It’s an interesting question and like most interesting questions—there’s not always a black and white answer. An underlying thought as we discussed this concept was flexibility—in your thinking, approach, and planning.
There are a few different ways to approach the concept of following a career path that “feeds your soul”:
Are there ways that you can tap into your creativity, skill set, or passion outside of work? Be honest with yourself: how consuming is your passion? Can you get enough creative “juice” from singing karaoke, choir, etc as opposed to focusing on singing full-time?
Is there overlap in what you love to do and what might be a steady career path? For instance—if you are a creative person who is passionate about writing, it may be worth thinking beyond “I’ll be a poet!” or “I’ll be an author!” to consider that many different types of industries need talented, creative writers to help tell their stories, and often someone with a bit of outside perspective can breathe new life into a firm.
Look for cues within your passion—what do you love MOST about this hobby you want to pursue? If you love acting, is there an opportunity to “take the stage” as a corporate trainer? If you love art, can you lend your eye to enhance corporate design?
Enthusiasm without a Reality Check is just Expensive
You can be the most passionate person in the world—but you need someone to keep you grounded as you think through your dreams. And it all goes back to balance—you need people who can give you emotional support and encouragement (family?) as well as outside experts who can share some tough love. Look for people that are in the industry you want to get into, chat with them, see if there is a report…and if so, ask them if they will be part of your personal focus group.
And don’t underestimate the utter importance of a solid business plan. It should include milemarkers: at month one, I need to have these things in place. At month three, I need to be at this level of development, with these signs of success. Jumping in two feet with great excitement and hoping for the best is not the way to go.
Advice for your Kids
BE FLEXIBLE. Try to see how your passion fits into a number of different careers; don’t rule out financial services because “I hate math, numbers are boring” without considering a career in corporate design. Event planning. Copywriting. Thinking narrowly about only one path is unnecessarily limiting. Especially these days—with AI, there isn’t any “safe career” so try to develop skills that are multi-use.
There’s that platitude that “If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.” Sounds good on a motivational poster, but may not apply to real life. But if you can look into yourself at WHY you are passionate about something, you may be able to figure out a way to make sure you can inject at least SOME of what you do into your work.