Be A Renegade, Do What You Love and Earn Money

Is it always possible for people to do what they love and earn their living? The answer to this question is this was not possible earlier. But the situation has changed dramatically, thanks to the advent of the Internet. This means it is now possible to do what you love and earn your living. Let us have a look.

You may have always loved playing basketball. But if you are above 50, have less mobility and are overweight, you can not pursue this wish and earn your living.  But a person with a similar desire used his out-of-the-box thinking to monetize his passion. He designed video games based on basketball and instead of playing the games himself and whiling away his time, he used his vast knowledge of the games by offering e-books and high-demand info-products. This helped him earn millions.

Another case-study is that of an electrician who could monetize his professional knowledge. He launched his website as well as a blog to provide people with Do-It-Yourself advice by answering electrical-related queries.

But unshackling yourself from your "conventional" chains and adopting such an approach is very difficult. Apart from facing a lot of ridicule, you run the risk of being called a renegade also. You must decide to brush aside such ridicules and turn your secret passion into a "monetizable" idea.

But you may face two barriers. The first barrier is the human mind has been conditioned not to adopt unconventional methods. Secondly, you may face the highly powerful barrier called "inertia." This powerful force may be preventing you from taking action. You may therefore be shelving turning your passion and ideas into "monetizable" concepts.

In fact, there can not be a better time than now for leveraging your passion-related knowledge to earn money. You have to just find where your passion intersects with what the market wants and work on it.

In short, this renegade approach will certainly help you pursue what you love and earn your living.

Is Following Your Passion To Choose Your Career A Good Advice?

When you ask someone for advice about your career, the standard advice you may get is that you must follow your passion while making your choice. Experts have now come to the conclusion that this can be the worst career advice because it may not work.

Do you know why this standard advice fails very often? The main reason is you may have interest in many things but none of them may stand out. Likewise, you may have capabilities in many things but none of them may be worth mentioning. Other reasons may be you may have a notion that you do not possess any abilities or it is not possible for you to identify a career that blends your skills, values and interests. Contrary to this, you may identify a number of careers that may involve your interests, skills and values. The last reason may be the skills and interests you have are so common that you may want a highly popular career.

Ironically, even if you identify a career that fulfills all these aspects and you land in a job in that particular career, there is no guarantee that you will have career contentment. Even if you are paid well, you may not be treated properly. So, you may have landed in your 'dream' career but still you may be an unhappy person. Therefore, following your passion may not be a cool advice.

What is the solution?

For having career contentment, people in general look for certain non-negotiables. Some of them are the job you land in is not very hard and at the same time, is not very easy also, the company where you choose to work makes you feel worthy as well as ethical, the boss of the organization treats you properly, you are able to get on well with your coworkers and more importantly, the organization provides you with many good opportunities for learning. Further, the work hours, the pay and the benefits of the job should be reasonably good. Above all, you must have job security and the commute to the workplace must not be very harsh.

You may have many jobs that fulfill all these non-negotiables. It is better you choose one of these jobs instead of looking for a job in which you have passion and interest. It is not that you have to give up your passions or dreams. You can pursue them as hobbies.

In short, status, pursuing passion and coolness seem to be the enemies of career contentment. But it is certain non-negotiables are the best friends of career contentment.