Making money a priority

in work •  4 years ago 

Some of you may have noticed, but to those who have not, know that since I started writing and posting my work on Hive once again, I also decided to post the same content on Steemit as well.

It's a pretty simple and straightforward process - I write an article for Hive, I edit it, find a picture for it, and before I hit the "Post" button, I copy everything and paste it on Steemit as well, where I publish the exact same article.

Now, I'm sure a lot of people don't really care about this. I shouldn't care about it either. But I do kind of have some sort of an annoying way to look at things. I do not particularly like people who try to "cheat the system" or who use any way they can to make an extra buck, no matter how shady or unprincipled it might be.

Doing something like posting the same content on multiple platforms isn't something I would have done in the past, but it is something I decided to do recently, with a single idea in mind - putting money among the top priorities.

Now, I'm not gonna bullshit you and say that I spend hours and hours thinking about what to write, days writing and then hours and hours editing. I don't. Writing a 1000 words article takes me around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fast I type at that moment and how much I know about what I'm writing.

So I'm not gonna tell you how it's not fair that I'm only making a few dollars or cents a day writing on Hive, when I put "so much" work into my articles. I received a lot of rewards for the articles I wrote recently, and also a lot in the past, which is the reason why I managed to buy the computer I now have and write articles and do 3D and other things on it, and for that I'm really grateful, really, I appreciate it a lot.

But there is a reason, a simple one, for why I decided to start considering money as a necessary thing in my life, and why I'm trying to give up on this "purist" mentality that makes me think that if I don't create unique content for 3 or more websites, I'm a fake and an impostor and I shouldn't deserve anything for my work. Because that's how I've been thinking for a while now.

Ignoring money, and giving up on ways to make money, because you have certain principles is, in my opinion, a good thing. It's good to have principles. It's good to want you to do the best you can, and work honestly and out of passion, not having to think about the material rewards.

However, neglecting the idea of making money, then getting to a point in life in which you would really need the money, a point in life in which not having that money would mean misery and constant worry, things that will affect your life in a negative way, and your work as well, is just not worth it.

And I should know, because I've done that multiple times throughout my life. I gave up on opportunities because of my principles, and I ended up regretting where that got me, to a point where the lack of money made me so miserable, I just couldn't make myself work on anything. I just couldn't see the point. Whatever I was doing, wasn't making money, and I wasn't willing to do certain things such as posting the same content on two different websites, probably for two different types of audiences, because I considered it "wrong".

Working, for the sake of working, creating for the sake of creating, doing something you like because you enjoy doing it is, mostly, a hobby, or passion. You spend some time on it, and it brings you emotional satisfaction. It makes you happy to work on that thing.

But, if it does not provide you with any material rewards, especially if you need it, especially if those material rewards will be used for things such as bills, and food, then maybe it's time to think about how you can transition at least a part of your hobby, into a more business-focused activity.

In my case, I chose to publish the same content on both Hive and Steemit. It doesn't hurt anyone, I'm not spamming anyone telling them about how I want them to follow and upvote my posts, or anything of the sort.

Money is, as much as we hate to admit it, a VERY important part of our life. It might not be the only thing that matters, of course, but it is important to the point where not having it can make your life quite miserable.

I remember Casey Neistat making a video on this subject, you can find it here:

In the video he explains, in more words than me, that believing that money won't make you happy, or that there are way more important things out there, and that money won't solve all your problems is partly true, and partly bullshit.

When you have enough money to not worry about tomorrow, or about next week, when you know you can pay the rent, the bills, and still have enough for food and other little things here and there, it's really easy to think about the meaning of life and how you'd like to work only out of passion.

However, when paying rent or bills is one of the most stressful things for you in a month, when buying food becomes a headache because you have to figure out ways in which to manage your money so you can eat for the entire month, and when it's been months since you bought anything for yourself because you simply can't make money, then all the things I mentioned above, such as passion, the meaning of life, hobbies, etc, all those things kind of fade in the background and they become luxurious thoughts that you can't afford to have because there are bigger problems in your life that can literally all be solved by having money.

The reason I decided to write this article is because there are, I'm sure, other people out there who have an ideal for themselves, who would like to become in a certain way, to work out of pleasure, out of passion, and to not "compromise" themselves by focusing on money.

But money is just as important. It's important for you, and your well being, and it's important for those around you, who you might be able to help when they face difficult times. I ignored money for a very long time in my life and only now I realize how big of a mistake that was.

I kept an inner baggage of principles that helped no one, especially not me, and did things in the pursuit of passion, and my dreams, and ended up in a not that nice of a place.

I'm not saying that you should quit your dreams and work like a horse for other people. I'm saying that thinking about how to make money with what you do, if that is what you need, is okay, and is not gonna suddenly make people hate you and despise you as a human being.

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I can only agree with you. I'm doing the same thing ever since I know of Hive's existance next to Steemit (which has basically been a week). As you say, it's not hurting anybody. I'm not hiding anything, I just don't want to put financial needs last.
I have a very hard time keeping myself out of burnouts in jobs it seems, so right now, I would like to try and earn enough not to have to go through that crap again. As long as you write original content, who cares if you put it on various of your accounts? It's your content, you decide where to share it. Others will decide if it's worth the votes.

Exactly. Your needs are just as important as the content you create. If you neglect yourself too much, you'll get to a point where money is what's in your mind at all times, and you'll be miserable and you won't even be able focus on work because of it. Then everything in your life will suffer, including work.

Money is essential, there's not much else to say. It's just as important to our well-being as anything else. Focusing on it is just natural. As long as we don't compromise yourself, and we don't become obsessed with money, and we don't ruin our work for the sake of some extra dollars, it's fine.