If you asked anyone who knows me, they would tell you that I’m a strong advocate for people following their passion. However, when I encourage people to pursue their dreams, this comes with a big asterisk.
I recently heard someone use a phrase along the lines of, “if you do what you love, the money will follow.” Um… no.
While it’s great that you’ve found something you’re passionate about, that’s only a trillionth of the battle. You need to be willing to work your ass off and be willing to sacrifice everything in order to make that enthusiasm into a success.
Most people that have started their own business will tell you that it took a while into the process to begin paying themselves. Again, if it truly is your passion, this is all worth it in the end. But if you like food and shelter, it might not be.
Say, for example, your passion is acting and your goal in life is to become a famous movie star. Now, you can’t pull a Tobias Funke and simply say, “I’m an actor” and then expect everything to miraculously fall into place.
Like any other passion, you need to invest in yourself. You’ll need to get headshots, take acting classes, and find a flexible day job that allows you to go on auditions. Cutting corners on any of this in order to expedite the process or save a few bucks will end up hurting you in the long run.
For the sake of this article, let’s define “passion” as loving something so much you couldn’t imagine doing anything else… you would even do it for free. And, as there is no correlation between having passion for something and money, you just might.
While doing what you love is admirable, be aware that it may take an incredibly long time to see results in the form of numbers. Because of this, it’s wise to always have a back up plan to support yourself financially and pursue passion with a strong business plan in tact.
It is never wrong to want to follow your passion. I personally think that everyone should give it at least something of a shot during the course of their career so that you never ask “what if?” But following passion because you read a cliche statement can lead to major financial and emotional losses, so put on your business hat before blindly chasing dreams.
Steven T
March 15, 2023 at 2:17 am
‘Follow your passion and the money will follow’ is false, and this argument is built on also false premises.
When you’re passionate about something, you will work your ass off and be willing to sacrifice everything to make that happen. Why would you take a short cut to attain your passion? False premise.
Not every passion turns out to be a poor choice. False premise. Many passions in fact do turn into big time success. Many successful people do have a passion for what they do and believe in it. In the contrary, those who start out seeing only money are the ones get distracted by the dollar sign and often take short cut in their work in hope to get rich quick.