“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This is a fairly popular quote that is meant to show the benefits of turning a passion into a career. While it sounds good on the surface, it is actually full of problems. Here’s my take on this quote and why I dislike it.
The first problem is that you may not be able to make money doing what you love if nobody is willing to pay for it. Despite seemingly everything being monetizable nowadays, there are still some things that won’t bring home the bacon. For those things that can, getting to that point may require you to work one or more odd jobs while pursuing your passion in your spare time until you make enough money from your passion to pay the bills. It’s common for many, especially those hoping to work in the entertainment industry, to have to work multiple odd jobs that they hate before getting their big break. Even if you can make some money by following your passion, it might be only a small amount of extra income instead of being anywhere near enough to sustain you.
While it’d be wonderful to get paid just for having fun, the reality is much more complicated as turning a passion into a career involves much more than just making money by practicing a hobby. Running a business often involves licensing, fees, regulations, getting and keeping customers, handling employees/contractors, etc. While working for somebody else can be less stressful than trying to run a business, there is still stress involved in nearly every job at some point. Since many folks turn to hobbies for stress relief and an escape from the working world, having to make one or more hobbies their livelihood can result in the exact opposite of what they hope to get.
If you turn your passion into a career, you might end up having to do more of what somebody else wants than what you want. For example, running a crafting business might involve crafting things that your customers want instead of whatever you want to craft at any given time. It may also entail long hours, late nights, early mornings, cancelled plans, and far less free time than if you simply worked a regular job and enjoyed your hobby outside of work. Those looking for freedom to do as they like through their favorite activities are likely to feel disappointed at having to tailor everything to suit the wishes of others in business rather than their own.
All of those can make you begin to hate something you once loved. What was once a fun hobby you got to enjoy in your free time has become a tiresome chore you have to do almost all the time. The best example I know of for this is Anthony Gatto, whom I consider to be the best person at juggling who ever lived. His stepdad taught him how to juggle at a young age, and he quickly reached a skill level most never get anywhere near. After decades of traveling, performing, practicing hard every day, and making a living through juggling, he grew sick of it and retired in 2012 to start a concrete resurfacing company. Aside from having to juggle so much, he also disliked the toll that it took on his neck, shoulders, and wrists over time, not to mention the medical interventions he had to undergo to stay in the game as long as he did. He seems glad to have quit and moved onto a different career path to support himself and his family.
I think about all of this whenever I see someone whose family members, friends, and acquaintances all tell them to turn their hobby into a business. This happens even when the person has never expressed an interest in doing so, which is just plain odd to me. What happened to simply being able to enjoy doing something without the pressure of making money at it or turning it into a career? I suspect the internet is partly to blame as it now affords more financial opportunities for more people than ever before. However, that is only part of the trouble. Telling someone to monetize their hobby is more often than not unsolicited advice. Beyond that, I wonder if those who wish they’d been able to make money with their hobby try to make others do just that out of regret for not following their dreams. Whatever the reason, I wish there were less pressure for folks to turn a fun hobby into a lucrative career.
As glad as I am that I’ve been able to make some money through juggling and unicycling, I’m even more glad that those are still mostly just fun hobbies. I don’t want to end up hating them, getting health issues from having to do them too often, or dealing with any other headaches from turning fun into money. I enjoy getting to pursue them at my own leisure now, just as I did in my free time while hanging out with my dog Sawyer during his life. Anyone who truly wishes to make money doing something they love is welcome to try it, and those who are living their dreams in that way have struck gold. For everyone else, it’s enough to separate work and fun. It’s certainly that way for me.