Passion or Work? Why You Shouldn’t Choose.

For many of us – including myself – turning our passion into a full-time job, 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 with your passion 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.

Read: Creative Thinking – A How To Guide

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.

Read: 13 Steps To Happiness

3. What about stuff you’re not passionate about, 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 following your passion 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.