A Truth About Making Money Without Working Harder
The allure of passive income is undeniable, especially the one painted in modern times. Some of us see it as the end goal of all financial hustle. We dream of waking up to overflowing bank accounts, having built financial fortresses while we slept, as Warren Buffett likes to put it.
This end goal or destination to work towards is no doubt achievable. Because there have been a number of individuals who've achieved it. Which means anyone can achieve it, provided they follow a similar path and are creative about it.
But the reality is often less picturesque, especially when contrasted with the picture painted by modern times. By 'reality', I mean the actual time and effort it takes to achieve this end goal.
We can see that there's a huge gap between expectation and reality, akin to building castles on the sky. The idea seems fantastic but it's a bit impractical in reality.
I think putting the cart before the horse, as in romanticizing expectation and ignoring reality, is a recipe for going in circles without ever getting anywhere.
Imaginary Versus Real Tree
A healthy dose of reality comes when this imaginary tree that we water for some time and forget it doesn't materialize. That's when we begin to understand that passive income isn't really a magic money tree, but a meticulously cultivated garden.
Yes, things ought to be a bit faster in the digital realm, with the help of leverage. But the fact remains that setting up passive income streams requires significant upfront effort, whether offline or online.
For example, building an audience for our blog, creating and marketing digital products, or researching investments all demand dedication and hard work.
Like planting a real tree, we'll need to nurture it, prune it, and weather the occasional storm before reaping the fruits (or dividends).
There's a strong aspect of 'set and forget it' with the modern picture of passive income, such as setting up an investment and forget it or create a digital product and forget it. This often implies that passive income means no work ever again, as in do it once and be done with it.
But let's be clear: there's no such thing as 'no work ever again' when it comes to passive income. Experience has shown us that even the most established passive income streams need occasional maintenance and tweaks. Market conditions change, trends shift, and audiences evolve. 'Set and forget it' mostly works when things more or less stay the same and this isn't really the case in the modern world.
Granted, maintaining a passive income source isn't a full-time job. But it does require us to stay engaged and adaptable, especially in a world with a good dose of volatility.
Bridging The Gap
I'd say true passive income is a marathon, not a sprint. So a good way to bridge the gap is to embrace a realistic timeline. This means ditching the 'overnight success' mentality and operating with an adaptable and a long term mindset.
A long term mindset fits well with the strategy of small and steady gains that lead to a big impact, which is a common trait of most established passive income streams.
This is thanks to the power of compounding, which works best when we give it time.
The initial effort of planting might not seem monumental, but with patience and time, it results in something grand and enduring.
Bridging the gap between expectation and reality isn't about dismissing the dream of passive income. The way that it is portrayed nowadays can be inspiring and really motivating.
But when it comes to doing the work, it's about approaching it with clear eyes and realistic expectations, with a commitment to consistent effort and adaptability.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Even this passive income we desire, it boils down to doing our part by being hardworking and consistent with what we do because sitting down without doing nothing will not make a change.
Right. Doing nothing will mean achieving nothing. I think sticking to the process is something that people want to create shortcut out of and this never really works. Better to keep our head down and continue to put in the work.
Thanks for stopping by :)
There will always be some hard work behind easy work that brings out money. Because of the hard work that one did in the beginning, that could give him the privilege of making money without hard work in the end. !PIZZA
Exactly, we pay it forward by work hard in the beginning and this later evolves into less hard work but more money coming in. I think the analogy of planting a seed and growing it into a tree fits well with it.
Thanks for stopping by :)
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@ekavieka(5/5) tipped @takhar
I see very wealthy people complain about how difficult it is to keep track of their money and investments. From a distance, you’d think they just throw money at a couple of ventures and forget about them to take profits eventually. But the reality is that even though they’re technically not working themselves, they’re still doing the numbers game and actively making decisions and taking steps that will get them where they envision. The work is just not physical, it’s a minds game at some point when you decide to go passive.
Rightly said. I think sometimes that's even the hardest part when things go multi-dimensional and one have to use their mind constantly to come up with strategies to grow, multiply and preserve their income sources. For me, I believe that's the fun part :)
Thanks for stopping by :)
Yay! 🤗
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