Passion vs. Paycheck: Saying Yes, Chasing Money, and Finding Passion [Ep. 224]

Michelle (: 00:00

Hello, hello, my beautiful listeners. How are you doing? I hope you're having a fabulous day, fabulous week as always. Um, you know, I love you and I am so excited to be here today. I want to, I'm chatting a bit about something that I think would probably be considered fairly controversial in this space, but I want to give you a couple of different takes on it. And that is the chasing a paycheck or chasing passion, or maybe it's chasing.

paying clients versus dream clients. I've talked about this in a couple different ways, but it's continued to come up. And so if it's continuing to come up in conversation, then I think it's important to bring onto the podcast because obviously other people are dealing with it in multiple different ways, right? Like all different business owners. This is not just business owners in the online space. I have clients that are local that,

build local business in person and they deal with the same thing. And so what I really wanna chat about today is this chasing a paycheck versus chasing your passion. Or again, like I said, dream clients versus paying clients. But before I forget, I wanna remind you again and let you know that the 100 Coffee Chats Club is open and speed networking is available. So if you have not attended speed networking,

It's the third Tuesday of every month. You can register one time and you get access to all the Tuesdays. This is a change from last year where I just really didn't want all the admin of like the free and one time and having to track whether or not you'd been there and all that. So I just decided I'm gonna open it up once a month for free for speed networking. But then obviously there is a paid membership that really gets you more.

Right. It gets you more relationships, more training, more education, really deepening those connections, more opportunity for networking, introductions, strategic partnerships, et cetera. So anyway, check out the link if you are interested and if you want to come check out speed networking, please do. All right. So let's dive into today's topic, passion versus paycheck. And so here's the thing I want you to understand is that there as a coach, as a strategist, I think there is.

Michelle (: 02:22

a time and a place for chasing a paycheck, right? At the end of the day, we, especially if you're growing, if you're new, if you're growing, if you're trying something out, right? Any time something is new, you need paying clients to help you work out the kinks, right? And so you can say yes to a client that maybe is not,

Ideal, but you know, like, you know what? At the end of the day, I need this and I want to learn something. But also what I find happens is that when people start really struggling financially, or if there is any type of financial burden or you're feeling like I'm really stressed for cash, we tend to say yes to clients that we would not typically say yes to. However, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing.

because those clients that may not be our ideal 100 % dream, passion -filled clients teach us a lot, right? There's always a lesson. And when you are financially stable or when things are coming in, like money -wise, you are less stressed, right? And there's just different opportunities. And so again, like I'm not...

always opposed to like when you're starting out, there are times when sometimes we just need to say yes to something that we wouldn't necessarily say yes to. And this could be like taking on a client that maybe is an absolute dream client, but what they're asking you to do is not exactly following your passion, right? Maybe they're offering, they're asking you to do more for it to be more on the consulting side, but you can offer the done with you. And so you say yes, because you need the paycheck, right? Like,

Let's not feel bad about that. Let's start honoring and respecting that at the end of the day, we're business owners and businesses run on revenue, right? And if there's no revenue coming in the door, then the business is not operated operational, right? So you can say yes to something that is not necessarily ideal or dream or your passion. Okay. You need financial stability inside of.

Michelle (: 04:45

Your business, right? However, there's the flip side to this that most often what happens is when you chase money, which I had a couple of clients in this situation last year, um, you know, needing some financial stability, things had kind of gone. There was different life things that had happened and, and whatnot. Business was different last year. We've talked about that multiple times on the podcast. You can go back and listen to those episodes if you really want to dive deeper into that, but.

There were times where, you know, you kind of just needed the cash, right? Like we needed the cash, we needed the money. And so, uh, you know, people took on clients that were like, maybe give off some red flags, but you kind of look past them. But at the end of the day, that's something you need to really think about. Again, there's a difference in saying yes to something that you can do, but it's not exactly what you love to do versus saying yes to somebody that's giving you extreme red flags. And you say yes anyways, cause you want the paycheck.

those situations do not usually end up faring well, all right? But if you go into it with an open mind and with an open thought and just understand that even if it doesn't go as planned, you've learned something, then you're still growing, right? Because part of growth is learning, right? Learning, evolving, understanding what works, what doesn't work. And there is so many lessons.

that can be learned inside of saying yes to something from a financial standpoint. Right. And again, I know that this goes totally against the grain, which of course you wouldn't, would you expect anything less? I mean, that's why I call it the real truth about business because the real truth is we've all done it. We've all chased money at some point, right? Every business owner has said yes to something or someone that was less than ideal because they needed.

the paycheck and don't let anybody freaking tell you they haven't because they all have. We've all done it. All right. And I can share with you all the reasons and all the things and all the examples of how it didn't work out for me. But again, those are my lessons, not yours. And I can share and try and help you. But at the end of the day, if you need money and you need it to keep your business going and you want to try it, then that's on you, right?

Michelle (: 07:10

So you get to make that choice, all right? However, you know, you have to also think about the impact this is gonna have on your mental health, right? So like there's always that balance, right? We were talking about last week, the balance between the grind and the goal, right? This is very similar to the balance of financial stability versus mental health, right? Because sometimes,

Again, whether it's saying yes to something you don't necessarily want to do that is going to frustrate you, that's going to make you feel burnt out, right? Or saying yes to a client that's less than ideal, that takes up all your time, you know, is not necessarily happy. I have a client right now who's dealing with this. Like the client is no matter what they do, she's not happy. And, but you know, she's willing to pay, right? So that's the thing. Like she's willing to pay. She wants to keep working with them.

and she keeps saying no, no, no, but then at the end of the day, she doesn't feel like she's getting what she's paying for, which is, but this is people, this is human nature, right? There's always people that are willing to continue throwing money at something, even though they're never willing to do the work, they're not gonna get the results, right? And what's that costing you on your mental health, right? Like what is the mental health per se, like, um.

ramification of this. Like, is it something that you think about all the time? Is it driving you crazy? Is it causing you stress at home? Is it causing you stress inside with other clients? You know, so you have to really weigh this out. Like, is the financial stability worth the mental stress of what this client or this project is going to cost me? All right. So again, weighing out the pros and cons to both is really thinking about that and really looking at like, what is, what am I going to gain? What are we all going to gain?

by me saying yes to this, right? And then understanding that, you know, it can lead to burnout. And for the most part, anytime I see people that are in a state of burnout or headed towards burnout, it's often because they're chasing a paycheck. And so it's another reason why I really encourage you to have multiple streams of revenue.

Michelle (: 09:20

multiple streams of income. If you're in that growth stage and your income is not stable, there is nothing wrong with having another income stream. There is nothing wrong with having a part -time job. There is nothing wrong with doing something in the gig economy, right? I have three or three, at minimum three streams of revenue right now, and I have a pretty stable business, right? Like my business is fairly stable, but I still have two other, two other.

little side hustles that bring in a regular reoccurring revenue because again, I don't want to be in the position inside my business where I'm chasing a paycheck, but I'm seven years in and this is a choice I've made. So really, really think about that. Also is like, what do I need to do? And if you need to go and get something that gives you some financial stability so that you can only chase your passion,

then I say freaking go for it, do it. I am a firm believer in that. You will never hear me say not to. If a client comes to me and says, Michelle, I've got an opportunity to make extra cash on the side doing this, should I do it? But it's gonna take away a little bit of time from my business. My answer is almost always yes. It's always yes because there is nothing worse than creating this stress around chasing money, right? But again, I get it. Businesses rely on income. We've talked about this. So really understand,

that you've got to set some boundaries around this. Right. So if you're saying yes, let's say you're saying yes to an offer, like you're saying yes to a done for you. Or, um, if I were to give you an example right now, I personally don't want to have anybody on, um, like a reoccurring six month, um, coaching where they have weekly calls. I'm willing to do weekly calls short -term, like for a month, like I've got my focus visionary framework.

Um, one month intensive where we have a call every single week, but I'm not willing to have weekly calls on my calendar every single week for an extended period of time, just because I've been there. I've done that. I don't think it works as well for me and my style and what my clients are trying to achieve. Again, that's a topic for another day as far as structuring your offers. However, if I were, let's say a client came to me and said, Hey, Michelle, I really would love to work with you, but I want.

Michelle (: 11:45

You know, I really feel like I need calls. I need regular calls every week and I'd like to do this for three or six months. Now, if I needed the income, I may say yes to it, right? But understand that every single week you can't get annoyed when you see that appointment on your calendar, right? You can't get annoyed if you're going to say yes to it. You've got to fulfill your promise and understand that if you are going to chase money and you're going to chase a paycheck,

then you have to go through and fulfill what needs to be done in order to chase that paycheck, right? And again, I am not at all like trying to shame anybody that's done this because we've all done it. Most coaches won't tell you they've done it because, oh God, why would they tell you they've actually done this? They'd rather tell you that it's just so freaking easy to have a dream client every time. Trust me when I tell you we've all had a pain in the ass client.

It's part of doing business. All right. And 90 % of the time that person comes from being able from having to chase paycheck. Right. But my point here is that even if the client was an ideal client, right? Let's say they were in the growth stage. They wanted to go through the framework. They did the work. They showed up. The thought of seeing a set appointment on my calendar every single week right now would drive me crazy, but.

I would, if I needed or wanted the income and I really felt called to this client, I would say yes. But again, understand that you have to fulfill that promise. So that's where I'm saying like, you've got to look at the boundary around it. So where is the boundary with, okay, I'm willing to do this for this amount of time for this income in exchange or.

Are you willing to say, no, I don't want to do this. So I might say like, you know what, I'd be willing to do it for three months. I'm not willing to do that for six months, right? Like it's okay to set a boundary around that too. Now, you know, I'm a big fan of retainer. I love having clients on long -term retainer on rapid fire, right? So if it were a good fit, would I be able to have like a rapid fire unlimited client? Probably, right? So again, thinking about that now that's saying yes to a service that you don't necessarily offer.

Michelle (: 14:00

in lieu, you know, in exchange for a paycheck. The flip side of this is saying yes to a client like this other client of mine has where this woman is like, no, I want to pay, I want to pay, I want to pay, but there are pain in the ass. Like she's literally driving them crazy. There's three of them inside this company and she's driving all three of them crazy. And so that at the end, your time is worth a lot too. Right. And so.

where people get a little mixed up in this chasing a paycheck is when you have a PETA client that's really taking up your time, you've got to think about how much money you're actually making off of this client. Is this client actually a profitable client or did they bring in revenue? But at the end of the day, you're losing money, right? So like if you were pricing is set up, I'm going to use easy math. Let's say you sell something for a hundred dollars and it's

typically one hour of your time, right? So that's a hundred dollars an hour that you're making. But now said client that you said yes to because you needed the money is taking up an hour of your time every single week. And she blows up your inbox every single day and she blows up your WhatsApp every single day. And she's constantly questioning what she's supposed to be doing, right? Now you've easily spent five to six hours or more, sometimes up to 10 hours.

Well, now you went from $100 an hour to what? 10 bucks an hour, you know what I mean? Or 60 bucks an hour, whatever it is. I don't know why I can't do math on the spot anymore. I used to be so good at math on the spot, but I lose my train of thought. And so then I'm like, what am I saying? And I trip myself up. Anyway, but you know what my point is, is like, if you went from spending, you know, one hour a week,

to 10 hours a week. Well, now you're making 10 bucks an hour. Okay. Well, that's not covering your taxes. That's not covering your bills, right? Like you can go to Walmart and make 20 bucks an hour. So that's where I'm saying, like, be careful chasing a paycheck because the paycheck is sometimes a revenue generator, but it doesn't necessarily is not profitable. And it sometimes can actually cost you money. And this is where I stroke.

Michelle (: 16:25

this is where I really urge you to look at is like track your time, track your time because that is the one thing that doesn't show up on reports, right? Like we don't track our time on reports on your profit and loss. When your account pulls your profit and loss statement, at the end of the day, it might show a profit, but your time is not calculated on there. But if you had to hire somebody else, let's say you had to hire somebody else to deal with said.

pain in the ass client and now you had an expense to go along with it and you had to pay somebody $200 because you pay them 20 bucks an hour, which is a way low and now they've spent 10 hours with clients. So you've collected 100 and now you've paid out 200. You've just lost $100 on this client, right? So what paycheck are you really chasing? And so that's where you've got to really be mindful of this. You've got to be very, very careful.

Okay. And then also really, when you are thinking about this is really comparing short -term vision versus long -term vision. You know, if your long -term vision is to get you, you know, to a place of, you know, high profitability and only working with dream clients, and you're really trying to, you know, switch out from a business model and you don't want to have any more appointments on your calendar or whatever, but you're still in this process of trying to figure it out. Um, and.

like ebb and flow and all of that, like you can take a short term, right? Like this can be a short term goal. Like I'm going to do this to learn. I'm going to say yes to these things short term so that I can learn. But after that, the answer is no, right? So thinking from that perspective of like, again, everything is about balancing because there's always going to be situations in your business where you have to make decisions. You have to make decisions based on short term.

growth versus long -term growth versus the daily grind versus your goals, right? Passion versus paycheck. It's all about trying to strike a balance and that balance looks different for everybody, okay? So don't, my biggest thing I want you guys to take away from these episodes right now, especially as I'm talking about this growth is that,

Michelle (: 18:41

There is no one size fits all and there's no right or wrong. Like everybody's balance looks different. Like there's no magic formula to say this is what balance looks like. No, because my balance is totally different, right? My goals, my lifestyle, my clients, my business model, everything is different. All we can do is try to find the balance for you, right? And that's what you have to really think about right now, okay? If you are really,

in a position where you need to chase a paycheck. Don't let anybody feel bad, make you feel bad about that, all right? But understand too that it should, I hate that word should, because I feel like I always like to say I'm the anti -should coach, because I don't really like to tell people what it should, you know, I just hate that word. But ultimately, chasing a paycheck, quote unquote, should be temporary. It should be short term.

because it should be a learning experience. You should be building and creating sustainability with it. You should be evolving. If your business is growing and evolving, it really could potentially be a very short term thing. So as long as it's short term, if it's getting you where you want to go and it's helping you push through a block, if it's helping you get outside of your comfort zone, if it's helping you to just say yes, because for the most part you say no or you're afraid to say yes.

then freaking go chase that damn paycheck. Okay? Like just go chase it. I am not going to tell you not to because there is so much learning opportunity inside of it. Just keep your mental health, keep your sanity in check. Okay? That really is the biggest and most important part is you do not want it to lead to burnout and working with the wrong clients, doing things you don't enjoy will lead to burnout, which leads to disappointment, which leads to...

Feeling like, I don't know if I wanna do this and I don't wanna see you give up on your business just because you're chasing a paycheck, right? Like, find something else that allows you to create a little bit of stability so that you can chase your passion. That's really what I find to be the best way to balance it. You know, I just, I wanna see people chase their passion. I wanna see you chase your passion. I wanna see you working with dream.

Michelle (: 21:04

but I'd be lying if I told you it like always happens that way. You know, I'm not here to lie to you. I don't want to blow smoke up your ass. It would be a complete and utter lie if I told you every client was a dream client. I'm sorry, they're just not, right? And so sometimes we've got to say yes to that paycheck to learn. And until you do it, you just don't know, right? And so go ahead, say yes.

push through the comfort zone, build your financial stability, and then grow through it. That's all, grow through it, all right? So if you need help with this, if you're struggling with it, if you're grappling with it, maybe you've said yes, maybe you chased a paycheck and now you've got kind of said peter client and you're not sure how to fire him, shoot me a message. I'm really good at firing clients. I hate to say that, like I don't mean it in a negative way.

but so many people feel so negatively and badly about it. And so I really am here to just try to help you take the emotion out of it. And then from there we would look at, okay, why was this a PETA client? What were some of the red flags? What came up? Why was this, is this something I don't want to do again? Right? So this is a great opportunity for a strategic focus intensive, a little mini VIP day, but I mean, if you just need a quick,

answer quick help, just a little quick kick in the pants of like, Hey, I've been here. I'm doing this. I got to get out of this. Like shoot me a message. I'm happy to help help you work through it. But if you need to really figure out like, how do I find that balance and what do I need to do? Then a strategic, um, focus intensive may be a great option. I'd love to do that with you. So anyway, understand you're not alone in this. We've all been there. We've all done it. And everybody, businesses still.

business owners are still gonna continue to do this no matter how many, you know, experienced business owners tell you, hey, watch for the red flag. You know what, guess what? We're all still gonna be doing it. So don't feel bad if you're in that situation. Right now, just know that it should be temporary. All right, I love ya. I'll talk to you soon.