We have reached peak Fuck You Money.
Chart by Miko Matsumura
Fuck You Money: the chunk of money you believe you need in the bank before you say Fuck You to your day job.
It's a math equation a lot of people believe/work towards that goes like....
Make lots of money (in a lucrative, high risk day job, put up with BS, do what it takes to make the cash money cash money)
+
Say FUCK YOU (quit your day job, retire (early), develop a passion/hobby a job, follow your dreams, read lots of greek philosophy (preferably of the stoic variety) _______, etc.)
=
Reinforcing feedback loop to do whatever it takes to make money in the rat race, then get out.
This equation might have worked in the past, but it doesn't work anymore. There are many people using this model, going for bigger pieces of the monetary equation, and there's less money available in circulation. The amount of money needed for Fuck You Money has also increased - you need to have acquired more Fuck You Money today than you did, say 10 or 20 years ago.
When I hear about people following this model: doing something tedious to make money and putting off following their dreams, I ask them why. What is stopping them from working on their dream (which is, inevitably a more satisfying line of work, or working for themselves, or other way of making money)?
It comes down to fear.
The Fuck You Money is a hedge against fear. But really, Fuck You Money puts fear off. It hides fear - which is going to be IN YOUR FACE anytime you do something you really want. That's how you know you want it.
So stop wasting time making Fuck You Money. Face your fear (I'm not saying you have to overcome it) and take the leap anyway. You'll be closer to your dreams muy rapido. It's also more sustainable for the economy/environment.
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