Is "Following Your Passion" Always a Good Idea?

14 years ago

I think you are right on the money John.

For some people, following their passion/hobby may be profitable. But a lot of times, especially hobbies we do for enjoyment, we don't want to think about work or deadlines.

I have played around with the idea of doing a music site - but then I think I would hate doing it and want to quit playing music - which isn't cool for me.

Rob

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Tina Golden 14 years ago

Absolutely brilliant, John. I have a domain in a niche that I am very passionate about and have put off building the site for over two years. I told myself it was because I was too busy, etc., but your post struck a chord with me. I believe you've hit the nail right on the head.

I'm going to still do the site but I think it's going to be more of a personal blog thing now, instead of worrying about monetizing it. My other sites have monetization, except for one, so why not just have one where I can talk about what I love?

Thanks for the clarifying post,
Tina
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Dadelius

14 years ago

Hi John, (good to meet you by the way)

Here is my perspective on it, and it is a unique one because I've gone about this from two different angles.

The first one, was very much like yourself (not online)
I was a technical diver, doing things like wreck dives, body recoveries for the RCMP, shark dives, etc. Basically anything deep and exciting.

I thought that it would be the best fit for me to find (or create a job where I got to do what I loved each and every day)

I started a commercial dive business, and while the money was great, I soon started to see diving as work, and rarely went just for the joy of it. I ended up moving to Calgary (not alot of diving) and gave up both. This was a case like yours where I should have left work/pleasure seperate.

scenario two.

I love internet marketing, and the whole ideas that someone could make money online was amazing to me! Now this came at the same time. Basically I discovered the idea of internet marketing, fell in love with and so started a website that took off, and allowed me to quit my day job fairly quickly, and move into it full time.

In this 2nd instance I've never been happier, and it worked out for the absolute best!

Maybe because I didn't see "internet marketing" as a fun hobby in the beginning, but developed the hobby/work relationship almost instantly.

Hope that made sense...

It's been a long 48 hour stretch here. lol

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dadelius

Maybe because I didn't see "internet marketing" as a fun hobby in the beginning, but developed the hobby/work relationship almost instantly.

Hope that made sense...

It's been a long 48 hour stretch here. lol

Made perfect sense to me...maybe you SHOULD be worried...

Some of the most successful people I know, both online and off, started with a vocation and developed a passion later.

That may be another key.

Twisting a popular book title a bit:

"Do what makes you money, and the love will follow..."

Pleased to meet you, too...

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Roaddog 14 years ago

In a different context tho, it can be effective.
How much did you learn from doing those sites (fishing)?
It is something you are interested in, so consequently you stuck with it.
I would be willing to bet that it was a more enjoyable learning experience, than if you were also going through all the growing pains in something you had no interest in.

I think at the very beginning, a good way to teach the fundamentals, is to have one site in something you have an interest in.
The building and actual mechanics and even seo of driving it up the serps, will have a lasting impression.

Anyone that thinks they are going to walk in and make enough to live on right off the bat these days, needs to get the stars out of their eyes until you at least get a feel for reality.

Start small, think big

Jim
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- JohnMcCabe 14 years ago
  
  Jim the Roaddog, you have a good point.
  
  I did learn things, but I believe I would have learned them anyway.
  
  My point wasn't that people should never follow a subject they have an interest in. If you can do it, more power to you (collective, all-encompassing you).
  
  It can be an excellent starting point/lab exercise, too. I often advise people to start sites for learning, and not worry about monetizing them.
  
  My original post was aimed at people trying to make their passion their vocation, and meeting internal resistance. In my case, a change in focus away from my passion made a huge difference.
  
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Nick Barton

14 years ago

I couldn't agree more when it comes to your leisure activities, but if your passion should be your work, then it is an ideal subject.

Very few of us have a job that we are passionate about. Most of us work to pay the bills, often dreading every day. I have done a number of things that I really didn't want to be doing, but they paid well!

You only need to look at the number of health club owners who have successfully added a fitness product marketed through the internet to their business.

If you have a job that you are passionate about then it only makes sense to base your first internet venture on it.

If your passion is what you do at the weekends, then it may well be better to avoid it.
As you said the last thing you want to do is turn your relaxation time into work time.

All that will happen if you do that is that you will spoil your enjoyment and not make a very good business out of it.

Internet marketing for most people should be about creating the time to enjoy their leisure activities more. Frankly there are very few of us that have the drive to do anything more than create a comfortable lifestyle.

For the majority if they could increase their income by 20% and reduce their working hours by half that would probably be true success.

For me all internet marketing means is being able to be a full time dad.

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Dadelius

14 years ago

John I have to ask, is it because the online business didn't reach a level that allowed you to still enjoy the "offline" time?

For example Mine right now takes up all my time, and I mean ALL!
But the hope for me is one day, in a couple of years that the situation will change and I'll only "Have" to work two or three hours a day. (but i'm sure i'll work more, its just nice to have the option)

If your online commitment was at an acceptable level would you still feel this way?
Say you only had to work at it 4 or 5 hours a day?

It sounds a little like since your vocation, is your hobby it is all consuming at the moment.

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dadelius

John I have to ask, is it because the online business didn't reach a level that allowed you to still enjoy the "offline" time?

For example Mine right now takes up all my time, and I mean ALL!
But the hope for me is one day, in a couple of years that the situation will change and I'll only "Have" to work two or three hours a day. (but i'm sure i'll work more, its just nice to have the option)

If your online commitment was at an acceptable level would you still feel this way?
Say you only had to work at it 4 or 5 hours a day?

It sounds a little like since your vocation, is your hobby it is all consuming at the moment.

For me, it wasn't really the time or success level, it was an attitude. Since one of my business ventures revolved around fishing, I approached my offline time from a business perspective. A couple of the sites were moderately successful, with the potential to grow.

What happened is I started having a hard time separating "business time" from "fun time", and the fun time was losing ground. So I mentally, subconsciously "punished" the work side by creating resistance. When it came to the fishing business, I had to force myself to work on it and when I did break away, I lost the pure joy of it.

I haven't run into the same phenomena in any other niche or market that I've tackled. And now that I've made peace with letting the business aspect go, fishing is fun again.

I started this thread to share my epiphany and give others who might be experiencing the same kind of resistance one place to look for a reason.

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Dadelius

14 years ago

It's too bad you had to give up something that could have tied into your passion so well, but at the same time it's a good thing you were able to recognize it, and let go of one (the right one) and save the other!

ps. I just got it! LOL "Happy Hooker"

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alcymart

14 years ago

By the way, nice to meet you John. I been fishing for over 40 years! It is/was my passion, my hobby, however due to a stroke 4 years ago that left me paralyzed, it was the end of my fishing fun.

I tried hard to get back to fishing and just try to setup a way to still fish even though I had 1 arm and 1 leg missing, but it proved frustrating and actually hazardous as I couldn't stand up, walk, or sometimes even sitting down was not so easy.

Anyway, my story is a bit different than yours, but I do feel for you since I was an avid fisherman with quite a few trophies under my belt.

I had started a fishing web site long before my stroke which took up all my time online and joy started to turn into work just like you. I thought after a while to get into Internet Marketing for good since I could not fish anymore. Before that I was Marketing but not full time. I spent a lot of my time on some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers here in Quebec.

Low and behold, I started hating fishing or should I say hated mixing up my hobby with work! I let go my web site, and instead focused full time on Internet Marketing. I wanted to be a teacher in IM for a change. I became very successful in IM over the years, but I started to miss fishing so much after my stroke. It's as if before being paralyzed, I had been taking fishing for granted, and now that I can't fish anymore, I miss it like I never did before! I miss the outdoors...

My life was full of ups and downs, and I could write a book about my life but I'll stop here. Me too your post struck a chord with me and I just had to share a bit of my own experience.

Take care,

Bernard St-Pierre
Marketing Consultant
Copywriter/Teacher/ex-Fisherman...LOL

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Fraggler

14 years ago

I've had a similar problem to yours, John. The problem wasn't really the struggle to switch off from work when fishing; it was actually getting any work done when fishing.

You see, I have one problem when I go fishing - the bad habit of returning home with a huge doughnut, nearly everytime. It made writing fishing articles from my perspective quite frustrating!

Do you offer coaching? :p

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Tspringer

14 years ago

I am a car nut... and a speed freak. I race cars and teach track driving and I restore vintage sportscars, this has been a passion for 25 years.

Years ago, I opened a classic car restoration and sales business. It almost killed my passion. It was a monumental pain in the butt, 90% suffering and maybe 10 fun.... but overall a disaster.

I distinctly remember finding my #1 body and paint guy in the bathroom smoking crack and yet not being able to just fire him because he was the only one who knew how to put an Austin-Healey 3000 that was scattered across 3 buildings back together. NOT fun.

Sometimes a passion or hobby is better left as just that.... and business is also left as just that. I know lots of folks manage to mix the two, but I never have.

YMMV

Terry

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Roaddog 14 years ago

John

Rereading your post, I understand exactly what you are saying (sorry bout that)

And to answer your question, if it is really the thing you use as recreation, then no, it wouldn't be a good idea to keep pursuing it as a business.
The only reason I am replying again is because I understand to a tee what you are saying, now.

Without going in to a long story. It has happened to me also.
One is your play, one is your work. Hard to mix night and day.

I still think that to start it may be a good idea, at first, but not to pursue for the long run. Once you learn the basic mechanics, one should go for the money in whatever niche that is.

How did that saying go,

When you play it, it's fun, when you work at it, it's Golf

something like that

Good post, John

Jim
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Orator

14 years ago

I've seen this advice offered, and I really can't get my head around it. I'm passionate about making money, period.

If that means I have to become an authority on the mating habits of african jackals then sign me up for the discovery channel.

My passions.. I like to keep separate from work, if only because I do this kind of work so I can pursue my passions in a few years time.

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Pursuit2Success

14 years ago

Always, following your passion is what you love to do.

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dp40oz

14 years ago

My first site I followed my passion and boy what a disaster. I think the combination of passion and brains is best.

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Ernie Lo

14 years ago

If you want money, then follow the money

As long as you do the correct research beforehand, you may be able to make money from your passion if not, then don't waste you time.

In the end money makes the world go round and its better to make money doing something than, following a dead end dream for too long and being broke, poor and stressed in the end.

Luckily my passion right now is to make money online no matter what.

So I'm easy

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Joshua Rigley

Banned 14 years ago

You make a good point John. And some people's passions are not always well suited to a business. With that said however, I still say you should be passionate about your business.

If you look at the most successful people in history, they all have one thing in common; passion for what they did.

You should try either finding a business model that is suited to your passion, or finding a business model that you're passionate about.

Ford made cars. Edison was an inventor. The list goes on and on and on.

My point is, there is no reason you shouldn't follow your passion when you pursue a business lifestyle. If one of your passions doesn't pan out as a business, big deal. There's no law saying you can't be passionate about more than one thing at a time. And there's no reason you can't be passionate about your business.

So to answer your question; YES, it is ALWAYS a good idea to follow your passion. What isn't a good idea is to give up or assume that following your passion is a bad idea, based on one failed business.

That's just me though.

Joshua

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Matt Bard

14 years ago

John, I had this experience with guitar playing. I started playing the guitar because I really enjoyed playing.

When I started playing in a band and doing all of the work involved to have a "working" band, I reached a point where I said to myself "maybe I really don't enjoy playing the guitar as much as I thought I did".

This resulted in me not only stopping all of the working band stuff but also putting down the guitar altogether.

After a few years went by, I found one of my favorite guitars packed away and picked it up and started playing. After a couple of minutes, I felt relaxed and in a real joyful state.

I quickly felt sad that I had given up one of the few things in my life that made me feel as good as it did.

Since then, I cringe when I hear people make that statement. I think the original ideas behind your passions and being passionate about something have been skewed a bit.

I believe that you should have a strong desire (be passionate) about accomplishing your goals, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you should take those things you have a strong emotional attachment (passion) and monetize it.

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Andrea Wilson

14 years ago

This what happened when i started thinking about music as my niche. I actually got the headache I didn't enjoyed it, it seems that a real passion should be separated from work or it you will lose your love for it.

Andrea

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Marvin Johnston

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

It's one of those aphorisms we tell new folks all the time...

"Pick a niche you're passionate about."
"Write about your passions."
"Create a product in a market you have a passion for."

You get the drift...

It occurred to me that this may not always be a good idea, even if the niche or market is potentially very lucrative.

John, your OP is causing me to think

. It sounds like you reached burnout with what you were doing.

Been there, done that.

I just finished reading some of Marlon Sander's newsletters where he talks about being in the marketing field for some 30+ years. My impression is that he is passionate about marketing. The same thing applies to a number of others in the IM arena. And they continue to function effectively.

The question I come up with now is how to balance passion and business so as not to burn out in the process.

The only answer I can come up with is we need to satisfy our own need for progress/accomplishment/??? in what we are doing.

Any other answers?

Marvin

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Kev_K 14 years ago

Good to meet you John.

You have definitely shared a unique-to-me perspective on following your passion. I recently wrote an article about why I think following what you love is best, but I'm reconsidering. There are a lot of cases where you should keep your precious leisure activities separate from your professional life. Thanks for sharing.
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clever7

14 years ago

Dear John, I have a similar problem. When I was a newbie, I read what everybody was saying about ‘following your passion’ and work doing whatever you may desire online. I thought that it would be easy to simply work not on my passion, but on my research online. On the other hand, it is somehow a passion, because I like to work in this field for many reasons. I also love the internet. You cannot imagine how much I love the internet! I still admire the fact that I can immediately talk with everyone in the world only by using my laptop, and everything else that the internet represents.

However, my competitors did everything they could in order to provoke me many unexplained problems online. I also had to face many problems because a schizophrenic who wanted to oblige me to care about him did everything he could in order to torture me online. In the end working online became for me real martyrdom.

I stopped being attacked, but I still have many wounds. Of course, nobody would let my websites appear before theirs without trying to prevent them from doing so… but I didn’t expect to face so many unfair attacks.

I’m very strong, and I know that my work is excellent. No matter what my enemies may do against me, my work will triumph. However, working online is in fact a very dangerous battle. It’s far from being a place to ‘follow your passion’ if you want to have a business. Especially if many people envy you. You have to be very careful. There are many crazy people online, and they can do many things against you if they are powerful. You need protection, and you cannot trust just anyone.

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Alfred Shelver

14 years ago

I have always disliked the saying " do a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life"

Mostly for the very reason you have just pointed out, if your job is the thing you love and you have to do it everyday it must take some of enjoyment out of it.

The other reason I disliked it was, very few people can do what they love there are just far too many not nice jobs that need to be done. So I prefer if people " work to live, not live to work" keep a balance and you will be far happier.

Thanks John your epiphany was a real eye opener

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Silas Hart 14 years ago

Here's my little evolution on this theory. The people that usually ask me this are people new to eBay and want to start buying in bulk from China.

90% of the time, people are interested in things that their cannot sell, or don't have enough money to get started. These things are usually:

Video games
DVD's
iPods
etc.

...not a chance.

So, because of this when I first started out I said

"Yeah, try to sell what you love" - not really possible, way too much competition. They would put in 4 or 5 grand, and then get back a thousand after their first month, and they would just quit because it wasn't worth the work.

Then it was "Forget it. Maximize your profit potential, find things that are new to the market and figure out how much to buy and how much you can make" - people made the money, and surprisingly didn't stick with it. They would buy two or three wholesale purchases and just take their money and move onto something else.

And then finally, I began being more straight forward. I said "Look, if you sell what you love, unless you love selling stuff there is an actual profit in, you won't be happy with the lack of money coming in. If you sell something really profitable, you probably won't stick with it.

With new people, you really have to find a hook. Say someone really wants to sell DVD's, then go for it, but then introduce them to really cool DVD shelves, binders that hold DVDs, stuff like that that has a bit more profit potential. You want them to sell stuff they are interested in because thats what keeps them involved and gives them the drive to find new items and new mini-markets that people who are in it for only the profit just don't get to until after the people that love what they are selling have already started selling it and already made that money. Once the profit sharks swim in, give it about 2 months before people are competing over a single dollar.
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- ExRat 14 years ago
  
  Hi,
  
  Most people here seem to be assuming that you can only have a passion for something that you do in your spare time, as a hobby and therefore if you try and make a business out of it, you will encounter problems. I understand the point there and agree, to a degree.
  
  But do none of you have a passion for something that is purely business related?
  
  I must be the odd one out. I'm passionate about helping others to seek freedom, independence, financial freedom, self-education, self-empowerment, enlightenment, semi-passive income, early retirement etc.
  
  But I want to be paid for it and if I have spare time, I'd rather be indulging in my hobbies of international sunbathing, beer-tasting and bedroom gymnastics.
  
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  pickthat apple 14 years ago
  
  There is no compairason between fishing and writing about fishing, one is about having fun in the open air and the other about sitting down on a swivel chair dreaming about fishing and having to write...
  
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Jack Duncan

14 years ago

John,
I think this is a brilliant angle...and frankly one I hadn't thought about that much to be honest.

Maybe there is a fine line between "follow your passion" and "do something you enjoy"...

Maybe the trick is to make sure you don't actually ruin the things you really love to do just for fun...but still make sure whatever you pick is interesting.

I don't know...going to have to ponder this one a bit.

You have to be able to get enthusiastic about it...otherwise even the little tasks become awful...

But you're definitely correct...there has to be a fine line between here somewhere.

Definitely food for thought!

Thanks for the share,
Jack Duncan

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1960Texan

14 years ago

Wow, lots of fellow musicians on this thread.

John, your post struck a chord with me (sorry, couldn't resist) and I know exactly what you're talking about. Early on in my IM career I thought about doing a "play guitar" site but just couldn't bring myself to follow through.

In my case creating a music site would probably cause me to spend more time playing than working. I have other passions, and have neglected one of the niches that grew out of a passion precisely because it started to feel like work.

Will

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CyberSorcerer

14 years ago

Personally I don't recommend newbies starting their IM careers off in their passion.

This is because they are already too attached to the outcome and if things don't go well it will be easier for them to quick.

Besides when you're just starting out learning and experimenting there are going to be failures. You should first perfect your marketing skills before you start out in your passion. This way you can give your passion the best chance of making it because of your wide depth of experience now.

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TrekkieGrrrl 14 years ago

I think if you have a hobby/passion and it's your main site or way to make money, it can drain the fun from it.

For me, I have over a dozen sites. Two of those are passions/hobbies of mine.

I work on those when the mood strikes me, but I don't lean on those for my main income.

For me, it works. Not saying everyone is the same way, though.
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Barry Unruh

14 years ago

This reminds me of something Paul Myers said.

He mentioned it is a good idea to have a "fun site" one you play around with, try out things, and just experiment with. This is the one I'd want to have for my hobby site. Then I would not become attached to an outcome or consistency, but could just have fun.

Just not sure why I want to blog about chasing a 6 month old and a 2 year old around the house.......

Barry

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paulie888

14 years ago

We can be passionate about many things in life, but sometimes there needs to be some separation between passion and business.

While there is room for us to be passionate about hobbies that we then turn into a business, there are also purely business related activities that we can be passionate about.

The thing with hobbies is that we typically engage in them for relaxation and fun, and we tend to treat them as a diversion from work. If we turn this into a business, it doesn't remain a hobby anymore, per se, and it transforms into something that closely approximates work.

When that happens, we probably won't find that hobby as pleasurable anymore, and may even lose interest in it as a diversion and recreation. While being in business for ourselves is great, we still need to have activities and pastimes to give us balance and something to look forward to outside of work.

If we end up either destroying or marginalizing a hobby in the name of business such as John has described, I personally think it'd not be worth the sacrifice. I think hobbies and pastimes should be kept separate from business in most cases, and merging business and pleasure may not always be in our best interests.

Paul

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ExRat

14 years ago

Hi ncmedia,

I'm the odd one out of the group.

Nope. You're the one who didn't read all of the replies.

Post #33 -

I must be the odd one out.

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

First off, many thanks to all who have shared their own experiences and perspectives...

Originally Posted by Joshua Rigley

You make a good point John. And some people's passions are not always well suited to a business. With that said however, I still say you should be passionate about your business.

If you look at the most successful people in history, they all have one thing in common; passion for what they did.

For me there is a definite difference between being passionate about your business and 'following your passion'. I have no problem being passionate about business, or about the people in the markets I still work in.

Originally Posted by Joshua Rigley

So to answer your question; YES, it is ALWAYS a good idea to follow your passion. What isn't a good idea is to give up or assume that following your passion is a bad idea, based on one failed business.

That's just me though.

Joshua

Joshua, you're making a lot of assumptions about me based on one forum post. I've hardly given up or even assumed that following one's passion is a bad idea. In fact, if you're one of those people that can do it, more power to you.

I offered my own experience as a possible explanation why someone might feel blocked. If they understand what's happening, they can make their own decision.

Originally Posted by paulie888

We can be passionate about many things in life, but sometimes there needs to be some separation between passion and business.

While there is room for us to be passionate about hobbies that we then turn into a business, there are also purely business related activities that we can be passionate about.

The thing with hobbies is that we typically engage in them for relaxation and fun, and we tend to treat them as a diversion from work. If we turn this into a business, it doesn't remain a hobby anymore, per se, and it transforms into something that closely approximates work.

When that happens, we probably won't find that hobby as pleasurable anymore, and may even lose interest in it as a diversion and recreation. While being in business for ourselves is great, we still need to have activities and pastimes to give us balance and something to look forward to outside of work.

If we end up either destroying or marginalizing a hobby in the name of business such as John has described, I personally think it'd not be worth the sacrifice. I think hobbies and pastimes should be kept separate from business in most cases, and merging business and pleasure may not always be in our best interests.

Paul

Paul, you get it.

Originally Posted by ncmedia

Sorry to flip the thinking and or to rain on the 'just stick to marketing and leave your hobbies and passions as just that' parade, but I think there is a world of success, enjoyment, and true freedom out there waiting for you to do EXACTLY what you love to, daily, without looking at the business side too much

.002.

Norb, you're one of the lucky ones who could turn their passion into their freedom.

It does seem as though a lot of people are reading more into what I wrote than is there.

My point isn't 'just stick to marketing and leave your hobbies and passions as just that'...

My point is that if turning your hobbies and passions into a business venture isn't working for you, and you don't know why, here's one possible reason. That's it.

Again, thanks to everybody...

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Joshua Rigley

Banned 14 years ago

Shoot John, I should've read what I've written more closely. When I said that, I wasn't talking about you at all. I was thinking of the people who try something once, and when it doesn't work as they thought it would, they give up at once. Sometimes I'm like that.

Don't get me wrong either. I'm glad you posted what you did. Your post is like a healthy dose of realism; too often we can stick to one thing for too long, and we forget it's not a catch all solution to all of our problems.

So sorry about that, I didn't mean to come of as belittling you or your post.

Joshua

Thanks

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marcuslim

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Gordon Gekko

I remember when I was into graphic design. At first, designing was a hobby. Ever I was a kid, I always drew, painted, etc. In my senior year in high school, this hobby turned into graphic design when I started using Photoshop and Illustrator. I enjoyed it as a hobby. Then I tried to make a business out of it, which went extremely well for a while. Even though the money was good, I began to hate the activity because I had to deal with certain types of people, meet deadlines and overall, depend on this to make a living. All of the above took the fun out of it.

So, in cases like that -- some things should just remain hobbies.

This is true. When people start turning what they love to do into something they do for a paycheck, that love is put in danger. When you do it for the money, a different force fuels the motivation - money, not the emotion from the moment.

Thanks

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Marcus Lim
Silver Bullet Publishing

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CDarklock

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

If you're out there trying to "follow your passion", and you are feeling a lot of resistance, this may be why.

When we tell someone to follow their passion, what we are really trying to say is:

Find something that doesn't feel like work.

The absolutely ideal position to be in is to get up in the morning, do whatever you feel like doing all day, and somehow manage to get paid for it. So find a business model you enjoy, and would do anyway.

But what people always try to do is take some job they don't like and improve it by cramming their passion into the middle of it.

It's kind of like if you muck out horse stables for a living, and you're shoveling poop all day. You can't make it better by throwing something you like into the poop. You just get poop all over that thing you like.

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"The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers

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liquidice04

14 years ago

I think that if you go all in it will be worth your wile... but if you go half and half you won't get money out of it.... However it will certainty be more fulfilling that going into the how to make money niche

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Joshua Rigley

Shoot John, I should've read what I've written more closely. When I said that, I wasn't talking about you at all. I was thinking of the people who try something once, and when it doesn't work as they thought it would, they give up at once. Sometimes I'm like that.

Don't get me wrong either. I'm glad you posted what you did. Your post is like a healthy dose of realism; too often we can stick to one thing for too long, and we forget it's not a catch all solution to all of our problems.

So sorry about that, I didn't mean to come of as belittling you or your post.

Joshua

No worries, Joshua. I didn't take it that way at all. I just wanted to make sure the thread didn't turn into more than it was meant to be. I was just sharing something that did not work for me, and why I thought it didn't work.

Originally Posted by CDarklock

When we tell someone to follow their passion, what we are really trying to say is:

Find something that doesn't feel like work.

The absolutely ideal position to be in is to get up in the morning, do whatever you feel like doing all day, and somehow manage to get paid for it. So find a business model you enjoy, and would do anyway.

But what people always try to do is take some job they don't like and improve it by cramming their passion into the middle of it.

It's kind of like if you muck out horse stables for a living, and you're shoveling poop all day. You can't make it better by throwing something you like into the poop. You just get poop all over that thing you like.

Caliban, you get it, too.

It's like the old joke about the guy whose job it was to follow the elephants in the circus parade. He complained constantly that all he did all day was pick up elephant poop.

One day, someone asks him why he doesn't quit and do something else...

"What, and leave show business?"

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Is "Following Your Passion" Always a Good Idea?

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