Bad money advice

The Daily Drip

Someone probably told you, as someone definitely told me, "don't follow the money, follow your passion."

I think this is well-intentioned but terrible advice.

Money is an unbiased, neutral measure of value.

If you want to buy a Bluetooth keyboard that costs $30 and you know that having the keyboard is worth $31 to you, it's a deal.

People complain about how coffee can cost so much at a cafe.

But if you're getting off an airplane and you're jet-lagged and you have an important meeting coming up, that $6 coffee might be worth more like $8 to you.

That means the coffee shop isn't gauging people, it's handing out $2 bills all day!

Obviously, money is not the only way to measure value, but I think it gets a bad wrap for how much ground it covers.

Money is an incredibly useful tool.

I avoided it and hated it for a long time--until I had a groundbreaking realization:

You can't help anyone if you're broke.

It's easier to be generous to others when you have an abundance of resources.

I hope this helps frame the utility of money without making it sound like it's the most important thing in the world.

It's one of many other important resources in your journey toward whatever goal you have.