Never Let Money Dictate Your Decisions

I constantly battle with this thought. This notion. This idea that money is what determines success - when really, it's not at all. Often times the stress of money and the time put into making it in most situations takes away from the point of life in general - to enjoy it and make the most of it with the ones you love. Ultimately, if you spend your life making money, you'll never get the chance to thoroughly enjoy how much you've made. That's not entirely the point of this article though. 

When you're living your life as an artist, or truly, in any career decision, money should never be the most important factor. I say this because if you're only deciding to do something for the financial satisfaction of it all, where is the passion behind what you'll spend the rest of your days doing? How are you fulfilling your life's purpose, if you're leading it by the means of other's expectations? What I mean by this is, if you're doing it all for the money, where is the reason, the inspiration, that even had you wanting to do that something in the first place? Remember, you live this life by your rules, by the messages you want and need to tell the world, you might as well earn the freedom that money can give you on your own terms, on your own time, based off of the stories and work you create authentically - not because they could make you a whole lot of dough (though obviously, that'd be nice too) . 

AS an artist - you're not thinking about the story anymore

If you're thinking to yourself, " If only I write this book and get it published, I can finally pay off all of my debt," or "Once I sell this script, I'll be able to buy that house I've always wanted," or truly anything along these lines, your treating your art has instead become your desperation - not your means of expressing yourself. If you get caught up in the money you might make and are rushing to get your work done, chances are, the story you were once so close to might get lost along the way. 

If this happens, you might be doing all of this work and not get published, or if you self-publish, there's a chance that not many will connect to the story you've told. With this in mind, take your time and play the story out in your imagination as you write it down ( or truly whatever your passion is - give it the time it deserves [but not too much time - you need to take the leap]), and make sure that it rings true in your heart and soul. Once your work feels like it's the message you need to tell the world, the time has come for you to put it out there. 
​

If your Only Goal is to Be Rich - You Need to Step Back and Take In What Life is Really All About

Money is great. It is a tool. It is an avenue for freedom, support, and comfort, but it's not the meaning of life. Yes, it is important, but realize when your time on this earth ends, you can't take your money with you. If you spend your entire life just pushing and  thrashing through the teeth of a job you never truly connected with in order to get top dollar, but in the end have little to few experiences that truly made you feel alive - take a deep look inside yourself to figure out what you were truly put on this earth to do, and how you can make just as much if not more money doing what you absolutely love. 
​

You'll never Be Truly Satisfied

If you put your work out there, and are rolling in dough, but are only creating off of the ideas that people think will sell ( or you think will sell)  - can you honestly say you're satisfied? Like I said above as well, if you're working a job only for the money and not the work - are you happy with how you're spending the life you've been given? And last but not least, if you're only trying to finish something in hopes of it making it big, will it really mean that much to you if you don't put your heart into that work? 
​

On the Other Hand - Don't Wait Until you Have aLl the Money In the world to Go on that Once in a LIfe Time Adventure

As I stated above, when you die, you're not able to take your money with you. If you're 22 and just finished college, or you're looking to take a gap year between high school and college to go travel the world for a while - obviously you don't have heaps of money just lying around. This time of life is when nothing is truly holding you down. You probably don't have children, a full-time career, a spouse to look after, or anything of that sort. The most valuable thing in life is time, and if you spend this time making memories and living life to the fullest - money doesn't really matter. You have the rest of your life to make money, use what precious time you have taking advantage of what this life is truly all about. Don't wait until you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank to go on that once in a lifetime trip. Pool together money with friends, fundraise a bit with bake sales, T-shirts, odd-jobs, or whatever you can to make just enough money to pay for a hostel, food, and transportation. 

Just go out and live. This way, you'll create stories that will last a lifetime. 
​ 

If Money Takes the Reins - Authenticity Takes the Back Seat

Don't try to be something you're not. Don't try to be someone else or something you think someone else wants you to be. When money or the thought of needing to be a certain something takes the reins, you lose your authenticity. In losing your authenticity, you lose the message that the world needs to hear - and that can only come from you. 
​

Money is Nice and NEcessary, but having Your Passion be the means behind the success of freedom is what this life is all about

Money is nice and it is necessary. I love money and it allows so much freedom - but only if you earn it in the proper ways-  which is through doing what makes you happy and what you're meant to do - not what others want you to do - or what you think will be the quickest way. So go out there, wipe your mind clean of how much money you could make, and think of how deep your story could go in the hearts of people. Passion drives success - and what I mean by that - the freedom to live the life you choose, that makes your heart smile, and makes you proud to be who you are.