Monetary Return On Investment

I had a lovely conversation with a friend today. We were discussing our online and social ventures. He was describing how he was outsourcing the parts of his business that he didn’t like, or didn’t have an affinity for. And my first response was one of surprise. Knowing that he wasn’t making any money on his venture, I was shocked that he was willing to spend money. It had never occurred to me to drop cash on a hobby/business with no likelihood of monetary return on investment in the near future.

His explanation was both worthwhile and thought provoking. It kind of took me by surprise. I have spent so much of my time building projects that eventually paid for themselves. It had never occurred to me that maybe I was concentrating on the wrong parameters.

Time

Let’s be honest. None of my online ventures are dependent on monetary return on investment. My financial life will not live nor die based on whether I turn a profit. In fact, most of my creative projects are just that. Creative. Even if I make money, there is almost no way that it will move the needle. I can make far more being a physician.

So I do these things for the joy of creation. But, there are certainly parts I don’t enjoy. Who likes putting together an episode page for a podcast episode. Or repetitively posting on social media. Or Pinterest.

I could stop doing these things. But I like the the fact that they further the reach of my creativity. I could keep on, but then I am violating almost every financial independence principal I believe in.

I am wasting time.

Abundance

If I am lucky to have an abundance of money (which I think all financial independence people do), and I have an activity that I enjoy doing (Creating podcasts and blog posts), should I not spend money to make these activities as enjoyable as possible?

Isn’t that what money is for? Is it wrong to pay someone to help edit my podcast or blog if I can afford it, and don’t dig doing the manual labor? If my monetary return on investment is negative, does that mean the whole return on investment is negative?

Maybe happiness is more important than positive cash flow.

I have already admitted that my purpose for pursuing such ventures is not monetary in the first place.

Counter Intuitive

This feels strangely counter intuitive to me. Most activities I have pursued in the past have all been measured by monetary return on investment. If I didn’t make money, or at least enough to offset my costs, than it didn’t feel like a success.

It has never been obvious to me that maybe learning, experience, or joy were good enough reasons. maybe I lost money, but I learned a new skill. Met new people. Or just had a great time.

Wouldn’t those outcomes make it feel like my money was well spent?

Final Thoughts

I have limited myself heretofore with solely monetary return on investment philosophies. If it wasn’t making money, it wasn’t worthwhile. This view of the world has often led me to spend inordinate amounts of time involved in activities that I thought were worthwhile, but I certainly didn’t enjoy.

My friend today pointed out that sometimes it is just worth spending the money. Logically I hear his point, but emotionally I am not there yet.

Maybe I will be one day.