Awhile back, I read this excerpt at www.fastcompany.com from Po Bronson’s latest book (click the title). It resonated with me, having gone through the same process as so many people in the book, searching for the work that could give real meaning to my life.
I posted the link on a forum, and received a few pithy comments from some naysayers . One stuck with me…why did all the people interviewed move from high-paying jobs to low-paying jobs??? Couldn’t you be happy and make money? Couldn’t you make a lot of money and then follow your dreams?
The stories retold by Po echoed so many themes and issues I’ve encountered along the way, but since I hadn’t left a high-paying job for a low-paying job—I'd had no job when I finally found my calling—and since I only had my own personal experiences to draw from, I couldn’t answer the question.
I just finished reading the book itself, and now I can pass on some of the observations in it that didn’t appear in the excerpt. These observations are not scientific fact. They are themes Po observed while interviewing thousands of people for the book.
No one made their fortune first and then used it to pursue their dream career.
He even began to look for someone who had, since this concept is so prevalent in our culture. But he couldn't find them.
Why not?
Well…first, “getting rich” took more work and more time than anyone expected.
Second, no one came out of that situation unchanged. They became “emotionally invested…and psychologically adapted to that world.” They either became seriously hooked on the money and culture they picked up along the way, and couldn’t break loose. Or, after becoming fabulously wealthy, could not take their dream career seriously anymore. Po referred to their wealth as “the golden handcuffs.”
The only people who successfully accumulated a fortune and then parlayed it into fulfulling their dream did something else. THEY NEVER GAVE UP THEIR DREAM. They never set it aside. They actively pursued it while they accumlated their fortune. Or accumulated their fortune as a side effect of pursuing their dream.
In the end, he says not to give up your day job to chase pipe dreams, though many people in the book did just that. But….don’t put your dreams in a lockbox, either. And don’t invest years of your life in a day job for the huge pay-off at the end. It rarely works that way.
This was the one part of the book I couldn’t identify with, and so I had no answer for those people who protested. Everything else I can vouch for, and will, in another post.
