"Do what you love, and money will follow"

[Sizzling Berry]

I think it's useful to find something you are good at. Then you are going to love it. And then it's good to check who may be willing to pay for that .

 

[kyuuei]

Soo much negativity in here..

I think the saying is true, it's just a shortened version of the story. A bit idealistic sounding and flowery, but no one says "I love my kids!" without secretly knowing that those kids have also pissed them off to the point that they're at their wits end. But that's not the story they tell, is it? Because the story is an overview.. Overall, them being pissed off doesn't invalidate their love.

Same here.. Having to figure out how to make what you love work for you doesn't invalidate that doing so will grant you money and the ability to do what you love. Find what you love, and figure out a way to do that as a career. The saying completes itself that way. If what you love is having the evenings to yourself, maybe a simple 9-5 job is ideal. If you like to travel, maybe having a seasonal job gives you the time to do so. You find jobs based on what you need. If you love money, then you're going to go to medical school or something.

If you like to sit on your ass all day, you need to find a job that allows you to do that. I.E. Maybe you'd be ideal monitoring cameras as a security officer.

"If there's a will, there's a way" is a saying that might be more appropriate to say though. I think it fits the situation better.

 

[lunalum]

The saying I've heard from every school guidance counselor, ever: "Do what you love, and money will follow."

Right now I'm trying to nail down a potential area of study, so I was wondering, does this work? Or does it only work if you have an affinity for engineering and biochemistry?

That saying is oversimplified. It's really "Do what you love, put a ton of energy into developing it, and transform it into an impressive product or service, and money will follow" but that doesn't have the same ring to it...

 

[Orangey]

That saying is oversimplified. It's really "Do what you love, put a ton of energy into developing it, and transform it into an impressive product or service, and money will follow" but that doesn't have the same ring to it...

Or, "Do what you love if it's something that's profitable, put a ton of energy into developing it, and transform it into at least a mildly impressive product or service, and transform yourself into a ruthless salesman/capitalist, and money will follow."

It's a fantasy. By the time you're making money, it will no longer be the thing you loved. It will have transformed into something different and uglier than it was before. And that's even assuming that you can get to that point in the first place.

 

[omglookitsagoat]

It's probably best to find a balance between what you love and what makes money. Fortunately, I have a wide range of interests. I researched jobs, listed all the ones that sounded interesting or potentially enjoyable to me, then picked the highest paying on that list. I figured that way I could enjoy it to some extent (I hope), but still make a decent living. My advice would be to do the same.

I'm in college working on prerequisites for my bachelors while I finish 2 other associates degrees. (There are a LOT of prerequisites I need to take sequentially, so I might as well get a few degrees while I work on them). The associates degrees I'm working on are graphic design and web development because they're enjoyable to me. I plan to get a bachelors in either computer science or software engineering with a minor in marketing.

I chose that field for my bachelors because I was interested in web design and development. The development pays more than the design, so if I like both anyway, I might as well do the development because the pay rate is higher. I did some research online and noticed that most job listings for web developers stated that the employer preferred someone with a degree in computer science, so I decided to get that degree. I may also consider software engineering as a profession if I do well in computer science. My goal is to be good at both development and user-interface design.

I do need to be very good at math in order to be successful in a computer science or software engineering field. Math was not my favorite subject in high school, but I plan to work extremely hard when I take the prerequisites to improve my mathematical abilities.

 

[Elfboy]

I don't need to survive on the streets, hunt for my own food or work a 60 minimum wage job to know that this the most BS, delusional quote I've ever come across. you get a job so you can survive, not the other way around. anyone who believes this needs reality to pimp slap them

 

[FDG]

Generally though it's better to never tell anyone about your goals, if they are even a tiny bit unrealistic. Otherwise you'll be bombarded either with bombastic over-positive advice, or with constant put-downs, etc. etc. - especially true for your family members.

 

[fripping]

somehow my dream of doing what i love and being paid for it always ends up in a mental image of getting arrested.

"do what you can tolerate, and some barely livable amount of money may or may not follow."

 

[slowriot]

The saying I've heard from every school guidance counselor, ever: "Do what you love, and money will follow."

Right now I'm trying to nail down a potential area of study, so I was wondering, does this work? Or does it only work if you have an affinity for engineering and biochemistry?

The only way you'll ever be a succesful entrepeneur is loving what you do. The only way to be content with your job as an employee, is not looking at the money you make, but how well you fit in to the organization on a day to day basis, and how driven you are to make the company succeed (i.e. how your aspirations fit with the companies ambitions). Something a lot of entrepeneurs dont understand, since they think the only drive for their employees is making tons of cash.

What line of work you'll educate yourself as should be seen from the perspective of visiting potential companies you would work for after graduating. You'll never get any idea of what it means to be a specific title from learning the theory in school. It can be very different from how you idealized the work you wanted to do in real life. Look into 3-4 potential titles, then visit different companies, make a list of what you find to be important for you in the long term to be succesful/driven to succed in a business, look at the positives and negatives from your visits, then pick the one you find to fit you best.

A bonus to this is that you would begin your professional networking even before you started your studies.

 

[mujigay]

somehow my dream of doing what i love and being paid for it always ends up in a mental image of getting arrested.

"do what you can tolerate, and some barely livable amount of money may or may not follow."

You should be a high school guidance counselor. You'd be a hell of a lot more useful to the kiddoes, that's for sure.

 

[fripping]

You should be a high school guidance counselor. You'd be a hell of a lot more useful to the kiddoes, that's for sure.

maybe not, it's probably better if the students don't just lie down and wait for death.

 

[Jaq]

i love sitting on my ass all day. where are you money???

 

[Not_Me]

I was always told the opposite, "Make money and you will be able to do what you love". The truth is somewhere in between.

 

[Lily flower]

I was told the same thing and it is absolutely not true. Careers in the human services field, like teaching are especially underpaid. I do think it is good advice to do what you love, but if you are concerned about income, you might want to direct your passions in the direction of a viable career. For instance, if you love the visual arts, you might want to get a job drawing ads for a corporation as your day job, and then do the more creative stuff on the side. That ensures you have income and you also get to be in a field that is related to what you love. Hopefully your creative stuff will take off and you can eventually quit your day job and focus solely on your art.

 

[FireShield98]

I was always told the opposite, "Make money and you will be able to do what you love". The truth is somewhere in between.

That's what my physics teacher (who is a millionaire and teaches only because he enjoys teaching) tells us. If you're smart enough and work hard enough, you'll make money so then you can do what you want rather than worrying about making enough money. Of course, if something you love is also something that pays well, you're really lucky.

 

[violaine]

The thread title isn't true without caveats. Not at all. I think it's more appropriately applied to maintaining motivation over the span of your working life. The motivation needed to get your butt out of bed every single work day to go make that living. So much easier if you enjoy your work. People also apply themselves more readily to a task they enjoy because it doesn't feel like work. Therefore, better, more natural chance of making advancement.

(My general advice is more along the lines of: If you want to be happy, don't get caught having to spend significant parts of your working life doing something you dislike. Even if it's lucrative. An overabundance of money will bring a certain freedom, yes. But that won't satisfy the deepest parts of many people later in life if it's something they hate doing.

And channel your coinage correctly. Save it up so that you have options, so that you don't have to do things you don't love most of the time or when you are older. Avoid mindless consumerism. "Oh, you needed those shoes in all three colors?" *concludes person is silly/brainwashed by marketers/insecure/wasting their life*)

*tangent* Interesting link between materialism and, amongst other things, marital dissatisfaction and narcissism: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/resolution-not-conflict/201110/do-more-things-bring-less-love

 

[ICUP]

I think the counsellors are just trying to help you find yourself. Do what you're naturally meant to do. Such as, an istp is a good mechanic. Don't pick money first, because you won't be happy. "Do what you love [are naturally meant to enjoy and be good at], and the money will follow [you will naturally be a good competitor, and possibly become great, and of course, be rewarded monetarily]." They're just trying to guide in the right direction, not solve all of your practical problems lol......They didn't say "do what you love, and you will get rich". I suppose it just means you can make money doing what you love, not necessarily get rich.

I've found that there is some truth to it, over the years.

 

[wildcat]

The saying I've heard from every school guidance counselor, ever: "Do what you love, and money will follow."

Right now I'm trying to nail down a potential area of study, so I was wondering, does this work? Or does it only work if you have an affinity for engineering and biochemistry?

Do what your client loves, and money will follow.
If you do not have a client, forget it.

 

[entropie]

First thing that came to mind involved cocaine and prostitutes.

Second thing that came to mind said: never believe school teachers, they havent seen a bit of the World

 

[Sanctus Iacobus]

I think both ways are about the same. One you take out sleep and necessary chores from the time you have in a week, you'll have about the same amount of time at work as you do away from work. Work does take up the part of the day that is most valuable, though, IMO. You could do what you don't like to make money and enjoy the time you do have (work to live) or only do work that you enjoy and hope to find a way to get paid for it (live to work and enjoy it). Chances are you'll have less money for the time you're not working.

Ultimately I think the solution is to not couple your love and enjoyment with money, because there are diminishing returns on the pleasures money brings (trust me on this one) while working because of love is something you enjoy every time, which is sort of what I think this advice is trying to get at.