While the idealist in me sometimes wishes we didn’t live in a world where money matters as much as it does, the reality of a world where we are physical beings, occupying physical space, and needing to consume physical food & drink to stay alive, demands that work & finances play a significant role in any real conversation about real breakthrough.
In my personal journey towards wholeness, and seeking contribute to others’ journeys toward greater wholeness, I have found that while work & finances are inseparably interconnected, the “pursuit of breakthrough” in work versus finances are much more helpful and productive to separate in to 2 different things, which may or may not intersect at some points in the journeys:
(1) Financial Breakthrough, which involves our work/careers as a major means or source of income (among other possible sources of income, the awareness and understanding of which I believe would be helpful for us all to have), has more to do with practical planning, and applying our skills and abilities in a way that generates income. It involves a degree of being able to work with others, whether a boss or co-workers, or workers (if you happen to be or become a boss), or clients, etc.
Financial health and breakthrough also involves responsible budgeting and spending habits, savings for emergencies and the future, setting appropriate limits and learning self-control and contentment (which is a very different thing from complacency…), because it’s just as possible to live above your means on a minimum wage income as it is to overrun a celebrity multi-million dollar salary…and it’s just as possible to be “stressed” and lose sleep over money in the lowest as well as the highest tax brackets.
(2) Vocational Breakthrough, while it can also be tied very much to our work/careers and the pursuit of finding a “job” that is meaningful and fulfilling for you to not feel “lost” or “stuck” somewhere you can’t stand being for 40+ hours/week of your life, I find that more often than not, the pursuit and fulfillment of our “passions” or “calling” need not be tied to the fulfillment of our financial needs (and wants) in the way that it has been often presented in recent years. The reality is that many of our “passions” will be more creative and not necessarily lucrative, and that when the burden of making a living is bound to our “passions,” our ability to begin pursuing them can be over-stretched or over-loaded.
We can feel inadequate to begin pursuing something new that tugs at our heartstrings because we can’t go immediately (or quickly or strongly enough) from hobbyist to competitive (and entrepreneurially gifted!) enough on the market to cover the bills…
We can also feel unnecessarily disillusioned and unhelpfully discontent with “work” we are able to do based on our employable skill sets and work experience that “pay the bills,” because having a job that pays the bills has somehow been relegated to a less-than-desirable (nevermind much-appreciated) asset.
A better approach I think, is to plan (and appreciate our abilities to provide for) our finances first, while at the same time never neglecting investing in discovering and pursuing our passions and sense of calling — how we desire to make a meaningful contribution or impact on the world around us, whether it’s setting aside 1-2 hours a month or week or day (however much time and financial stability allow and support…)…and then letting the balance in our lives work itself out and grow organically. This balance can look different in every person’s life, and also at the various stages of any one individual’s life. The important thing is to not judge (ourselves or one another), and to not take either the practicalities of our livelihood nor our God-given passions & talents for granted.