When I read this, I wasn’t totally sure if you meant do it full-time, or if you meant satisfy yourself by doing it in some way.

I often think that there are ways to do the things we (think we) want to do, but not quite as we envisioned doing them and still be satisfied. Maybe that’s what you mean by “modified”.

For example, if someone were fixated with France and really wanted to go there, but just didn’t have the ways or means, maybe he/she could find an outlet in studying the language for five minutes a day, creating a ‘We love France’ meetup once a month, and studying French cooking to share at the meetup, etc.

That’s just one of many possible examples, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that, in regards to the if it’s important to you, you’ll do it saying, I think that we can find ways to satisfy our desires by finding other ways of doing (while not actually doing) what we want to do. If that makes sense. And sometimes, the more important the thing is, the easier it is to lower the bar and say well at least I can do this at this level. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

That said, I understand the implications behind the ways the expressions you referenced are often used.

Another motivational one is something like, if you want to ensure success, you have to burn the bridge behind you (referring to the old war tactic that forced soldiers to either succeed or die). Definitely, if you don’t try, you won’t succeed, but it doesn’t have to be so extreme, and succeeding doesn’t always equal financial freedom.