For many of us – including myself – doing what you love for a living seems like the ultimate dream come true.
However, there are some things to consider before going all in on your passion.
Leo Babauta – blogger on Zen Habits – lives this dream. He answers the most pressing questions and tells us the truth about doing what you love for a living.
1. Will earning money for what you love make you stop loving it?
When you do what you love for a living (let’s say, writing or helping people), don’t show up every day for the money.
That’s a lousy motivation, and eventually it’ll become drudgery, because money isn’t something you can really love.
Instead, show up every day for a better reason. I show up every day and put in my hours because I hope what I do will help people, and I love helping people. It never gets tiring, never becomes drudgery.
2. Can everyone do what they love?
Yes, everyone can do what they love — but not necessarily for a living.
I realize I’m extremely lucky to be able to do what I love for a living. You might be able to get lucky too – I’d give making a living from what you love a shot before dismissing it. See if it’s possible.
But if not, still do what you love, on the side, for no money. It’s still worth doing, even if you have to do something else to put food on the table.
3. What about stuff you don’t love but have to do?
Even if your income comes from what you love, you still have to do stuff you don’t love. Tasks that are no fun. Things that have to be done, but no one likes doing them.
So what?
Sometimes hard stuff needs to be done in order to make the stuff you love possible. Show up and do it. Hard things aren’t that bad. I use them as mindfulness practice, and by the way, I love mindfulness practice.
Conclusion
To sum up, making a living doing what you love is propably worth all the hassle, you need to go through to get there. However, don’t ever show up for the money. You do what you love. This should be enough motivation. So, even when it doesn’t work out the way you hoped it would, the time wasn’t wasted.
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Questions to Ask Yourself, If You Want To Turn Your Passion into Profit
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Print- What do you absolutely love to do? What could you do all day long, without getting tired or bored? Do you ever look up from your work and notice, that several hours have passed, without you noticing it? What did you do, when that happened?
- Why do you love doing it? Is it fun? Does it help other people?
- How can you make a living from this? – Find 5 people, who make a living from it + see how they do it.
- What would you need to do, that you don’t like, in order to make a living from your passion? E.g. if you want to be a writer, you also need a lot of marketing etc.?
- How much would it cost, to outsource the most dreading tasks. Research freelancing sites etc. to get an idea of the rates, you’d need to pay. It’s propably much less than you expect.
- What do you need to do, to get from where you are right now, to the point, where you can make a living from your passion? Do you need any certifications? Take courses? Free up some time every week?
- What’s the next step?
Help out a sister and pin this to your favorite boards! 🙂
