Financial Independence Is The ONLY Independence

Creative passion is something to live for. But creativity and passion, solely cannot sustain you. Over time, financial independence becomes an essential part of your journey.

It is not enough to just 'Follow your passion'. Yes, it's very fashionable nowadays to say this but sadly passion does not always put food on the table. Yes, we want to feed our souls. But we need to feed our stomachs as well.

And what you do to feed the stomach, is what finances you to do the things you WANT to do to feed your soul. In any artistic profession, it’s a three-tier road to success. You love what you do- you get good at it- and then the money comes. Unfortunately, the three roads do not seamlessly flow into each other.

Sometimes the wait is indefinite. That's the gap that you have to last out.

When I started doing stand-up comedy in London, I did 250 shows in my first 10 months and was broke at the end of it. Because as a new comic, you didn’t get paid to perform. In fact, you were losing money travelling to gigs.

So I took a job in a recruitment firm. Now I may have been working in a job for 8 hours a day and doing stand-up comedy for 10 minutes a night, but in my head, I was a stand-up comedian and the job was ‘on the side’ or my ‘side hustle’ as it’s now called. It was only years later when I could afford to pay all my bills through stand-up comedy, that I stopped doing other work.

So remember, there is no shame in doing any work at all that helps you support yourself. There is immense dignity in all forms of labour and it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to stand on your own two feet. Above else, it is that financial independence that allows you to live life on your own terms.

I'd love for you to share the hardships you have endured, or how you have ‘hustled’ in pursuit of your calling.

My hustles:

Hustle 1 (2006-07):

In London restaurants, customers could drop their business cards in a bowl near the entrance. At the end of the month, one person would receive a free meal. I used to steal those business cards when nobody was looking, go to my office, cold call these people place them in jobs, and get a commission.

Hustle 2 (Since forever):

In those days we didn't have the Internet on our phones. Whenever I was at an airport, I would go to the business centre, go to every single computer terminal, open the browser and change the homepage to my website. Even now, 17 years later, when I go to an Apple store, I find it difficult to resist doing the same thing!

* I still do other work like corporate training and executive coaching, and consulting companies on their branding, marketing, content, and communication strategies. But I do it out of choice because I love doing it."

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