Tim Dennings brought this idea to my attention via his Substack here.
What will you give up in order to chase your obsession?
Before I got married there were sporadic reminders from family that there was no rush for children, we were young and had plenty of time.
That all changed, I shit you not, the day of my wedding. I was stunned. We were at the reception. No, it wasn’t a joke.
Of course, I had been asking myself the very same question. What would it take for me to feel ‘ready’ to have a kid. I had no illusions that one day I would have it all figured out, but there were a few career milestones I wanted to reach before needing to divide my attention. What else?
Here’s the answer I gave that no one liked: “I’ll be ready to have kids when I’m done spending money on myself.”
Very few people understood what I meant. More than a few were vocal about this.
But it was the truth. I was fresh into the next step of my career as a newly-minted commissioned officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. I had just gone from earning $18k a year to earning $42k a year. Three years later it was $75k a year.
For the first time in my life I had money to spare. Or spend it turned out. I indulged in finer things. Foods. Wines. Vacations. I explored hobbies that caught my hyperfocus, without real concern about starting costs.
Eventually I recognized the diminishing returns on dopamine hits from new and shiny things. The point I had been waiting for. I was ready to spend money on having kids.
Verdict, in hindsight: solid investment, incredible growth year over year. Outperforms anything else I’ve spent money on.
What about now?
What am I willing to give up to pursue my obsession?
And you?
What’s your obsession, and what sacrifice did it require?