The 'Save Money and Pursue Passion Later' Myth

> Motivated by this realization, I worked day and night for four months to launch my first business, MyColorScreen, a decision I have never regretted.

> Rather than depending on this unstable system, it's better to rely on yourself. Instead of waiting for an elusive 'right time' when you have 'enough money', start now.

Their story doesn't add up. It took them four months of not working to build it. That would require either saving money, or having someone pay their expenses.

The website doesn't load for me, but it just looks like it was just an image gallery: https://archive.is/7dsvY

I have some friends that struggle to save money no matter how much they make. I totally agree that they would never save enough to start their business later. At the same time, I also think they would be fine scaling their spending down appropriately if they pursued a passion project. For them, this advice is great.

I have other friends that saved up for a few years and then took a year off between jobs. For them the math was simple: if they only touch 75% of their income (including for retirement and savings); they can take every 4th year off with zero impact on finances. For them the "myth" works fine.

This is an odd interpretation IMO.

Thiel - "If you bought a house or have all sorts of obligations of one sort or another, it may be very difficult."

My takeaway from that would be - if you have a dream and that dream requires an extended period of time out of traditional "work" to achieve it, don't get yourself into these sorts of financial obligations. Don't buy a house in an expensive area, don't get yourself stuck with car payments, etc.

I don't think that it is black or white. Sure, waiting for the perfect moment to pursue passion might not be the best way as it will probably never happen. What if there is a specific plan to save for a specific period of time, because let's say security is an important factor if you are not a twenty something single person. I am sure there are good examples for both sides, the ones saving for a specific time or the ones that just dive into it now. Just wanted to say that its not the one way or the other. It really depends on what fits you better.

When I was 27 I was working as a software engineer, going to work everyday. I looked around at the people that had been the 10 or 20 years and it scared the shit out of me.

I quit that job and drove from Alaska to Argentina over 2 years. I poked lava with with a stick, jumped off waterfalls, hiked a 20,000ft active volcano, learned spanish and had all kinds of wild adventures for a lot less than a used Tesla costs.

It changed my life, and I’m certain it was the best thing I ever did. Now almost 20 years later my body is not the same, my desire to rough it is not the same. If I didn’t do it then, I doubt I would do it now, because I would be too used to the comfortable life.

I am still having massive adventures around the world, and I am extremely happy I broke away from selling my life to someone else just sitting inside all day.

> It almost never plays out that way in practice. What seems to happen is that after some period of time, people are making good money and they're typically spending all of it, and it becomes really hard to dial that back. If you bought a house or have all sorts of obligations of one sort or another, it may be very difficult.

This just sounds like lifestyle creep. Not everyone suffers from it.

If you want to become a travel blogger, building an unrelated business and selling it seems like a roundabout way to "plunge headfirst into your passion."

To me, the author's story represents a much more insidious myth than simply saving money by spending less than you earn.

The book “what should i do with my life?” by po bronson comes to a similar conclusion, describing this idea as the “lockbox fantasy”