Avoid the crap of following your passion and live to enjoy what you love!
“I want to convert my passion to my profession," people say.
Let me tell you that this idea is not as shiny as it looks.
Social media has planted so many crap and bull shit ideas about materialistic things that every person wants to leave 9 to 5 job and start following a passion.
What is your passion? And how do you know it?
Is it something that inspired you by looking at someone’s lifestyle or success?
It’s so uncool to not have any aspirations to become an entrepreneur, isn’t it?
But nobody will tell you the hardships that you will face while following your passion.
No matter what you do, you will always have to work hard to achieve the desired results and stay ahead of your competitors. After all, it’s a business once you convert your passion to a profession.
No wonder, you will love to do that more than your regular job but we cannot ignore the fact that it will take time as well as patience.
Getting passionate and working as a professional has a thin line — self-satisfaction
Example:
Many people love to sing occasionally in front of their loved ones or in small parties. They really enjoy it because there is no pressure of perfection.
As soon as they try to you sing at a professional level, they will be expected to cater to the market demand, music labels, director’s orders, and most importantly the deadline.
Hobby = Self-satisfaction
Profession = Self satisfaction + demand + money
I have not even mentioned the technical aspects of singing that are required to sing at a professional level.
Bathroom singers simply cannot enjoy professional singing because of the external pressure created by contracts as well as their listeners.
Why are you not told to enjoy the process?
As soon as I try to do something professionally, I will need to focus on the technicalities of that skill.
Example:
I love playing football but what I join a professional football club? It’s obvious that playing football with a bunch of friends and playing a professional tournament are two completely different things.
That will probably make me leave it completely. And I would rather stop playing that in my free time.
Can you imagine the blunder?
The only thing that you used to love doing in your free time has been converted into your profession.
After focusing on all the technical aspects of that skill and finally turning it into your profession, you would probably not know it in your free time because you have been doing that all day.
What next?
You are not left with any hobby now.
Probably you might start doing something else but again you will try to monetize it because that’s your nature.
Since you have been constantly nurtured with an idea that you need to convert your hobby into a profession. Now you will never settle on one specific hobby that you would do in your free time without expecting any monetary gains from it.
What’s the solution?
Avoid looking at everything as a money-making machine and start enjoying the process for yourself.
Don’t ask people about their passion. Ask what they exactly enjoy doing in their free time.
Do you remember this conversation from the famous movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara?
“Kaam kya karte hai aap?” (What do you do for a living?)
Imraan Qureshi — Mai Likhta Hoon! (I write)
Salman Habib — Kya? (What?)
Imraan Qureshi — Advertising me copywriter hoon (I am a copywriter in advertising)
Salman Habib (laughs)— Advertising me to jo likhte hai wo dusro ke liye. Jaise ki ye painting Maine banayi hai dusro ke liye. Apne liye bhi kuch likhte ho?
(Writing copy for ads is like a buffet for the masses. For instance, this painting that I made is for someone else. Do you write anything to feed your soul?)
In an attempt to get rid of the rat race, people have already started getting into the rat race of following the passions.
Think about it.
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