As far back as I can remember, I wanted passive income.
Money that comes without being tied to my time or energy. Income that I do not have to show. A worry-free financial life.
I think it’s a universal desire for anyone who didn’t grow up rich. You see what financial stress can do to a family and make a silent promise to yourself: I will never live like this.
So I’ve been chasing it all my life.
Here’s what I didn’t expect when I got there.
I still worry
A dream will not achieve what you think
Here is the truth. No matter how much money you make, life will never be easy.
Anxiety doesn’t go away just because money comes in.
The only thing that will happen is your anxiety shifts. He finds new things to attach.
Psychiatrist Gordon Livingston wrote a book called And never stop dancing then he explained the concept better than I could. He wrote:
“We all want life to be simple. Almost every unwanted emotion we experience—fear, anxiety, depression, prejudice—reflects a reaction to the complexity that surrounds us.”
That’s what passive income is all about as a goal. It’s really a desire for simplicity. For complexity and anxiety to disappear.
But they don’t. Because they never came from a lack of money. They are part of life.
A more difficult question
Livingston has another line in the book that I will return to:
“Is there a compensation for the losses of growing up? Free time? How to spend it? Financial security? What to do? Unburdened by aspiration? How do we stay relevant?”
That last part hit me.
Let’s say you are completely freed from the burden of aspiration. How important are we?
What else is there?
If you stop striving, you stop living. This is not a metaphor. This is literally what is happening. You lose your sense of purpose.
A reason to get up in the morning. Feeling that you are moving somewhere.
You see this with parents who have children. Suddenly there is a big gap. A child who relied on you for everything no longer needs your 24/7 care.
You get all the free time. But how to spend it?
A friend of mine often says, “When our kids are old, my wife and I will travel the world.”
But you can’t do it forever. You get used to everything, even the wonders of the world.
There is no ideal answer to all our problems.
What do I focus on instead?
Passive income has always been a goal for me.
“Oh man, when the money comes in every month, I can enjoy life!”
The problem is that we don’t question our ideas enough. What do you enjoy? Of course, I love to read, exercise, travel, watch movies, eat delicious food, and spend time with my family.
If I spend all my time on entertainment, sometimes I don’t get much satisfaction from it. This will become the standard.
What makes life good? He rests after hard work. It goes on vacation after spending a long time at home.
Diversity. This is the key.
I’m not saying don’t create passive income. I’m glad I did. Financial security is real and it matters.
But getting your life in order is the wrong goal. Because the day you get to it, you realize that it solves a practical problem, but not a deeper one.
The deepest goal is to challenge yourself every day.
This skill doesn’t have to be a big aspiration. A small daily habit of doing something that is a little uncomfortable.
Yesterday I mowed the grass and trimmed the edges of the garden. I’m not a garden person. I don’t like this kind of work.
The grass was long and every time I looked at it, I didn’t like it. So I went out and mowed it.
It took a couple of hours. When I was done it looked great. And then I felt so good.
That is the secret of living a happy life.
Write if you don’t like it. Practice when it’s easier to skip. Do your taxes instead of procrastinating again. Go outside when you’d rather stay inside.
Not that any of these things are important in and of themselves. But because the habit of doing hard things keeps you sharp.
It keeps you connected to yourself. It keeps anxiety at bay better than any passive income.
The real goal
Financial freedom is a practical achievement. This gives you options. It eliminates certain types of stress. I am truly grateful for that.
Look at passive income and money as a foundation. What you build on that foundation is the real question.
And the answer, I can say, is to keep testing yourself. Keep moving. Keep doing something a little harder than what you did yesterday.
Livingston’s question remains with me: How do we matter?
Whether you are broke or financially free, the answer is the same. By staying in the game, you stay relevant. By contributing. Through growth.
Passive income buys you time. Testing yourself is how you use it.
