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Whilst I don't disagree - there are definitely things I'm happy to do for 16 hours(!) - I think the point (at least based on my understanding) is more that you'
by iamben 4y ago
Whilst I don't disagree - there are definitely things I'm happy to do for 16 hours(!) - I think the point (at least based on my understanding) is more that you'll never love something all the time.
You could be a famous actor or a rockstar and still resent the fact you have to come in to dub over voices, do the press tour, or play the show that didn't sell out where the monitors don't work properly. You could love to code (I did!) and then burnout because your boss has forced you to work on something you hate, to hit the deadline that's unreal. You could be working for yourself and find it's absolutely not the easy life you thought it would be. It could be the thing you love doesn't provide the income that makes for a comfortable life. There's so many things.
I'm well aware (personally, anecdata, I know!) that passions can become a chore when you think that everything has to be monetised. Sometimes you should just do the thing because you love it.
Of course there will be exceptions, but I think the advice is good. Most people won't love their 'job'. Hang on to the advice of "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" and you'll end up thinking the work that's actually fine really isn't and you'll end up unhappy where you are, or unhappy chasing an unattainable goal.
But hey, we're all different and this is just my 2c :-)
- Applejinx 4y agoRegarding the monetized thing: there's a special point with that. You can have all the passion in the world for a thing, but is your passion about how OTHER PEOPLE react to that? If so, monetizing can be your passion, but the way other people react to a thing is not that thing, it's a separate thing. I know that in my line of work I can get passionate about plenty of ideas, but there's no real correlation between what keeps me going, and what clicks with a mass audience. One of the things that clicks with the mass audience is that I'm there seeking out really quirky, specialized things that might possibly result in something amazing. In that sense the mass audience is more interested in me being passionate, than in every specific thing I'm being passionate about. Bit like a zoo. Watch the tiger code widgets! If the tiger codes an amazing, saleable widget, that's a real marketing story, but people will still be curious and watch even if the widgets don't suit them. If the tiger thinks every widget is gonna be a hit, he's going to burn out and quit in despair.
- iamben 4y agoIndeed. I've can absolutely familiarise with that kind of burnout. So much effort and nothing lands. Lots of lessons and hindsight is wonderful thing. But at the time it becomes very demotivating and pointless.
- auggierose 4y agoI think it is good advice as long as you don't have a REAL passion. Once you have one, it is spectacularly bad advice, because in this case there is just no way you cannot follow it, and trying to do so is just hurting yourself. Of course your passion always also involves things you might not cherish as much, such as marketing, sales, etc., but you'll endure that if that stays just a tolerable part of what you do.