Should you follow your wallet, or your passion?

At five years to financial freedom, we like to publish articles and stories to inspire you, our fab readers (by the way thank you for all the love you’ve given us in the first two weeks of 2016). One authentic person I was privileged to meet (interview coming soon) at the JTFoxx family reunion was Regan Anne Hillyer – I like to call her RAH RAH girl (she probably hates me for it).

Here is Regan’s story in quasi-poetic form which she recently posted on her Facebook and kindly gave me permission to reprint.

Rockstar Regan Anne Hillyer
Partners in crime:- Ben Chai with Rockstar Regan Anne Hillyer

MONEY VS MY PASSION (I WANTED TO BE A ROCKSTAR)

When I was little, I dreamed of being a rockstar.
I played the drums, amongst other instruments (those of you close to me will know that)
And not just as a hobby, I was SERIOUS.
I completed a university degree in music while I was still at high school (just being an over achiever..)
And I DESPERATELY wanted my band to make it “big time”, get famous and travel the world, with our music, our passion.
There was something a little egotistic about it, a little selfish, but hey, lets be honest, I REALLY wanted that to happen.

I wanted it all.
The fame.
The glory.
The money.
The impact.
The bright lights.
The choices.
The travel.
The recognition.
The amplified love of my art.

And being a female who played the drums I KNEW that I’d stand out.
And the thing I REALLY wanted underneath it all, was to make a living (and a half) just doing what I LOVED every day,

Create a following,
Make an impact,
I wanted to leave an imprint on the world with my music.
There was something electric about it.
Standing in front of people.
Having them engulfed with your art and your passion,
Being raw and vulnerable in the moment,
Performing with other artists on your level,
Having the audience consumed by your art,
Overpowered by it,
Brought to tears by it,
Laughing with it,
Connecting with it,
Loving it,
Cheering for more,
And more,
And more.

concert, money, passion

So at the ripe old age of 17 I left little New Zealand, ready to explore the big bad world and pursue my dream.

London was calling.
Except it wasn’t as easy,
as it played out in my head.
No record company greeted me,
when I stepped off the plane in London.

I stayed up until 4am most mornings playing in awful little bars and pubs (unpaid), relying on tips from people who were more interested in alcohol than my “art”.

On Monday nights, I would listen to Led Zeppelin and Metallica
and wonder and dream about how they made it.
Money became an issue (the debt was getting a little bit out of control)
And that voice kicked in:
“You can’t make a living from this.
You can’t get paid doing what you love.
Snap out of fairy-land honey.
You need a JOB.”

suit, job, success

And that went against all of my values and who I was, but hey, I needed to EAT.
So in an attempt to merge the passion and the money, I started teaching kids to play the drums…

I was one week in,
I remember it SO vividly.
Shut in a small room
with a broken down drum kit and a six-year-old,
who had NO sense of rhythm or talent or anything in between
and I HONESTLY wanted to die!

ANYTHING seemed better
than being trapped in that room.
And the 20 pounds I was receiving for that HOUR
of torture was definitely not worth it.
In fact, it was KILLING my art, not endorsing it…
And in that moment, I gave up on my dream.
“Maybe I should just be normal.
Take the easier path.”

new zealand, dreams, welth

And one thing’s for sure,
I NEVER want to murder my art for money,
because I KNOW I will end up hating it.
So I crawled back to New Zealand,
an empty bank account in tow,
a year full of incredible travel and a decision made:
You can’t make money from your art,
unless you want to murder it
and completely hate it.

And, Architecture it was.
I was smart.
I had great grades at school.
I could do the maths and I was wildly artistic.
It seemed to work in my head.
And, sure enough, I got a scholarship to university.
All expenses paid tuition.
That was a good start!

And then it started….
It began to suffocate me…
Smother me,
Day by day it started to kill my soul.
I became so far removed from my art,
From my message,
From what I was CALLED to do as an artist.
And then one day I snapped.

anger, sadness

During an intense lecture from our tutors as to what the future of an architect would really look like, I physically collapsed (hell, if you’re going to have a melt down, why not make a scene right?!) and once I had pulled myself together, I was then physically sick, then, when I was over that, I sat outside on the university steps with tears streaming down my face.

What had I become?
What had I chosen?
I was an artist, a creator.
Is this what I really wanted?
NO, no Regan it obviously wasn’t,
you just collapsed,
you were physically sick everywhere,
MAYBE just MAYBE your body is trying to tell you something!

But how?
How could I make it work the other way?
How could I truly tap into the art that I desired
AND live the lifestyle that I desired? (I always had extremely high lifestyle goals)
I’d been there before.
I’d tried to be the rockstar
It didn’t work, I was broke…

And that’s when it all started…
A DECISION (just one decision)
to follow my passion,
to follow my heart,
to speak LOUDLY about what I believed in,
to show people that they COULD have it all – the money, the fame, the impact, the lifestyle, the health, the body, the happiness, the passion, the relationship and you DON’T have to trade one for the other in ANY circumstance!decisions, personal development, passion

Even when you feel like there’s no way,
when you feel like it’s money vs passion
REMEMBER, it’s JUST a decision.
I dived deep, deep into personal development,
Into growth,
Deep into investing in ME.

Did it scare me? HELL YES.
Did it push me? HELL YES.
Did it challenge me financially? HELL YES – BEYOND what you could even imagine…
Was it hard? HELL YES.
Did everyone tell me I was crazy? HELL YES.
Was I understood? HELL NO.
Did people tell me I was going to fail? HELL YES.

BUT,
Was it WORTH IT?
Yes.
A million times yes.

yes, yes, yes, yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, YEs, YEs, YES [added by editor]

yes, rockstar, wrestling

And the BEST thing is,
that I now show others how to get paid (extensively) for:
JUST.
BEING.
THEM.

So, my little rockstar,
this is a reminder,
a calling,
to your inner rockstar.

You have a message.
You have a voice.
You have a CALLING.
You are an artist.
You DON’T have to choose money over your passion.
In fact, I challenge you today, to choose your PASSION
over money and,
done correctly in total alignment, the money WILL flow.
MORE than you could EVER imagine.

So, question:
Do you want it all?
The fame.
The glory.
The money.
The impact.
The bright lights.
The choices.
The travel.
The recognition.
The amplified love of your art.

I’m here to shake you up and to let you know, you ABSOLUTELY can have it all, NOW.

– Regan x

fireworks, celebration, success

Readers, many of you who know and have met me, will know it takes a lot to impress me.  In my personal interaction with Regan in Orlando, in my interaction with Regan on her Facebook posts, and the advice given in her Youtube videos, you will find a refreshing honesty and authenticity.

If you have enjoyed and found Regan’s story inspiring check out:

And do stay connected with us, when we will release our short video interview with Regan in the next two months.

Also, check out the insights and inspiration from our interviews with people who have reached rock star financial freedom in property:

And our articles on how you too can reach your rock star dreams:

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