How to Do What You Love

How to do what you love?

After years of contemplating this question, I’m confident to say that I figured it out.

And I can answer it in a single sentence.

However, in order to relate to such an information-dense summary without misunderstanding it, we need to cover a lot of ground.

I’ll start with the long answer and, at the end, I’ll include the short one.

The Road to Doing What You Love

Most of us have passions – things that we enjoy doing and are good at.

Some even had the idea of earning by practicing what they love.

However, as you got into adulthood, some things that you considered to be of supreme importance slowly started shifting into the back seat. Instead, you learned to prioritize your chores, job, and mundane activities, most of which you don’t really enjoy doing.

Let’s stop here and ask the key question: why?

Why all these things, which should’ve been the top priority aren’t your primary focus anymore?

Try to answer the question.

If I’m correct, you didn’t really articulate your answer but might’ve had a quick and indistinct thought, most probably along the lines of: “no time“, “kids“, “money“, “food, bills, and shelter“, or something similar.

If you prefer a more interactive experience onwards, I’d suggest articulating your answer before proceeding.

It’s not necessary to do so, so up to you.

Dissecting Your Answer

Let’s take a step back and unambiguously accept some facts.

Since you’re here, we know that you’re capable of reading and processing information. That means you’re a conscious and intelligent human being.

Under that assumption, you’d always choose what you think is best for you, based on your current knowledge and experience. And when you’re faced with a choice of multiple mutually exclusive options, you pick the one that benefits you the most.

Are you ready to face the truth now?

You value financial stability more than anything else.

You value not being homeless more than exploring the world. You value sufficient calorie intake more than being an “artist”.

You see where I’m going?

We both understand that there is a nostalgia-fueled regret that you abandoned who you once “were“, but over time, money became so important to you that your old hobbies didn’t fit into the picture that much.

So be real with yourself and read this sentence:

Financial stability is what you love.

That’s the exact reason why you willingly allocate so much time to nurture it.

And in doing so, you’re doing exactly what you love:

You’re earning money.

Unless you accept this wholeheartedly, you’ll be miserable forever.

And the earlier you do, the better – as the risk of becoming filled with anger and expecting handouts grows bigger with every day of dissatisfaction that’s left unaddressed.

And beware of the handouts trap! Expecting a third party to provide you with food or shelter will induce serious psychological damage and lead to parasitism. In most cases, you’ll be (financially) disincentivized to take control over your life.

And the only salvation is doing your thing.

The thing that the society, as a whole, agrees is valuable by financing it.

I understand that what I’m preaching may be repulsive to people with inclinations towards collectivist ideologies. But frankly, even the most indocrinated ones don’t practice what they preach – they don’t share their income with families in South Sudan and prefer getting good deals, happily not overpaying for the same service.

It almost feels like everyone is complying with the law of supply and demand…

Like they prefer a better life for themselves first and then for everyone else…

As if they… Comply with human nature… 🤔

Accept this, and you’ll feel liberated.

In total control over who you are and how you want to live.

How to Start?

I understand that a person may need to exceed certain income or net-worth thresholds to adopt this mentality. But regardless of the circumstances, here are some generic actions anyone can take:

1. Nurture your competences and career
2. Adopt prudent personal finance habits
3. Learn to invest and remain curious

Note: this is not about developing Stockholm syndrome for a particular cult, government, or employer.

This is about accepting your human nature!

I can’t dislike what I do, my investments, nor being useful. I actually love it! I get an infinite return on my productivity, the proceeds of which I use to acquire more assets, allowing me to do even more of what I love!

It’s a liberation.

And if you think about it, this mindset is for everyone living in a democracy. Regardless of the hand you’re dealt.

Accept it and improve your life in the long run.

Discard it to enjoy today, and you’ll suffer in the future.

Those are the facts.

And that’s it. Now stop reading articles on the subject of “doing what you love”. They’ll just make you more anxious because most one dimensional authors aren’t even giving a solution. And please don’t list your passions and write ideas how to earn from them. You’re after that sweet purhcasing power, not the obligation to work for it – most people already have that. After you set up a financial safety net, you can explore more exciting opportunities.

So, at the beginning I promised a short answer to the question…

And finally:

TLDR How to Do What You Love?

Simple: embrace free-market capitalism.

Congratulations, you won’t feel like a victim ever again.

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