# Should you do what you love for a living?



## Annie S. (Feb 15, 2021)

pros:
1. More motivated
2. To quote a movie "...and science, engineering, law, medicine, these are necessary to sustain life, but poetry, beauty, romance, this is what we stay alive for."

cons:
1. Get tired of it, because it's now your work and not your free-time
2. Yes, that's what we stay alive for, but we can create time for that


Any thoughts?


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## Miharu (Apr 1, 2015)

It would be nice if things aligned. But my interests and hobbies and the things I love are unfortunately not what I’m good at. They’re fun, but not my forte. They’re two separate things so I chose to do what I’m good at career-wise, for security. My interests and hobbies are reserved for my past time, relaxation, recharging time.

You can have both if you figure out a way. You can argue that you’ll be miserable if you don’t do what you love for a living, but that’s not always the case. It highly depends where you work, who you work for, who you work with.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

Annie S. said:


> pros:
> 1. More motivated
> 2. To quote a movie "...and science, engineering, law, medicine, these are necessary to sustain life, but poetry, beauty, romance, this is what we stay alive for."
> 
> ...


_Dead Poet's Society_ is one of my favorite movies. I don't think Robin Williams is saying that the former professions are boring and dispassionate professions, he's saying that without the latter, life will be less meaningful.

I would say you should do something you enjoy. It makes things a lot less miserable.


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## mia-me (Feb 5, 2021)

If it provides sufficient income to live on, for sure. Or if you're willing to supplement it with a second job that covers living expenses until you either burn out or succeed.


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## Celtsincloset (Feb 17, 2014)

Doing what you love for a living I believe should be everyone’s goal. It’s a win-win. But getting the means right of getting there is so important. You won’t be handed a platter of gold, so what will you do until you achieve it or something close to it which is everything you wanted for a job? I would say, do a job that is meaningful to you. Or any job that can be enjoyed by you, or you have no other choice, and when it’s time to move on to something more meaningful, do so.

It’s important also to be educated enough about your job of passion, until you can find an entry point for yourself.

If I want to be a comic book writer, I don’t want to do any other art or writing that will get me paid, outside of my book, or even do study for it, because it _depresses_ me. So I go my own path, and I’m doing work that is meaningful to me, youth work. I will one day get good enough and do enough of the comic on the side to _seek out a publisher_. That’s my entry point. IMO

What is it that is your dream job?


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## Rift (Mar 12, 2012)




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## Allostasis (Feb 2, 2021)

That is how I live and I am very satisfied by that.
I somewhat identify with my work/hobby.
Generally my life is organized in the way such that I only do what I like.


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## Rift (Mar 12, 2012)

Celtsincloset said:


> If I want to be a comic book writer, I don’t want to do any other art or writing that will get me paid, outside of my book, or even do study for it, because it _depresses_ me. So I go my own path, and I’m doing work that is meaningful to me, youth work. I will one day get good enough and do enough of the comic on the side to _seek out a publisher_. That’s my entry point. IMO


have you looked into self publishing? There's many options, though most on the commercial front aim for using print on demand or digital type of services to avoid high printing minimums, upfront costs. The other is a free blog and loading up on affiliates and advertisers. .. tho, many that started way, also transitioned into doing video shorts. further extensions are those that build a brand and sculpt around it with gear and goodies.. to which again, there's many options. some swing to game devleopment, others to fashion and some lean on the expanse of 3d printing services.. to which they may hire freelancers to change their 2d images into printable 3d design. . . as printing, despite the massive headache it can be, is a lot cheaper than bjd. but I digress...


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## Celtsincloset (Feb 17, 2014)

@Rift

That's a fair arrangement. It's ideal. I would love to see a plushie of one my characters one day.

Traditional publishing is for me though. It allures me the most; I would love to see my book on a shelf after going through a sh** ton of editing, I would appreciate the relationships, being part of the industry and helping the industry. Picture books sell in these modern times after all...


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## 17041704 (May 28, 2020)

Should I do it for a living
idk I'm not good with the shoulds and should nots but I don't want to

I'm not interested in putting a price on what I love and push it onto the market to be judged and commented on by people whose opinions I genuinely do not care because I do it for passion, love, fun and my own reasons it is not a business transaction.

Money changes everything once it gets its hand on it. It turns me into a voluntary involuntary slave of whoever pays me. It becomes theirs. It's no longer mine and I won't accept it as part of me once I exchanged it for something in return.

Not even a moment let alone doing it day after day, week after week, year after year to earn reliably enough money for myself and my family.

I'll sell my time and part of my life via some contracts and fulfill my obligations as promised out of necessity but I'm not gonna sell what I truly love. My passion and love hold no promises just as it is unconditional. 

A bit paradoxical in my last sentence it seems now I typed it out lol.
I remember someone once said something about one of our greatest problems is to figure out how to merge play with work.
I somewhat disagree.


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## DOGSOUP (Jan 29, 2016)

The best advice I heard was do what you are GOOD at and what keeps you afloat, don't sell your passion unless it is a finished product, keep it to yourself and people who know how to value it.


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## ENTJudgement (Oct 6, 2013)

Annie S. said:


> pros:
> 1. More motivated
> 2. To quote a movie "...and science, engineering, law, medicine, these are necessary to sustain life, but poetry, beauty, romance, this is what we stay alive for."
> 
> ...


Depends on what it is you love and the lifestyle you expect.

I.E If my dream is to become an actor and I see that only the top 0.1% of people make it as an actor and I want a decent life style, why would I pursue acting when I can get a decent job, invest, grow my finances and once I'm rich enough, become an actor as a hobby? Now I've got no pressure to do what I love and I don't compromise my future due to some pipe dream.


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## bearlybreathing (Aug 6, 2013)

If it's something you can do every day and it not become mundane and boring and cause you to lose your love for it (or for some crazy reason you don't miind losing the love for it), yeah, go for it! Next winter I'm going to try to become a kid's ski instructor (love kids, love skiing). I was obsessed with amusement parks, so I became a ride operator at one. Grew my love even more (though my boss now hates me and won't rehire me). Be prepared for nightmares about it though. I still wake up soaked in sweat after the E-stop gets hit while people are getting on/off the pirate ship.


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## Hexigoon (Mar 12, 2018)

..... You know we live in a ridiculous system when people actually have to ask that question.


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## Internal (Nov 4, 2020)

I'd rather come to love what I'm doing than do what I love for a living.

Because if I happen to burn out, I'll come to hate not only my job but also my hobby.
But if I have a hobby that brings me joy and I didn't monetize, at least that'll be left if I once hit a professional low.


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## Worriedfunction (Jun 2, 2011)

Miharu said:


> It would be nice if things aligned. But my interests and hobbies and the things I love are unfortunately not what I’m good at. They’re fun, but not my forte. They’re two separate things so I chose to do what I’m good at career-wise, for security. My interests and hobbies are reserved for my past time, relaxation, recharging time.
> 
> You can have both if you figure out a way. You can argue that you’ll be miserable if you don’t do what you love for a living, but that’s not always the case. It highly depends where you work, who you work for, who you work with.


This is a good explanation.



Hexigoon said:


> ..... You know we live in a ridiculous system when people actually have to ask that question.


I don't entirely disagree, but at the same time, I can't help thinking we've had thousands of years of blood, death and misery where people certainly didn't get to do what they loved and barely had a chance to even find out.
And then there are maladapted preferences, where (as quoted by Miharu above) people aren't necessarily good at what they love. I've done so many jobs and I've hated all of them to varying degrees and despite years of experience, I've yet to find something that makes working life bearable. We exchanged the chaotic freedoms of the past for the controlled freedoms of modern living.

They both have benefits and drawbacks, and it's an ongoing experiment. I'd love to be able to stand up and declare "X is better, this is the way!" and outline a way to improve people's lives where they aren't trapped in overly-complicated, bureaucratic, nightmare-systems, where they have to scrabble and fight for every scrap of temporary relief from the continuous hell on the endless grinding-gears of life.

I wish I was intelligent and competent enough to understand and generate some course of action to free people from that obligation. But maybe our only real freedom will come from the irony of an artificial simulation into which we can disappear, in concert with our imagination. Since you're only as free as the degrees to which you are allowed to be arbitrary.


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## shameless (Apr 21, 2014)

I just took a pay cut to do what I love

I’d say I would never advise someone to pursue something they aren’t prepared for being able to self sustain. I.e. a subpar singer should not plan to live off their parents to chase their dream of singing and stay in a local band for 10 years if its doesn’t for example support their livelihood.

But yeah I think people should always choose the job that will support them which they will be happiest with. Over simply money.


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## Tridentus (Dec 14, 2009)

Miharu said:


> It would be nice if things aligned. But my interests and hobbies and the things I love are unfortunately not what I’m good at. They’re fun, but not my forte. They’re two separate things so I chose to do what I’m good at career-wise, for security. My interests and hobbies are reserved for my past time, relaxation, recharging time.
> 
> You can have both if you figure out a way. You can argue that you’ll be miserable if you don’t do what you love for a living, but that’s not always the case. It highly depends where you work, who you work for, who you work with.


I wish there was better education for this. I had to figure this distinction out for myself only a couple of years ago by the time I was in my late 20s.

Ultimately it's up to the individual, but if I were to give out advice to someone who faces this situation that ran through my own life, I'd say follow the thing you're good at as a general rule- because it just reduces overall stress that comes from all the extraneous factors that you can lessen by simply having talent.

If you love something but you aren't as good at it, it increases mental strain in terms of worrying and having to work that much harder to compensate which can negate your level of passion for it, and in the daily long-term reality it's going to be worse for you. If you're good at something you can at least free yourself from those types of concerns and therefore reduce stress, and just do the thing that interests you in your own time, or find a way to compensate the two so that you're allying yourself to what you love through the skills that you're good at.

Of course, it goes without saying that if the two happen to be one and the same for you it's really a no brainer.


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## Miharu (Apr 1, 2015)

Tridentus said:


> I wish there was better education for this. I had to figure this distinction out for myself only a couple of years ago by the time I was in my late 20s.
> 
> Ultimately it's up to the individual, but if I were to give out advice to someone who faces this situation that ran through my own life, I'd say follow the thing you're good at as a general rule- because it just reduces overall stress that comes from all the extraneous factors that you can lessen by simply having talent.
> 
> ...


Ultimately, it is definitely up to what one values more. Personally, I knew that all the many things (goals) I want in life would be more efficiently achieved if I were to maximise my earnings/potential by doing what I am good at, even if I may not love it (though I would never do something I absolutely dislike either, I’d find a way to make the experience better). I value those goals and aspirations more so I don’t mind the “means” being something I don’t necessarily love as long as it’ll get me there faster and assure that I’ll get there in the first place. I also know and don’t mind that I could compromise by doing things I actually love in my spare time. But this may go against someone’s personal value and doing something they don’t love might even make their entire life miserable, so there is no one way to decide this.


* *




By the way, even though you found out in your late twenties, you still made a change. A lot would be hesitant to do that, so good for you.


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## Lunacik (Apr 19, 2014)

I did what I love for a living for several years. I grew to hate it so much that I can't even hardly motivate myself to do it anymore.

I say do what adds meaning, purpose, and value to your life. Do something that's worth working for.


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