I was a fairly decent student in high school (1995-1999). I graduated with a 4.4-grade point average and immediately joined the United States Marine Corps.
Twenty-three years later, I am still in the Corps and finally expressing myself through creativity. But why is it so hard for us to show our creative sides? What changed us from our creative youth into our serious adulthood? Education.
Why are we so serious? As kids, we used to dream about being a firefighter, policeman, teacher, or doctor. At no point did we worry about the salary these professions were paying.
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Over the years, the number one thing we tell kids is to find a high-paying career. Who dreams about becoming an information technology technician or human resources manager?
Why is getting a high-paying job so essential to our livelihood? Because we don’t understand money.
If we understand money as adults, we could teach our children that they can become wealthy and successful in any career field.
How does money work? Money works for you, or you work for money. No matter how we earn a salary, the money must go towards income-producing assets. These assets include dividend-paying stocks, interest-paying bonds, and income-producing real estate.
Print Your Own Money
If a McDonald’s worker can save and invest $500/month and a doctor can invest $300/month, who is setting themselves up for a better future?
Yes, the doctor may have more expensive stuff, but the McDonald’s worker understands how money works and can leverage it in the future.
The bottom line is that you can do anything you desire in this world. You only need to save money, invest in assets, and live below your means.
Who stole our creativity? Do you wonder why people play the lottery? Many people believe that more money will solve their money issues.
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It’s the same with careers. Parents who struggle with money believe that more money will solve their problems. They don’t want to invest in themselves, so they push this philosophy onto their children.
Parents believe their lives would be more rewarded if they made $120,000 versus $75,000. This may or may not be accurate, but it’s only half the story.
The other part of the story is that they sacrificed their creativity for a paycheck. Listen, I understand that we all need to pay our expenses—I get it!
But why can’t we be creative in our free time? Why do we work a mind-numbing job and then come home to binge on Netflix all weekend? Is this our true purpose in life—to work a job?
Can creativity bring happiness? Our brains crave to be creative. Half of our brains thrive on critical thinking and creative pursuits. Being creative and seeing others enjoy our works will make us feel grounded in this world.
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When we sit in the classroom, we listen to a teacher. This teacher can then give us a grade based on what they “feel” is appropriate to their own experiences. We give these teachers too much power and influence over our creativity.
The free market is the only actual test of your creative works. I can publish this book today and may sell a couple of copies if the market likes this content.
However, I can turn this book in for a grade from a teacher, and they may grade me an “F.” Why is there a massive disparity between the free-market and teacher ratings?
Education stifles creativity. We limit ourselves and our abilities as we try to conform to our teacher’s desires. We try to appease the professionals, but we are truly only feeding their egos.
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Don’t get me wrong; learning does require an educator. However, at some point, we must reach a divergent path where our work becomes our own. The free market economy will help us find our voices.
One of my favorite books on creativity is “The Practice” by Seth Godin. It helped me grow as I started as a writer. What separates a good writer from a bad writer? One of them continues to write.
When can you call yourself a writer? The minute you start writing. We put all these barriers up to prevent us from doing the work. Just do the work—no need to add worthless labels or titles.
Money in creativity. Just because you become a creative doesn’t mean you can earn a wage. Keep working your job. Understand that your job probably won’t satisfy your desires.
Dividends vs. Royalties part I
Your mind longs to wander into new worlds and create a path towards completion. Once you complete a project, it wants to move on to the next.
In your free time, try creating something. I wrote a series on the various creative works you can do to free your brain from its prison.
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 101: Music
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 102: Photography
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 103: Art & Design
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 104: Video
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 105: Audio & Speech
- Create Passive Income from Creativity 106: Writing
Other creative pursuits. You don’t just have to work towards royalties. You can start a business where you can exercise your math, data, or language skills.
How about starting a garden? Do you love to work with people, how about renting rooms? Trust me; you will need to be creative to maintain roommates.
Wealth is a Mindset
There is no limit to what we can build in our lives. Listen, I am a military person who writes books in his free time. Interestingly, writing and creating gives me a joy that I cannot express in words.
I can look back over my two years as a writer and see all the books I created. I have close to 1,000 articles that came from my brain. I have written 120+ book reviews. I don’t plan on stopping because this fills my creative void.
What to teach your children? Your children still have the ability to be creative. Let them follow their passions; you’ll just need to discuss the financial and logistical concerns that may arise.
If your child truly wants to be a teacher, they may need a rental property to supplement their income. If they want to be an artist, they may need to work a job until their NFT career begins to produce fruit.
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Conclusion. Our job as parents is first to figure out the game of life so that we can better direct our children to a more fulfilling livelihood.
If we never ascertain that our jobs don’t make us happy, what chance do our kids stand? If we let teachers and educators negatively impact our kids’ creativity, they may never get it back.
The most crucial thing we can do is allow our children to dream. All dreams can become a reality if we understand the basics of passive income, happiness, relationships, and creativity.
How about you? When was the last time you created something in your free time? If it’s been a while, it’s time to write a poem, record a speech, or paint inside a coloring book. The world is your oyster; be creative.
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