Creative confidence by Tom and David Kelley. Introduction

Blink 8
Balance money and passion to find a job that fulfills all your desires.
What kind of job would you rather have: one that pays as much as possible, or one that allows you to pursue your passions?

Usually people want both, and this can cause a lot of stress. However, it’s rare that both our passions and big money are equally represented in our job opportunities, so we often have to choose between the two.

One of the authors, Tom Kelley, faced this exact predicament when he left management consulting to follow his heart and work with his brother David at IDEO. After he left, he received a desperate phone call begging him to come back for a huge chunk of change.

Weighing his options, he saw that his work at IDEO allowed him to follow his passion, while the other job offered financial security. After days of agonizing thought, he finally decided to decline the offer, even though it would have paid a lot better than his work at the design and innovation firm.

He was able to make this decision by finding the balance between money and passion.

At first, it might seem as though a high-paying job will make you happy in the long run – but what if that same job required you to work through weekends, birthdays or holidays?

On the other hand, doing social work for free might feel like a personally rewarding way to spend your time. But what happens if you can’t pay rent and end up needing the help of social services yourself? Can you still be happy if you abandon financial security in favor of committing to your passions?

Neither of these are appealing solutions for most. That’s why finding the balance is so important. But you’ll need to dare to be creative, finding ways of achieving that balance in order to satisfy all your needs.

Even if it takes time and effort to balance the scales so that you’re happy, it will be time well spent.