The Overmonetized Life
The Overmonetized Life
The best financial plans have at least four legs. Four revenue streams that help prop up the table of your personal finances. We all know that I believe that side hustles are an important form of diversification. They not only provide endless fun and learning, they are also an escape hatch. A plan B. So it may surprise you that I always worry that something so good can also be bad. Is there a dark side to the side hustle? Are we all trying to live the overmonetized life?
Motivation Theory
Have you ever heard the story of the curmudgeonly old man who lived in the little house at the end of the street? His pride and joy was the insignificant plot of sparkling grass leading to his rather unassuming house. The kids on the block, however, loved to extend their football game from the adjacent lot onto his beloved patch of greenery. Trample, trample, trample. The daily routine tore up the old man’s little piece of heaven.
Try as he might, he couldn’t change the boy’s behavior. He screamed. He threatened. His impassioned pleas fell on deaf ears.
Until the day he smartened up.
The Offer
Being all too aware of the overmonetized life that even children fall prey to, he came up with a plan. He offered each child 10 dollars to play on his lawn daily. He told them that it was good for the soil.
The children, overjoyed to be doing their favorite thing, not only were relieved of his daily verbal lashing, but also were getting paid to do exactly what they wanted in life.
And so they played. And their hearts were content. For awhile.
Until the wily old man began to turn the screws.
Internal vs External Motivation
The second week, the story was slightly different. The old man-made a new offer to the kids. Although he was still happy to have them play on his lawn, he felt their performance was suboptimal. So he offered five dollars to each kid instead of ten. Maybe if they brought their game up a little, he would reconsider next payday.
Miffed, the kids hemmed and hawed, but eventually took the five bucks. Heck, they still got to play football!
And so they played. And their hearts were content. If not but a little less. Their pockets were not quite as heavy.
These were the ups and downs of the overmonetized life.
It All Unravels
With a smirk on his face, the old man returned on week three and threw down the gauntlet. It appeared that the little boys were no longer pulling their weight anymore. For all he cared, the kids could play as much on his lawn as they wanted.
But there would be no more payday. They would have to do it for free.
The kids looked back and forth among each other. As the venom rose, they shrugged their shoulders and stomped off the lawn.
And they vowed, until the day they died, that they would never, ever play on the old man’s lawn again.
In Conclusion
The overmonetized life can take something we are intrinsically motivated to do, manipulate it with extrinsic rewards (money), and turn joy into sorrow.
I have struggled with my side hustles to both collect my fair share, yet still find exhilaration and passion in the climb.
There is no greater evidence of this struggle than in the act of blogging. I was lucky to obtain two early sponsors from the get-go. Yet, extrinsic motivation can cull even the greatest joy.
It is something I am especially wary of today on my blogs six month anniversary.
DiverseFI By the Numbers
Age: 6 Months
Blog Posts: 173
Page Views Total: 63,530
Page Views This Month (as of 6/23): 14,250
Comments (including my own): 2414
Sponsors: 2
Features on Rockstar: 2
Features on Physician on Fire: 4
Best viewership day: Google ranked one of my posts for one day, and I got 2500 hits.
Worst viewership day: too many to count.
Thank you anyone and everyone who has honored me by reading my writing. I will keep trying to create honest, insightful, and occasionally funny material.
I’ll continue to battle the overmonetized life.
Congrats on 6 months DocG:)
Thanks Caroline!
Congrats on the milestone. From where I sit you seem pretty motivated given your rate of posting. Hopefully though it’s still not all about the Benjamins so to speak.
It isn’t. I think my greatest motivation is to think and create. But sometimes the money becomes a false prophet.
Congratulations Doc, you deserve everything you are getting… Your posts are well thought out and thought provoking. Here’s to the next 6 months and beyond. Cheers!
Thanks Half Life. I really appreciate your reading and commenting!
Great topic for your six month anniversary. I enjoy reading your posts. Congratulations!
I heard a version of the lawn story from a friend of mine who is a teacher. When he went for his credential, they shared it with them. The lesson is that we need to find joy in the doing, not the reward of doing. I know you truly enjoy being a doctor and being a writer. Don’t let those dollars spoil you!
It is an old story not made up by me, thanks for reading.
Hey DocG. Congratulations on the six months anniversary. Those stats are astounding. I’m sure posting every day had something to do with it. I’ve been a fan since your site went live and I’ve read every single post. Honestly I think your blog is one of the best. Keep up the great work.
That was a good parable about the old man and his grass. It immediately brought to mind the tactics of c-suite execs. Throw a large bag of gold in front of the physician. Hire them, buy out their practice, or whatever it takes to bring them under the corporate embrace. A friendly gentle hug. Then. Slowly squeeze them like a boa constrictor. Increase their patient load. Make them fill out more forms. Subject them to customer satisfaction surveys. Compliance them to death. All the while, slowly decrease their pay. Deny them nighthawk coverage. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Not too much as to drive them away. But just enough. After all they have purchased a doctors house and have expensive car leases to pay. They’re not going anywhere.
Time to see the light. Time to be FI.
Thanks for all you do and showing us how it’s done.
Hey MD. A true heartfelt thank you to you for commenting and engaging. I refer to your blog all the time. Nowhere else do I find such great content about alternative real estate investing!
Congratulations on 6 months. I’m just starting out. I haven’t even published my site yet at the time I am writing this, so this is a good cautionary tale.
Congrats! Can’t wait to see your first post!
Hey Doc G.
Congratulations on hitting your 6 month milestone. I actually was shocked that it is only 6 months old. If I had to guess I thought you wee a very seasoned blogger with an established blog.
I love the parable of the old man and the lawn, never heard of it before. I especially like Millionaire Doc’s astute observation that this is exactly the playbook of corporate medicine.
I am still always amazed about how prolific you are writing posts. My blog is on a 2x/week schedule and I do not see any foreseeable change to it because I think more posts/week would add to my stress level. I like to have a decent buffer of posts so that I always feel like I can handle whatever life may throw at me and still publish on time (right now I’m scheduled out to mid Dec).
My blog is only 2 months old (as of yesterday) and for me success is having lots of comments on my posts rather than financial rewards. It’s the (hopefully) positive comments that reaffirm that I am on the right track even though I had no clue when I first started the blog.
Well I look forward to your annual milestone and future growth.
Thanks Xray! I am seasoned blogger (been blogging since 2005) but on my other medical blog (email me if you want the link). This blog is by far more popular than that one though. I have enjoyed your posts so far and look forward to more interactions ith you both on your blog and here in the comments.
“Worst viewership day: too many to count.”
LOL. I highly doubt that!
Very impressive stats for a very impressive first 6 months. Keep the posts coming. I always look forward to checking out your site every morning for daily insights and inspiration.
Thanks man. i have had some low viewership days. Even recently. It takes time!
Congrats on your 6 mos.anniversary! And for what you’ve accomplished, so far.
I for one, am always impressed by your commitment to early morning blogging and your willingness
to reach out candidly through this format!! Keep up the great work!
Thanks E. I’ve enjoyed your comments and appreciate you reading.
Congratulations on a very successful 6 months! I’ve enjoyed every post I’ve read! Reading about your success has given me something to aspire to as I am just crossing the 6 month mark for my blog as well. I initially started out with 2x/week posting, but had scale back to once weekly because it became too much – I’m very impressed by your sustained quality with a much more frequent posting schedule. Keep up the strong work!
Thanks M. I truly enjoy writing but fully expect that I will slow down sometime.
Even on my favorite table
He can beat my best
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest
He’s got crazy flipper fingers
Never seen him fall
That deaf dumb and blind kind
Sure plays a mean pin ball!
You’re a wizard Doc G! Here’s to the next six.
Thanks Gasem! With commentors like you, I have to bring my A game! Thanks for all your support.
Doc G, You are a machine. I enjoy reading your blog daily. If you stopped, I would miss it.
I think we are sending one another positive energy through these blogs. And hopefully encouraging one another to keep at it.
Keep it up Doc G!
Feeling the positive energy. I love your no holds barred attitude and practice of low expectations! Thanks for reading!
Congrats Doc, I don’t know how you do it but keep doing what you do!
Thanks! Your blogs is one of my favorites. We all are growing together.