David Sacks, founder of Yammer, wrote in a recent article in November’s Inc. Magazine that he believes that if you have a hobby that you are in absolute love with then it should be your job. He says:
I don’t believe in hobbies – if you are really passionate about something it should be your job.
Fascinating take and many of you may disagree with him but I have found what he says to be very true and I believe that many of us want to head in that direction – we want our hobbies, some of which provide great value and personal satisfaction, to also be our full time job.
The thing is that most people don’t want to consider it a J.O.B. so I liken it to simply being this: A source of income that can sustain your needs.
Do you believe this to be possible for you and your hobbies? One of the challenging questions for us as bloggers is this: Is blogging, as a hobby today, something that you are truly, 100% passionate about? Or is it something that you really enjoy (on the side) but not something that you’d admit to being “that thing” that really drives you daily?
The reason I ask is because most “hobby bloggers” that may eventually turn to monetization are not truly passionate about their craft to a point of being a job, which is fine as long as their financial expectations are understood and accepted. As a result you really can’t expect to become a professional blogger because you simply won’t put in the time as a hobby blogger to get to the financial level that’ll allow you to do it full time.
Are you setting your expectations too high? Are you shooting for the wrong goals? Are you fooling yourself and not allowing yourself to pursue other passions and interests that might yield something vastly more satisfying and/or more income? A fear of mine is that more bloggers are headed in the wrong direction when they could be spending time otherwise in more and better places.
My point is this: I simply don’t want to waste my time working in areas that won’t yield the greatest results, in areas that I’m not passionate about, and in areas that won’t provide for my family. Can we be so bold as to look for a better solution than what we currently have? Can we be brave enough to say that what we are currently doing is not enough? Can we admit that we’re not fully satisfied?
It might just be the first step toward a new career-hobby.
Loved this and needed this. I know 100% I would love to make my passion my job but havent figured out the monetorization direction. Since my passion is spiritual in nature versus a “business” solution, I do struggle with this, mightily! I know what I want to do just not sure how to do it and provide. Been praying to know what tents I am to be making. Great post, thank you!
sure thing tom! sometimes the solution is simply patience and time. that’s tough for a lot of us though!
“My point is this: I simply don’t want to waste my time working in areas that won’t yield the greatest results, in areas that I’m not passionate about, and in areas that won’t provide for my family.” ~John Saddington
This, Sir, is a GREAT statement!
~Ivan
this is important and an excellent topic John. We have to follow our gifts from God, He puts the passion in us and what better way to pursue that than through our work.
chris,
totally agree. not everyone will find that perfect balance (not sure there is one) but we can pursue it and see where it leads!
Hmmm, not quite sure where I stand on this. I certainly want to spend a lot of time with what I’m passionate about, but I also know that there have been times when I spend too much time on what I’m passionate about and I begin to lose my passion for it.
That’s not always the case, but it has happened before. I think that I’m a person who likes “change.”
As a Christian, I would love to be able to work full-time in ministry and impact people for the gospel, both face-to-face and over the internet. And the beauty is that whether I eat or I drink, I should be doing it all for the glory of God.
charles,
you add another layer of complexity and nuance the moment you consider ministry and the church and religious motives.
that’s a good thing for those that need to consider it! thanks for the great perspective!
Loved the article. I know I have pursued work in the past based on monetary and a momentary liking. Those desires slowly fizzled and so did the income.
now isn’t this the truth. seriously.
Joe, it’s really amazing how we sometimes pursue monetary “joy” and then when we finally achieve it, we find it to be lacking.
My passion is not necessarily blogging, but building a platform is essential to do the things I am passionate about – worship ministry, creating music, and teaching.
So I blog. I also play piano – quite poorly, but good enough for songwriting.
Developing blogging chops reminds me of learning to play the piano, I liked playing piano, hated taking piano lessons.
oh yeah! piano was not my favorite after school activity.
You play piano? Do you keep up with it?
ah man, no way.. haven’t played in years….!
I really enjoyed this. Makes me think. Sometimes it seems I almost have competing passions. I love to blog, but I’m still such a newbie at it, I’m not sure if my passion for it will wear soon or not. I guess time will tell.
time will tell for sure. keep at it!