When I tell people I write for Medium, I’m often asked why I don’t write for individual clients instead, as you can make much more money doing that. The answer is simple — I value my sanity.

Is it really that bad writing for clients? It depends on the individual, but for me, it’s simply not worth it. It’s stressful and would lead to me going slightly insane.

Note that I said “for me” not “for you” or “for everyone”. I find that many people confuse these terms.

Let’s compare writing for Medium versus writing for a client. I sat down to write today, and this is the story I decided to write. I should finish it in 20–30 minutes. In 60–90 minutes I can write 3 articles. It’s quick and stress-free.

If I was writing for a client I’d need to write about what they asked me to write about. That might be something I’d I’d need to spend time researching before I even start writing. If I was lucky it might take me a couple of hours. If I wrote 3 of them it would likely take me a whole day.

But you’d get paid more they say.

That might be true, but then I’d have a lot less free time to do the things that I want to do. I want to hang out with my wife, meet up with friends, go explore whatever city I’m in, and do multiple other things. That is the life I want to live. I deliberately set it up that way.

I’m not a full-time writer. Writing isn’t my day job and it never will be. I enjoy writing for an hour or so a day. If I had to write for hours I would hate it. It’s not my main passion in life, as it is for some.

The Money Game

My passion is making money, as it’s a game I like playing. The more I play, the better I get it.

And the beautiful part of it is that I get to make my own rules.

If I set my own rules, it’s easy to win.

So, back to writing. Writing is a small part of my money game. It’s not a standalone game.

I want to make money from writing, but only part-time, and only on my own terms. I don’t want clients dictating what I do, rejecting what I write, and asking me to re-write what I’ve already written. That is just not fun at all.

Life should be fun

And that’s a major point, isn’t it? Life should be fun. We shouldn’t spend our days doing what we don’t enjoy just to make some extra cash. I realize that we all need to make money, and that means doing work we don’t want to do at times. I’ve been there and done it.

But I’m past that stage in my life. These days I do as much as I can that is based on my own rules. I don’t play games made up by others with rules I don’t like.

I write here because it fits in with my life. It fits in with my game of money. It easily fits into my day. I can take a day off. I can take a week off. I can take a month off.

That’s the beauty of playing by your own rules.

For now, I’ll be writing exclusively for Medium and my blog. That suits me. Others need to do what suits them. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that what suits you will also suit others.

We’re all on our own path in life, and all at different stages of the path.

However well-meaning, I don’t need to be told what I should be doing. I’m doing me. That’s all I need. I simply don’t need the stress of writing for clients.