In life, you don't really get to choose how you make your money. You sort of do, but you actually don't. "Instead of painting, you could be using this time to make more money with content creation!" No, I won't. I will only use my time to do what brings me happiness and joy. And I will then use what brings me happiness and joy to make it be of service - to myself and then to others. And then I will use that service to funnel funds into my life - however much can be derived from it without falling into greed and excess. The moment you trade your happiness for money is the moment you lose the plot - and it might not feel like that in the moment, but it definitely is. Money should multiply your happiness, not come at the expense of it. Time is the most valuable resource you have. The more time you spend living, the truer that will become. I know many who thought themselves hard and rough with postponing their happiness for too long, excessively delaying gratification for goal-chasing - only for them to grow miserable while doing it, and then old and sterile and managing a bank account they never got to spend. All these people usually have left is bitterness and money - and those two, when combined, makes for a person who wants others to feel unhappy and unaccomplished by constantly projecting how great they have it. When, in truth - they are deeply, deeply unhappy. These are most of your streamer-influencer-celebrity types. You'll take none of your earthly treasury with you when your time comes to meet your end, that's the part they never tell you. Happiness with your time is the primary goal. Happiness NOW, not in some far-off distant future land of "once I have retired...", "once I have achieved this position...", etc. All of these are traps one way or another. Your happiness won't adapt to "what works right now", it won't collaborate with you, and it definitely won't wait for you. Your soul knows what it needs for sustenance and you can't "mental-gymnastics" your way out of it. You can only embrace it. If you are fine with spending your time while compromising your happiness, to be 50% richer than you would be while pursuing contentness - that is a choice you can make. In my experience, it is not even a choice - completely not worth it, but every man is free to try. Most people I know that are miserable make that choice over and over and over. The most successful people I know are also the happiest people, because they have concerned themselves not with making money, but with pursuing their passions that bring them authentic joy and happiness. The riches are just an added bonus. > How do we figure out what brings us joy after years of programming to pursue a profitable career? How did you figure it out when you were a child? Through play. 👌