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What’s the difference between bravery and stupidity?
Some would say that bravery is being afraid and doing the thing anyways, while stupidity is taking the risk without being afraid because you didn’t think of all the things that could go wrong.
In fact, when I asked ChatGPT the very same question, it told me:
BRAVERY is:
- courageous action
- informed decisions
- noble intentions
- positive outcomes
STUPIDITY is:
- reckless actions
- lack of information
- self-destructive
- negative outcomes
Where do I fall on that scale? Well, a little bit of both.
When I swiftly exited the corporate world and even to this day, I hear people telling me how brave I am. I can’t identify with that because I was not afraid. I simply did not weigh all the risks, I just knew that I didn’t want to feel like my life was a dreadful hamster wheel. So if I look back at it now, it was probably a little stupid, even if I didn’t think that at the time.
The thing that inspired me to finally quit my job was reading all the promises of a book on passive income. I got really REALLY excited at the thought of having money come in without putting in much work anymore. The book made it clear of course, that you have to put in time or money upfront to make it happen.
In the beginning of a post-corporate life, all you’re doing is floating. There is no routine, no stability, no promise of financial gain. And the memories faded away quickly. Since the projects didn’t mean anything to me, I cannot name a single project that I worked on.
My brain went ahead and ran a garbage collector on that chapter of my life.
Well, I had a chunk of cash saved that I planned to ride out for a couple years while I am setting up this “passive” income of mine *laughs in future self about how nothing is passive*.
Once I left my big girl job, it took a several months and thousands of dollars of investment, neither of which I expected, to set up a profitable business.
Did I retire off of one coloring book that I published on Amazon? Sadly, no. But it did open the door for taking leaps into more inspired passion projects and showed me that I have the blessing to live in a country that allows me to pursue any dream that I have.
What started as an attempt at passive income turned into a jewelry business, partnerships with local stores for popups and wholesale orders, drawing henna on people at various parties and events, consulting artists on self-publishing, and many more inspired, profitable activities.
In the end, none of it is passive, but all of it makes me excited to wake up in the morning.