I was talking to a person today that was saying how she prefers doing a certain job over a volunteer position as for the job she actually gets paid for it. I guess it’s true too as for many people in many cases if they make a lot of money doings something they generally enjoy it more as I guess everyone feels that it is worth it while being a good accomplishment.

While I think the ideal answer would be that doing what you love is the way to go, you can’t argue that people have to make a living too. Hence, people usually opt to do the things in life that bring in the most money. I always find the best way to try and balance this is to do what brings in the money and at the same time you can try and use some of the money towards building whatever it is you are passionate about where it is self sustainable.

So for example, if you like donating food to charity to help the less fortunate it wouldn’t just be taking the money you earn, buy some canned food and donate them. Instead, you would try and use the money to say build a donation box machine of some sort where it is placed in strategic locations such as where there are wealthier people. Then, the hope is your donation box will continually generate money and then you can use that to buy the can food to donate. Hence, you don’t really need to sacrifice one or the other really as you are trying to leverage your time and money better.

Of course this type of approach will take more thought and energy in the beginning, but in the end it would be worth it I’d say. Just because you volunteer to do things doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself financially too.

Well, Canada won the gold medal today in Hockey and you can bet that it is busy and packed on the streets here. Virtually every street vendors are making a ton of profit simply selling items that are patriotic like a flag. This is one of those days too where it is so great to see everyone come together. While obviously business and profits is a big deal for a lot of people, it’s great to see that it can be just the simple things like a sporting event that puts people on the same page for once.

People were super nice today too. I know most people say Canadians are nice. Today everyone was extra nice in being helpful. Example, even bus drivers taking passengers on when they are not supposed to stop normally as they knew that people needed to get to the events on time. I’m really happy that I got to be a part of it. As I always say, for me it’s about trying and experiencing as much as I can without worrying about the money too much. Funny enough, even in this case I ended up making money while doing something that I was interested in.

Just goes to show you again that if you just do things that you are passionate about or would enjoy the money will come. Not coincidentally I met a ton of people that I could very well be working with in the future with other endeavors. I am super interested in what happens during the post games now too in terms of the economic impact. Either way, it has been a great month and day today.

I was reading this quote today that was said by Vince McMahon who owns the WWE organization and it was an interesting one. The quote was apparently along the lines of “I think my idea of retirement might be to one day work a 40-hour week.”

I thought that was such a cool quote as for most people they dread over a regular 40 hour work week. However, it’s not uncommon for an entrepreneur to work so many more hours or even for people that seem to have everything set financially. It is a redundant tip as you hear it all the time, but an important one.

That should make you think too where if you are saying you are trying everything to make it at whatever is you are trying to do, how do you compare to people like that when it comes to the amount of effort one puts into their work everyday?

Just the other day I was talking to an older gentleman who was describing to me about his past career where he was working as an operations manager for a company for about 8 to 12 hours a day. When he was young he was able to tolerate it with much enthusiasm, but it quickly caught up to him. He was then telling me how you have to be careful about that as in most cases no one will care too business wise as you will simply be replaced.

The interesting thing I thought is that from an entrepreneur mindset that is usually the expectation where you are going to be working say 12 to 16 hour days until you make it even if it means for years. At the same time, there are people that work those types of hours and love every minute of it.

I personally think getting burned out is only a real factor if you are doing something where money is the main motivation to get through hard times. Basically the fuel is to simply get more money everyday. Example, today you get $100, tomorrow you’ll need $150, $200, etc.

Granted everyone has a physical limit which shouldn’t be ignored. But I’m inclined to say too that if you really love what you are doing you will find a way to accomplish it. Example, finding ways to leverage your time if you are spending too much time from being able to do other things.

I remember a teacher from high school though that was saying he chose that profession with a big reason because of the off times you get such as summer vacations when school is out. So for him, being able to get time off from work life was a big factor before he decided to get into something. I guess for myself the focus has always been what good can this thing/venture do in the long run which keeps me going.

I was reading about this scenario where a person had opened up a martial arts business with of course the revenue coming from people who pay a fee to train at the studio. The person started from ground up with an emphasis that he opened up the business as he was passionate about teaching others and not for financial gain.

As the years went on, the business was doing very well and the owner was bringing in a lot of revenue where he was able to create a financially rewarding lifestyle. As a result, he apparently began to buy luxury items such as a BMW. Still though, he advertised that he is not in it for the financial gain.

It was interesting to see the responses as there were people condemning him for having items like that while the other side argues that he earned it and that it should be no big deal. Kind of interesting I must say as in some ways this is kind of like when people say they are struggling in life and need help yet you see them spending like $20 on a lunch everyday. Basically, it is like a contradicting action.

In general what people buy with their money is their own prerogative and I wouldn’t necessarily categorize people just because they own certain things. On the other hand, like in this situation if you specifically use the “I’m not in it for the money” gimmick as a way to lure people to do business with you, then I would say to a certain extent you would unfortunately have to be consistent with that in terms of your actions.

Kind of reminds me of that AIG situation in the US where the company is getting financial help yet you see them with bills from luxurious events. If you are going to change persona in this sense, then I would think the best thing to do is be upfront about your new business direction.