← all posts
Make things better by making better things.
Most people conflate this idea of more money and more power equals more sovereignty. That if somehow you can accumulate more than the other person you can be free to do whatever you want.
This mindset has perpetuated the Gordon Gekko mentality of “Greed is good.”
“It’s just business.”
“Survival of the fittest.”
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world.”
This is a mistake.
Life is not a zero sum game. Somebody doesn’t have to lose in order for you to win. The pie isn’t fixed. No, possibilities are endless.
Here’s the thing: You probably don’t need more money to gain the sovereignty you seek.
Because what most of us are actually seeking for is sovereignty from the boss. Sovereignty from a paycheck. Sovereignty from a dead-end job. Sovereignty from the credit card companies. Sovereignty from board meetings. (The reason why everyone calls it a board meeting is because everyone is board.)
The point isn’t to be totally free from government or responsibility either. We don’t want to live in a world without roads or schools or educated citizens. The point is to act in a way that amplifies your generosity. To become an agent of change. To do work that matters. To make your art.
And you do that by shipping.
By adopting a posture of shipping, overtime, your work gets better and maybe you can make a living at it. If not, then you have your day job to fuel your art.
Money amplifies character. It doesn’t change it. Wealth can make you more generous or greedy. Freed or enslaved.
What most of us don’t realize is that the more responsibility you take the more sovereign you become.