The One Thing That Consistently Beats High Income

Yesterday I watched a TED video, http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity, and it had a profound effect on me. You can watch it on YouTube also.

Then I watched another one, http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius, and it's also on YouTube.

And I advise you also watch those 2 videos. I am sure you'll pick up many valuable lessons from them. In fact, today's post is about the valuable lesson I got from them. The lesson that doing what you love is always more valuable than high income.

In the first video, Sir Ken Robinson talked about how we become less creative as we grow up and begin to take up dogmas that force us to follow paths dictated by a societal/educational system built on outdated principles. We let what the school we went to and what the HR of companies we care so little about expect of us to form the roadmap for our lives. We let go of our unique passion and talents to conform to the mass produced requirements of a broken educational system and work environment. We suppress the real us to become what the society pays more attention to. We are made to believe that the only way to become someone in life is to follow a traditional career path. Go to school, focus more on Maths and English than the creative arts subjects, get a university degree that is in demand, top it with a Masters, get a regular job with a big company and climb up the management ladder. On the surface it's not wrong and almost all CEOs followed that path. The real trouble with it is that it forces everyone through the same mould. It tries to make an Einstein out of every Shakespeare, Beethoven and Mozart. It suppresses the non-scientific creativity of every child. It forces adults to compete unhealthily with one another on limited opportunities while neglecting the bigger opportunities they were destined to create.

And the second video was more about merging work and life. Having to work in a field you chose and in a way you want such that everyday is an equally enjoyable day, weekday or weekend. This consistently beats high income. When what you do is who you are. Your job isn't turning you into someone you don't want to be but rather shaping you into the man/woman you've always wanted to be. 

Watching those two videos encouraged me to keep on on the path I've recently chosen. That no matter the challenges and sacrifices I will always be better off, because I am following my dream and staying true to myself. Work is no longer what I do for income but what I do because I am me. To tell me to stop working is to tell me to stop being me. I have found what I have passion for and talented at, and regardless of how I go about doing it I will always be happier than if I was doing something else which generates a much higher income.