3668: The Value of Following Your Dreams When They Don't Make Money by Kym Wilson with Tiny Buddha on Intentional Living

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[00:00:57] This is Optimal Finance Daily. The value of following your dreams when they don't make money. By Kim Wilson with tinybuddha.com. And I'm Justin Malek, and I'm going to jump right into it as we optimize your life. The value of following your dreams when they don't make money. By Kim Wilson with tinybuddha.com. Quote,

[00:01:25] The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. Unknown. Five years ago, in a move I wasn't sure was so brilliant at the time, I quit my career at a rapidly growing ASX-listed financial services organization, packed up my life, and flew to Thailand to pursue my love of scuba diving.

[00:01:48] I thought I was just going for 12 months, that I'd get it out of my system, then return to Melbourne and settle down, get a job in the not-for-profit industry, buy a house, maybe get married and have kids, save for my retirement. The usual rite of passage. My unleashed spirit had different ideas. When you answer the call to adventure, you never know where you will end up.

[00:02:12] I fell in love with an Italian man, completed my scuba diving instructor course, and spent the next few years splitting my time between Australia and Thailand. When our relationship ended, I returned to Melbourne to be quote-unquote sensible, to try and put down some roots and figure out, once and for all, what I was meant to do with my life.

[00:02:33] I returned to work with my former employer, but 15 months later, when I was still trying to figure things out, the universe gave me a divine kick up the bum. I was suddenly and unexpectedly made redundant. Instead of finding another job, again, I answered the call to adventure. 10 weeks later, I was in Canterbury, England, following the 2,000-kilometer Via Francigena pilgrimage route to Rome, living a dream.

[00:03:03] When I returned to Melbourne to integrate all that I had learned on my pilgrimage, my bank account had dropped way below my comfort level, and the job market was really slow. Employers didn't seem to appreciate my unconventional life that appeared as, well-explained, gaps in my CV. Living in suburbia, I started to compare my life to my friends who were getting married, having kids, and buying houses.

[00:03:30] I looked at my dwindling bank account balance, 10-year-old car, and unpacked bags of clothes, the sum total of my life. I began to panic. From my economic studies, I know the opportunity cost of walking away from my career five years ago to follow my heart into adventure is close to a million.

[00:03:51] As a financial planning professional, I know that the longer you delay buying a house, the more you have to pay and the less achievable it becomes. And the longer you delay saving for retirement, the more you have to save or the longer you need to work. These are the realities of living in our modern world where money is the common form of value exchange and it costs to live.

[00:04:17] To put shelter over your head, food in your belly, and clothes on your back. Acutely aware of this, I promised myself I would never ruin myself financially by living unconventionally. I feared that was exactly what I had done. As I walked those 2,000 kilometers alone, I discovered the quiet voice of wisdom that speaks up when I ask it for guidance or it decides there is something I need to hear.

[00:04:44] In that moment of panic, it told me this. Your net worth is not your life's worth. Don't confuse the two. Your net worth is not your life's worth. There was instant relief in those words. My choices may have cost me a million and my net worth may be a small fraction of that. But the real value of my experiences over the last five years transcends physical currency.

[00:05:14] The sights I have seen. The blessings I have received. The moments I have witnessed. Diving in the ocean with sharks and manta rays. Watching a volcano erupt. Crossing the Alps and the Apennines alone on foot. Dancing ecstatically in the rain at a dance party in India. Caring for street dogs and orphans. Muddling through French and Italian conversations with locals. And watching the sun die a vibrant death hundreds of times.

[00:05:43] These experiences have transformed me. And because I am changed, affect the lives of those whose paths I cross like ripples on a pond. In a world that requires us to earn money, the popular pursuit of purpose these days is by offering your skills, talents, and abilities to earn money doing what you love. That is, to create a business outside of the traditional corporate environment and make that your purpose.

[00:06:13] But what if your dreams are not the type that will earn you money? And what if following your dreams requires that you walk away from a high-paying career? Or that you spend your savings or forego buying a house so that you can live your dream? Often misconceived as selfishness, honoring and doing what transforms our inner selves is a way of being of service too.

[00:06:37] Everyone who comes into contact with your ripples will benefit from that change, directly or indirectly, known or unknown. In this way, the return on investment from following your dreams is infinite. Larger than you can ever quantify or know while you are in human form. But what about the cost of not following your dreams? How will you feel at the end of your life if you don't give your dream a go?

[00:07:06] How will you feel living in a big old house with plenty of cash in your bank account and very healthy retirement savings, but with your neglected dreams fading away in the corner? I know that one day when I am old and dying, I won't regret the things I never had, but I will regret the moments I didn't seize and the adventures and growth I never experienced. I know that every time I have followed my heart and answered the call to adventure,

[00:07:34] even when I wasn't sure where the money was going to come from or how it was all going to turn out, life has shown me that it will support me. It will support you too. Although it might never be reflected in your net assets, follow your heart and your dreams, focus on growing your life's worth, not just your net worth, and no matter where your life takes you or what your external wealth looks like, you will be truly enriched.

[00:08:02] You just listened to the post titled, The Value of Following Your Dreams When They Don't Make Money, by Kim Wilson with tinybuddha.com. I'll be right back with my commentary. The perfect lunch combo. That first bite of your favorite sub, followed by ice cold Pepsi. Add a couple of friends, and now that's next level.

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[00:09:49] Get started today. Thank you to Kim. I like that line she heard out on her walk, that your net worth is not your life's worth. And not to confuse the two. Because I think it's so easy to do exactly that. We look at the balance in our account, or the house, or the car, and quietly let that number decide how we're doing. And you'd think she'd know better than most. She's a financial planner.

[00:10:16] She can literally calculate what following her heart cost her, and she said close to a million. But she chose it anyway. But she's not anti-money at all. She's just separating the two kinds of worth. And I've had to learn this myself. For a long time, I let things outside of me, a review, a download number, decide how I felt about the work I do. And it stung, sometimes for months.

[00:10:44] But tying your worth to any number is a bit of a losing game, because there's always a bigger one out there. Now, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, it might not be possible to leave a career and spend down savings. And that's completely okay. I also don't think it's all or nothing. You can be responsible with your money and leave a little room for the experiences that actually change you. So maybe just notice where you might be confusing the two.

[00:11:14] And with that, thank you for being here and listening every day. That really is what keeps me going. And it means a lot. Have a great rest of your day. And I'll see you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits. And I'll see you tomorrow,