This may go against the grain of popular opinion but I’m a proponent of not following your passion. At least for the majority of the population if you want to become financially free early in your lifetime and given that your passion isn’t trending toward the top 1% in your craft (i.e. think pro athlete).
No one grows up thinking I want to be an all star cross border tax accountant because that’s not necessarily sexy 😀 But in reality, dedicating time, honing your skills and putting in 10,000 hours into cross border tax accounting will give you a solid chance to land within the top percentile in your field. Both in terms of skillset and compensation. This applies to most in demand roles across the fields of Finance, Technology, and Healthcare.
Sorry aspiring fashion designers, artists, travel vloggers, and musicians.
What to do Instead…
Having worked over multiple decades, with my last 11 years in the high-salary tech field my advice to those looking to increase their incomes to become financially independent would be to do the following depending on which point you are in your career:
- Do research into the highest earning jobs and tailor your graduate and post graduate studies into that field of study. With the caveat that industry trends can shift and move rapidly. If you can start specialization in the latter half of your graduate degrees the risk of drift would managed to a degree. Armed with an in-demand degree seek out companies where you can grow your career as an Intrapreneur (see more below).
- Be an owner. 43% Of business owners started between the ages of 35-54. The average being at the age of 42. If you’re new to business ownership I would recommend following Codie Sanchez’s advice of looking for non-assuming, established “main street”, profitable businesses to take over. You can find a link to her book at the bottom of this post, it’s a great resource in identifying and assessing businesses to purchase and run. According to data from JP Morgan Chase owners earn significantly more than folks that work for someone else:
Indeed, people who own businesses are wealthier than those who do not. In 2019, the median net worth of self-employed families was $380,000—over four times larger than the $90,000 in net worth held by the typical working family (Headd 2021).
- If you can’t be an Entrepreneurial business owner, or if you’re not ready to be one, be an Intrapreneur instead for a company that offers company equity (stock, stock options, revenue share, etc.) as part of their compensation package. This entails seeking out trending high-salary roles within in demand industries, re-skilling, and/or honing transferable skills as necessary to get yourself into these companies. You won’t have full outright ownership, but you’ll earn a share of ownership through equity grants over your tenure. This was the key to my FIRE journey, I hope it can be for you too.
Intrapreneurship is when employees within a company take on entrepreneurial roles to create new products or services.
- Build what’s called “Career Capital”. As alluded to earlier, leverage your career to build a durable skillset or competitive advantage to differentiate yourself from the sea of others. Do this through investing the necessary time and effort to become the best in your field. Put in those 10,000 to perfect your craft, through being learning and being curious to elevate yourself to the top percentile in your field and promotions, associated pay increases, and job opportunities will naturally follow.
What about your Passion?
While pursing your passion can be fulfilling and exciting, it’s not a guaranteed path to financial independence. Wealth often comes not from doing what you love but from doing what’s needed in the market and you don’t necessarily have to love what you do in the process of building wealth. So follow the money and only then once you’ve built up sufficient wealth to no longer need to depend on a ‘job’ whether it be through outright ownership or working for someone else you’ll have the freedom, time, and peace of mind to pursue your passion. Go for when time comes and change the world while you’re at it!
As for me, what did Financial Independence unlock for me? Well, I find great joy in helping others succeed through my mistakes, learnings, and experiences. That’s the ethos of this blog, my consultation program, and the content I create. Hope you found this, and everything I do helpful – leave a comment if you did! I appreciate you!
One final note…
I’ll be launching my YouTube channel in the coming months. In one of my first videos I’ll walk you though how to identify and target companies whose pay structures or total compensation packages include significant equity. To become not only and employee but an intrapreneurial owner. Stay tuned, Subscribe and turn on notifications!
https://www.youtube.com/@DelayedFI
Before you go…
And…a word from our sponsor…wait I don’t have any sponsors….So here’s affiliate to a book I found useful and enlightening in my journey.
Codie Sanchez’s Main Street Millionaire. A guide to help you get started with business ownership.
Check it out! https://amzn.to/3ETskRR
