60 minutes.
- You need to get ready for bed. Another 20 minutes.
What's left? Likely about 5 hours per day that you can learn something new, travel, watch tv, play video games, or do whatever else you want.
How does that all sound? Is it enough to make you feel like you're living a fulfilling life?
People Do This EVERY DAY
Here's the thing. This is already happening for most people, EVERY DAY.
- People working jobs they don't enjoy, just to pay the bills. Giving up at least 8-10 hours including a commute.
- An employee promoted to a manager and making three time the pay, but with longer hours. Instead of doing what he enjoys, he's in meetings most of the day & has little time to learn something new.
- A blogger, spending 8 hours writing for topics he's really not passionate about just because there's money to be made.
- Anyone trading a HUGE CHUNK of their time for an activity that really isn't fulfilling to them. In other words, MONEY over PASSIONS.
This is "normal" to many people. Sure, there are some people working jobs as employees, who are completely happy and fulfilled.. completely thrilled with the work they do and what they're learning. But unfortunately, more people find themselves in that "live for the weekend" scenario in life where the goal becomes just making it one more day -- or one more year.
How exactly is that winning?
And what happens when that MORE MONEY scenario hits? The next promotion or new job opportunity that pays twice as much, but isn't the type of work you'd like to do?
It's tempting to go for the MONEY. But there's that hidden cost, of TIME.
What are you gaining and what are you losing? That's the question.
Why The "Chair Test?"
Recently I was talking to someone that values MONEY heavily for self-worth and to feel successful. He mentioned he was making nearly 3x what he was in his business than the corporate job he left, though at the cost of putting in very long days and working weekends.
I thought about this some more, relating it back to my last 15 years of business/personal life. I've had a lot of struggles in life and was finding I had a great deal of annoyance toward things that capitalized my time, that weren't really things I wanted to be doing with that time.
If finally "CLICKED" for me..
It wasn't the MONEY I cared about, at all. It was knowing that these 8-10 hour blocks of time, every Month thru Friday, were committed to an activity that I wasn't really passionate about.
So I thought, in my current business, assembling and shipping products for a niche hobby community.. what if someone gave me FREE inventory of products. No strings attached. All I'd have to do is spend 8-10 hours a day, every day, shipping them out. And I'd make $150k/yr.
You know what? I still have a problem with that.
So then I asked myself an even more direct question. What if all I had to do was drive somewhere, sit in a chair, and literally do nothing all day and collect $100k/yr to give that time up. Would I be happy?
Again, the answer was NO.
What Did I Learn?
I'm happy working on activities that help me to feel I'm growing in life, constantly moving forward and progressing on something that is bigger than myself. I'm happiest working on my own passions and interests in ALL of the hours I can.
Somehow, time was more valuable to me than I realized. Not just the time itself, but the ability to CHOOSE do what I want in that time. To not relinquish control of those 10 hours a day to someone or something I wasn't passionate about.
I have to follow my passions.
Following My Passions
The reason I'm now pursuing Affiliate Marketing as a business is this is where my passions are currently. Quite a few things have brought me back to affliate marketing, despite having made attempts in 2005. I've had other businesses, I've had many other experiences in life, but considering my deeper understanding that I have to follow a business I can be passionate about that allows me to work on my own personal development as well as help others, this is the business for me.
It feels incredibly good to be following my passions. I hope if you feel the same way, you'll find a way to do the same!
What do you think? Would you make the same choice or would you gladly take the $100k/yr to sit in a chair? If you do choose the chair, I don't blame you =)
Recent Comments
2
One of the problems with schooling is that we are all taught the sit in the chair method, it kind of keeps corporates making obscene profits.
That is the way it is.
The thing is that we are all hardwired to desire the free time lifestyle.
The tradeoff is that at some point we all need to follow our passion, in doing so work becomes a playful thing.
One of the things about creating a new normal is that money kind of arrives as a by-product of our creativity.
Definitely, follow our passion.
Hey Alex!
I definitely agree, if we follow our passions there is every ability to make money at what we enjoy doing. We can do what makes us happy and helps others, while also making money. Quite the concept :)
I'm fortunate to FINALLY be able to carve out time for affiliate marketing again after over a decade. Through other businesses I've learned if you're passionate about what you're doing and there's a remote chance of an audience for it, then it doesn't matter what other people say or think about how you're trying to make money. You just do it. Eventually, your audience (customers) shows up and that's when things get really exciting!
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people is also key and that's where WA helps out immensely!
Thanks for your comments!!
-Wayne