When it comes to the mindset required for making money, people can usually be grouped into three categories. Let’s say we have groups A, B, and C. Group A are those that say money does not matter or that it is bad to want a lot of money. Not only are these people hypocrites, but they are the stingiest of the rest.

When you entertain their idea and ask them to quit their job, they will make excuses, because deep down they know money is, in fact, important. It is all a cope because they have a job they don’t like, but they’re too insecure to admit this.

They spend their whole life afraid to spend even a single penny, in hopes they can save just enough money to escape from their nightmare, which is their job. Those who realize the hypocrisy of the first type of people come under group B.

Group B adopts an ideology that is the polar opposite. They say things like “only money matters, and nothing else.” or “money makes the world go round.”. They think that as long as you have a high-paying job, the money can make up for everything you sacrificed, no matter what it was.

But what if that is not true? What if what you sacrificed did matter? And what if it determined how much money you’d make? Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine you have two choices. One is a six-figure job with great benefits and pensions. The other requires you to be broke for 10 years until you suddenly make billions. Which do you choose?

The latter may be the obvious choice, but it is not possible until one has a passion for the work. Group B not only lacks passion, but the self-belief to bet a decade on an uncertain future as well. This is where you have group C.

If groups A and B are two extremes in a spectrum, then group C is at the dead center. They realize that money is important and that there is nothing wrong with monetizing their hobbies, but also understand that it is controlled by external factors such as happiness, which can not be sacrificed. [1]

As a result, they will naturally outperform groups A and B and leave them in the dust, because even if they are broke for 10 years, they will continue to persevere as long as they are happy and working on their passion, and when it is time to reap the benefits, society will reward them handsomely for their work.

Amazon was founded in 1994, Tesla was founded in 2003, and OpenAI was founded in 2015. Bezos, Musk, and Altman spent decades on their companies before they became rich and famous. They had belief in themselves to bet on an uncertain future for an uncertain amount of time. That’s passion.

Unfortunately, many in STEM fields lack passion, making their dreams small and repulsive. The world is changing rapidly and we need people with ideas that are larger than life. [2]

Why even spend so much time and effort when you live in a world where people can be rich just by dancing on TikTok? Alternatively, why work on a hobby for free when you can monetize it and feed your family?

When you have passion and a desire for competition, you can persevere and outperform others, and as a result, positively contribute to this changing world. [3]

 

Notes

[1] I want to clarify that seeking money and happiness are two different goals. One does not necessarily lead to another. Group A runs away from money in search of happiness, but since food, water, and shelter have a price tag, all they get is misery. Since group B sacrifices happiness for money, they hate their job, which in turn makes them hate their life. Group C prioritizes both goals and as a result, can make them work in parallel to each other. When you have a job that makes you happy, it feels like play. No one likes working 24x7, but wish they could play and enjoy all the time. When you have work that feels like play, you can’t help but outperform the one that does the bare minimum for a simple paycheck.

[2] As someone pursuing computer engineering, I often come across people who look down upon programming. They disregard the beauty behind it and reduce it to a means to an end. Yes, clever programming can make you money, but if that is your only intent, you can spend the next 40 years of your life in web dev, making fancy animations for websites that will be read largely by LLMs in the near future.

[3] We have seen a lot of new technology over the last couple of decades, and although it is very exciting, sometimes it can get a little scary, especially when you have a small minority of people behind closed doors making decisions for the large majority. Protests and status games can only help you so much. Only when you decide to compete can you truly ride the bandwagon of change without fearing for your safety. It is for this reason it can be necessary to actively contribute to the market instead of just being a slave to someone else’s vision of the world.

Thanks to Yazan Moghrabi for suggestions and for reading drafts of this.