You can't do anything. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the correct answer. People aren't truly happy until they are following a passion

You can't do anything. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the correct answer. People aren't truly happy until they are following a passion. For many people, passion isn't profitable; or at least not as profitable as they feel it should be. Your friend has a few things to discover. First, the passion. This is step one. Without this, life will always be a void of meaningless motions. You can't help here. He must find it on his own. About the only thing you can do is encourage him to try anything and everything until he finds this passion. It might take a while. He must not stop until he finds it. If he's wondering if he's found it, he hasn't. Once that happens, he has a choice to make. Find a way to turn his passion into profit, or failing that, find something that he is content doing to sustain himself so that he can pursue the passion. It isn't often that your passion is lucrative. In many cases, it actually costs you money. There must be a "second calling" that he can use to fund the passion. Again, you find this out by trying many things, and only by actually trying many things. Most people never find their passion. The things that people asked them they would be when they grew up are either long forgotten or inconceivable. I will tell you that they are not - they're simply unrealized. Sure, you may not be able to play QB for the 49ers, but there are modifications of this passion that can be expressed. You must follow this lead if you are to be happy. Passions also change throughout life. I for example, am completely passionate about my sons. I've gladly supplanted some of my previous passions to spend more time shaping these two people. We make these choices from time to time in life, and that's okay. A personal journey though is exactly that. It's not something that you can really contribute to aside from encouraging. You in fact must realize that the journey itself may not align with your own, at least temporarily. You can't use faith/religion to solve scientific problems, so don't expect to use math to solve emotional/spiritual ones. Your heart is in the right place, but this is his path to take.