If My Dad Quit His 9–5 To “Pursue His Passion”, We’d Be Broke.

We’re so full of ourselves that we’re turning a blind eye to some important stuff.

Being in a 9–5 is stripping you away from making massive wealth and living your dream life. You are the captain of your own ship and have your destiny in your hands. If you can’t straight away quit, at least have a side-hustle so you can get a source of income apart from your salary. Slowly, as you grow, pave your way through multiple sources of income.

Do I agree with this? Yes.

Did I quit my 9–5 to have a lifestyle with more freedom? Yes.

Do I have multiple sources of income? Yes.

Do I think giving this advice to everybody is absolute BS? Yes.

It’s not wrong to encourage people to have a side hustle and spread knowledge about how much we can do with just our laptops and a skill. But throwing it on somebody like they’re not living enough because they’re not doing this, that's wrong and we’ll see why.

Something I want you to think of before we move forward: can we rise without putting others down?

There’s This Thing About Privilege…

Those who have it feel this is the only way of living that's there. They live in a bubble.

Can you imagine people living without access to clean water and toilets? I can, I’ve seen it. Can you imagine not having electricity 24/7? I can, because I live that. And this is far from unusual in developing nations.

As I type this, there’s construction taking place in my neighbourhood. Those labourers who work morning to evening get paid $10 for a day’s work and have to feed an entire family with that.

It was my privilege to get an excellent education and have English as my first language because of the school and universities I was sent to. It's my privilege that I can afford basic amenities.

And people in the West, your basics are our luxury (hot water and electricity for example). So let’s come to terms with what we’re blessed with and have worked hard for, and know that ‘leave your 9–5’ porn isn’t for the entire world.

Self Employment Isn’t for Everybody

Because it’s bloody hard.

It requires you to be motivated enough to come to work each day and strategise your growth. You are responsible for everything, and not everybody desires that kind of pressure.

I’ve been self-employed for a few months and I find this pressure fun because I’m driven to be a writer and creative entrepreneur. But for many people, they want to work and get paid regardless of their performance.

Their motivators are appraisals and their boss handles their growth, the paycheck will come in each month. It’s not a bad place to be in at all.

Yes, 9–5 has its downsides but it's also oddly comfortable. Being in charge of your own uncertain monthly paycheck isn’t easy.

9–5 *CAN* Make You Wealthy

One of my clients worked at a tech giant in silicon valley. He was in his mid-forties and had worked in several big companies, and is now an executive.

He was a millionaire. He owned stocks from nearly all his companies, and explicitly told me he's reached a point where money isn’t a motivator and would soon quit his job to solve problems at a startup, even if it pays him less.

In my old job as well, senior folks had a lot of stocks under their belt. Some awards also came with stocks apart from a hike and maybe a promotion. Travel was in business class and stay was in five-star hotels.

Now tell me that a 9–5 doesn’t make you rich?

You can do well and ace your game depending on the value you bring, regardless of what your field is.

We’d Be Broke if My Dad Followed This Advice

“Think out of the ordinary.”

“Life begins outside of your comfort zone.”

“High-risk = high reward.”

These are all motivating when your life permits you to take on that kind of uncertainty.

I am okay with uncertainty because I don’t have rent or groceries to pay for. But what if my dad pursued his passion or had a side hustle to chase his dreams? We’d be broke.

His passion is barbecuing in winters and travelling to the hills in summers. If he did that for a living, let’s say he even monetised his BBQ business and got into some tour services for the hills. That would be stressful as hell and not fun at all for him. His passion would be a source of pain.

Also, he genuinely enjoys his job a lot. There’s nothing else he’d want to do apart from flying planes.

And he pursued his passions anyway when he had time, and is content with his life and giving his family a good life.

It’s not everybody's plan to quit their jobs and live this life. Some people enjoy their jobs, and some are okay with it because it feeds their family. Either way, dissing them is very uncool.

Final Words

I am a huge promoter of the side hustle culture because it completely changed my life. It gave me more money and freedom by doing things I genuinely enjoy and I’m really excited about what lays ahead of me.

I’ve been public with my transition and have got frequent questions from those who want to do the same, so I launched a free ebook to solve for that.

That being said, dissing 9–5 goers and assuming that everybody should have a side hustle isn’t correct, because saying that we’re putting a blind eye to our privilege and benefits of having a normal job.

Not everybody wants the same thing as you and me do. We don’t have to rise by putting anybody down. We can all be mindful and rise together.

Click here to subscribe to my weekly newsletter that leaves you healthier and happier.

If you liked this, you might enjoy: