3135: Do What You Hate to Do What You Love by Chris Reining on Financial Independence

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Finance Daily. Do what you hate to do what you love. By Chris Reining of chrisreining.com. My sister remodeled her bathroom and put in one of those soaking tubs you see in magazines like Architectural Digest. You picture yourself putting the kids down for bed and then slinking into the perfect bubble bath while you sip a glass of red wine.

[00:01:26] But what really happens is you're too busy to relax and the only person who uses it is your brother when he visits for the holidays. He loves taking baths. And this becomes gossip between his nieces and nephews because afterwards his sister sends him a photo. What's that supposed to be? You in the tub. So now I'm known as the uncle who takes baths. I take baths because that's where you get ideas.

[00:01:56] Tim Ferriss had Adam Robinson on his podcast and they were talking about this. There's this concept called the three B's of creativity – bed, bath, and bus. Meaning if you're in a rut, you can do any of those things to get unstuck. Take bed, for example. We've all had a brilliant idea right when we're falling asleep.

[00:02:18] And then you tell yourself not to forget about it, but when you wake up, you remember you were going to remember something, but you can't remember what it was. And bus is simply a metaphor for travel. I had the idea for this article while on a walk because I remembered my high school guidance counselor saying, Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. I bet you've got that advice at some point in your life. Maybe you've even given it.

[00:02:46] But doing what you love is one of the worst pieces of career advice. Because doing what you love doesn't pay the bills. A job pays the bills. So please don't quit your job to be a yoga teacher. People hate their job and love going to yoga. So logically, it makes sense that if they were a full-time yoga teacher, then they could pay their bills while doing what they love. And I love yoga just like everyone else.

[00:03:13] There's a studio two blocks from here that I've gone to for six years. One of the teachers asked me when was I going to sign up for their teacher training. She told me I'd be good at it. I got home and looked at how much it cost. $3,600. Most things people love do have a low barrier to entry. I'm sitting there thinking, why would I spend $3,600 to teach one class a week at some god-awful time to make $25?

[00:03:43] If you do the math, you figure out it takes three years to break even. So here's the career advice my guidance counselor should have been saying. Do what you hate to do what you love. This reader gets it. Quote, I've only recently started taking the savings and phi game seriously. But as much as I dislike my job, nothing else will pay me anything close. So I'll stick it out for a few more years. End quote.

[00:04:11] He's doing what he hates to do what he loves. Once he reaches financial independence, he can do whatever he wants to. Because financial independence isn't about having money. It's about having options. Plus, we all have 16 hours in a day. That means you can spend 8 hours at some job you hate to pay your bills, and 8 hours doing whatever it is you love. It's like Sarah Blakely. She spent 7 years selling fax machines door-to-door while developing Spanx at night.

[00:04:40] Think about that. It was only 2 weeks before Spanx was going on Oprah that she quit her job. Sometimes you have to do what you hate to do what you love. The most dangerous thing I see people do is quit their job to do what they love. I think that's bonkers when you can just do both. It's what I tell people all the time. If you start earning enough money doing what you love to cover your bills, then quit. But then you have to ask yourself, Do I want to turn what I love doing into a job?

[00:05:10] Because it was always something you were doing because you enjoyed it. But now you're doing it because you have to. And when you're doing it because you have to, it's a job. This is when you can start the whole cycle over again. Now you're spending 8 hours at a job you hate to pay your bills. And you have 8 hours to work on whatever new thing it is that you love. And that's a great way to structure a life. You just listened to the post titled,

[00:05:39] Do What You Hate to Do What You Love by Chris Reining of chrisreining.com. The origins of this podcast were once just a dream. That dream turned into the podcast and business you're listening to today. Starting your own business is a dream lots of us share. But too many of us let it remain just a dream. Don't hold yourself back thinking, What if I don't have the skills? What if I can't do it alone? Turn those what ifs into why nots with Shopify by your side.

[00:06:09] Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide and handles 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. From household names like Mattel to brands just getting started. Build campaigns that reach customers wherever they're scrolling. Plus, Shopify's expertise covers everything. Inventory, shipping, returns, and beyond. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn those dreams into...

[00:06:37] And give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash OFD. Go to Shopify.com slash OFD. Shopify.com slash OFD. When investing your money starts to feel like a second job, Betterment steps in with a little work-life balance.

[00:07:03] It's the automated investing and savings app that handles the work so you don't have to. While they build and manage your portfolio, you build and manage your weekend plans. While they make it easy to invest for what matters, you just get to enjoy what matters. Their automated tools simplify the complex and put your money to work, optimizing day after day and again and again. So go ahead, take your time to rest and recharge.

[00:07:33] Because while your money doesn't need a work-life balance, you do. Make your money hustle with Betterment. Get started at Betterment.com. That's B-E-T-T-E-R-M-E-N-T dot com. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. This post made me think of a fantastic book by Cal Newport called So Good They Can't Ignore You.

[00:08:00] I highly recommend it, especially if you're early on in your career. He encourages people not to follow their passion. Not because they might be wrong about what they think their passion is, but because research shows that following your passion doesn't align with what makes people most happy in their careers. Professional happiness comes from following what you're good at and achieving a level of mastery.

[00:08:26] You also need to have autonomy over what you work on and how. Working with people you like and trust and having a meaningful impact are also key to getting satisfaction out of your career. Cal also talks about how at a certain point in your career, you can start leveraging career capital to gain more autonomy over your time and your work. This is the route I chose to explore because I realized that one of the key reasons I'm pursuing financial independence

[00:08:55] is so that I can have full autonomy over my time. So to be able to experience that before I actually reach financial independence felt like a no-brainer to me. And when you have a good level of autonomy over your work and time, consider not trading that in for more money. More money at that point is likely to have very little effect over your quality of life. And that's a wrap for another Thursday show.

[00:09:24] Have a great rest of your day, and I'll be back tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.