Countdown to Millions

I was reminded today about the importance of value, not just of money, but also of the work that we do and the reasons why we do it.  That, too, is a type of currency, with a value all it’s own.  When I tell people that I intend to make a million dollars in such a short amount of time, they often assume that I have merely substituted one form of value with another.  I assure you that is not that case.

Money is nice, but it is only a product of the work that we do.  If I had a company that made solar panels, people would say that those had a type of ethical value to them (It’s a stretch but it’s hard to find a product with a moral value), however that value would be lost if the machine that made the solar panels was powered by babies blood and spewed harmful gases into the air.  That company would have sacrificed one type of value, simply for the sake of the product.  But, it is not the product that should be the focus, just as it doesn’t matter that solar panels are the end result if the means to those panels is not inherently valuable itself, but rather the means.

My means is my creativity.  I’ve been advised many times before to simply “follow my bliss and money will follow,” but whenever I turn a passion into a profession, it has take the thrill out of it.  Four-and-a-half years ago, I began writing a book containing 10 original designs for stage magic effects and illusions, a topic I was very passionate about, something I was and am an expert on.  However, once I started to “professionalize” my passion for magic, it became tedious.  I continued to pursue it though, because even through the tedium, I loved it.  Unfortunately, just over a year ago, after three-and-a-half years of work with the book about 2 months from publication, I lost it all to a hard-drive crash and poor planning (I can’t find my backups).

So, instead of taking something I am passionate about and following that, I have decided to follow an attribute, an innate part of me; my creativity.  Through my book-writing endeavor, it was my creativity that kept me motivated, kept me moving, and it will be my creativity that will keep me moving in this current venture.  In all of the ideas that I have formulated for potential business ideas, I have made sure that there is a basis of creativity.

So, now, instead of working through my passion, I am working for my passion, and by working in this way I will be strengthening that very passion.  That is what I feel is the real value in my mission.  The million dollars is just a by-product…a very appealing by-product at that.  But, in my work, and in your work, the money cannot be the end, if it is, your work will lack all intrinsic value for the sake of monetary value; a sad tradeoff.

-Nick