Albert Einstein graduated from Zurich Polytechnic in 1900.

He was near the bottom of his class.

All he wanted was to sit and think about physics problems that had been on his mind for years.

But here’s the thing..

He had to make a living.

I guess staring off into space while you ponder the universe doesn’t pay well.

So, he started looking for work.

Option 1 -Working at his Father’s Dynamo shop as an engineer (I don’t now what a dynamo is either - google it).

This was a high paying option.

But he turned it down because it would take up too much of his time.

Option 2 - Pushing pencils at an insurance agency.

Another high paying option to play it safe.

But he passed it up because he knew it would drain him.

Finally, he got the offer he wanted.

It was a job working at a Patent shop where he would analyze new patents.

Horrible pay, long hours, and the work was mundane.

But here’s the thing…

Einstein knew that this job would sharpen his skills.

It meant that he got to dissect each new patent and learn how it worked.

Shortly after starting, he got so good at the job that he could finish his work in 2-3 hours.

What did he do with all the free time?

I’ll tell you one thing..

He wasn’t scrolling through Crackbook or watching Tik Tok.

He sat there for hours thinking. Conducting thought experiments.

And guess what..

In 1905 he published his first theory of relativity.

That’s right..

If Einstein decided to take the high paying job, there’d be no theory of relativity.

He picked a job where he would learn.

Be inspired.

Have free time to THINK.

This story illustrates an important point.

The people who reach incredible levels of success are following a passion.

Often sacrificing security and comfort for future mastery.

I don’t know about you.

But when I got my 9-5 the main things I wanted was job security and high pay.

Sure, I wanted to be in a challenging environment, and have opportunity to learn.

But, those weren’t the deciding factors.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this.

Finding a good job that pays well is great.

It was the right decision for me at the time.

But heres the thing.

How many people are stuck in high paying jobs wishing they were doing what they actually want?

Once you get a “good job” making “good money” it’s easy to get comfortable.

At first, you might love the job.

New challenge.

New people.

Good Pay.

You save up money, buy a house, nice car, have some kids…etc.

The next think you know, you live in this nice little cartoon world with sunshine and rainbows.

Scared to go after what you actually want with the voice of reason on repeat:

“That’s too risky, I have a family” “I make decent money at my job and it’s not bad” “I’m not smart enough to figure that out” “It’s not realistic”

And on and on it goes.

For most people this is where it ends.

Wooah, sorry that got a bit dark.

Anyways..

You should always follow your passions in life. And that starts with following your curiosity, and leaning into risk.

Focus on learning and developing skills in areas that light your spirit on fire.

If you work on something you love, its only a matter of time before you become world class.

And money will come as a byproduct.

Talk to you later.

-Stephen

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P.S. I got the Einstein story from a book I started reading called “Mastery” by Robert Greene. Highly Recommend!

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