Follow The Leader
April 19, 2025
I want this - But not that....
I want a car, but not an airplane, that is perfectly logical and sensible.
I want money but do not want to work – this is a little less logical but not impossible.
I want to be the best at something, but never practice or learn – this is highly unlikely in almost every situation.
I want to chop off my fingers but not be fingerless – this is completely illogical and impossible. You will become known as fingerless, until your teeth fall out from not being brushed and then you’ll be known as “fingerless toothless”.
I want a car that lasts forever, but never want to maintain or service it – I want to live in a house I don’t have to buy or pay anything for – I want pets but no responsibilities – I want to eat only junk food and not gain weight – I want to know the contents of a book but not spend the time reading it – It is easy to want only the easy / fun / enjoyable side of everything, but it is not realistic.
Life has this amazing ability to “put us in our place”, not in the literal sense of being picked up and put somewhere. But rather by making more possible a lifestyle based on what we are willing to offer in return.
Not much in life is a simple “wait and it will come”, but rather a “what are you willing to offer in return”.
You want a car? Sure – here is your car!
In return you will need to pay for it. You have multiple options on how to do this and none of them are “do nothing”.
You can work and earn the money, you can sell something you already own, you can find someone who will give you the money (most often in return for something they want from you), you can steal the money, you can beg for the money.
Bottom line – in order to get a car you need to “do something” to get the money for it.
Of course that is not mentioning the obvious option of simply “stealing” the car.
Each of those options have their consequences. If you choose to work for the money, you have to put in the effort, spend the time, actually earn money. If you borrow the money, you have to find a way to pay it back. If you get someone to “give” you the money, it will very very seldom be in return for nothing. If you steal the money (or the car), you have the potential to go to jail and if you beg for the money, you have to put aside all your pride. Each option has its cost.
So how does the cost or consequence enable life to put us in our “place”?
I would say that depending on what you are willing to pay, or what you are willing to give, will determine what you can get out of life and what quality of life you will be able to have. Of course there are always unexpected outcomes, it is not a science.
If you study hard, become smart, and work hard – chances are that you will have a higher level of financial security, own more material goods, and be able to do more of what you like doing in life than say, someone who slacks off and never commits to anything.
But that “lazy” person might have a single bright idea that earns him millions, and you might end up working very hard for someone who simply takes advantage of you and you never actually get financial security.
In terms of your financial security, or your life’s progression, you have to evaluate your position and make changes as you go along, you cannot expect other people to always have your best interests in mind. That is YOUR responsibility and only you will live the results.
If you are willing to work hard, and you work for a company that rewards your efforts, you can earn the money to pay for a car, buy a house, go on holidays and everything that the money you earn makes possible. That is life “putting you in your place”.
If you don’t earn enough, is it because of the company not paying you the salary for your job role? In this case you need to evaluate your options, you could try negotiating for a higher salary. You can look at the possibility of changing your position in the company. Or you can consider the option of looking for a new job that pays market rates for your role. Do you need to upskill, learn new skills to earn more? Making the change is not easy, but the reward is a higher salary, which can provide you more of the life you want. Not doing anything ensures nothing improves.
If you are not willing to do what is required, then you have to accept that it is something you will never have. That is the simple reality.
If you want to have something, but do nothing to get it – the reality is you will almost certainly never have it.
If you want to earn the money to buy a car, and you really really want to earn it, but you are just not willing to do any work, then it really isn’t possible to earn it.
If you want to be given the money, but you are not willing to ask everyone, not willing to beg everyone to give you money, what are the chances of people just “giving” you the money you want?
It is also entirely possible that you can earn money doing something you want to do, but is not so obvious – it is worth listing everything you want to do and then ask Grok or ChatGPT how you could earn money doing it.
An Example: How can I earn money watching movies all day?
Grok responds with:
Become a Professional Movie Reviewer or Critic
- How it works: Write reviews for movies on platforms like blogs, YouTube, or publications. Monetize through ads, sponsorships, or freelance writing gigs.
Join Paid Market Research or Focus Groups
- How it works: Participate in market research studies where studios pay for feedback on movies or trailers. Companies like FocusVision or UserTesting occasionally offer such gigs.
Work as a Content Moderator or Quality Control Specialist
- How it works: Streaming platforms or production companies hire people to watch and categorize movies for content, quality, or metadata accuracy.
Create a Movie Reaction Channel
- How it works: Record yourself reacting to movies and post on platforms like YouTube or Twitch. Monetize through ads, subscriptions, or fan donations.
Work in Film or TV Production (e.g., Script Supervisor or Editor)
- How it works: Jobs in film production, like script supervising or editing, involve watching and analyzing footage repeatedly.
Participate in Paid Streaming Platform Promotions
- How it works: Some platforms or brands pay users to watch specific movies or shows as part of promotional campaigns (e.g., Netflix’s occasional binge-watching contests).
Start a Movie Podcast
- How it works: Create a podcast discussing movies, themes, or genres. Monetize through sponsorships, listener support (e.g., Patreon), or affiliate marketing.
While that has been focused on a simple “get a car” scenario, it applies to everything we have, want, get, don’t want, etc.
We want to be in shape – exercise
We want to get a promotion – put in the work required, the overtime, the extra effort, whatever is required to help you get the promotion.
Want to lose weight – something needs to change, diet, exercise, those are the usual culprits.
Want to be valued – provide value.
Want to be trusted – be trustworthy.
Want more time – evaluate what is taking up your time and choose what to stop.
Want a hobby you love – do things that interest you until you find what you love doing.
Want to go on holiday – find where, find out how much it will cost, save the money, schedule the time.
Want to do nothing – that’s easy, stop doing anything – you might quickly find you don’t like the results of “doing nothing.”
Sometimes rather than focusing on “what you want to do” try and think about the result or outcome you would like, and then work backwards to find what you need to do to achieve that. Instead of thinking “I need to work to earn money to afford the life I want,” look at it from “I want to live this type of lifestyle, it will cost x to purchase, x to maintain, I like doing this, how can I earn that amount of money doing what it is I like doing?” or a variation of that.
A cheat code in life is connecting with people. Doing everything on your own is very very difficult, in some cases impossible. But by adding people to your cause, getting people to help you, makes everything possible.
A simple look could be raising a family alone to doing it with a spouse. Another could be washing, drying and packing dishes. Both are possible alone – but much easier with another person.
The bigger your ambition, the more having people around you can help to lighten the load.
Having family and friends who can support you, encourage you, hold you accountable, can greatly benefit you regardless of the life you choose to have. Having nobody, isolating yourself and choosing to try and block out the world, can have results you don’t want, but only get to realise when it is too late, or when there is little you can do to change it.
You can’t want the benefit of having friends, without accepting you too will have to be there for them, go out of your way, out of your comfort zone, to support them and be there when they need you, or when they want you around.
“You can have anything – just be willing to pay the price!”
