James Schramko here addressing the age-old question: do you have to work in an area that you’re passionate about? Some people say follow your passion and it will take care of itself. Don’t chase money. Other people say just chase the money and be passionate about making profit. Maybe there’s somewhere in the middle.
One of the most popular podcasts I’ve ever done was on the subject of Ikigai, and that is a saying the Japanese use, but it’s more or less a philosophy of doing what you love but also what you’re good at that the world needs that you can get paid for, and that’s the ideal and you may not get there straightaway but you can certainly move there in the midterm and definitely the long term as you get more power and traction and resource and confidence. You can start doing what you really, really love and finding a way to get paid for it because you have an audience and you’ve got traction.
In the beginning, I probably didn’t really, really love website development software or SEO and that’s how I got my foot in the door when it came to online business. But over time, I migrated towards working with people I really want to work with, learning the things that I really want to learn about and stop doing the things that don’t make me so excited anymore.
And these days, I definitely have enough time to go surfing every day and follow passion projects and enjoyable things like writing books. So, you can get there eventually. Don’t expect it on day one but it’s most definitely realistic in the midterm.
Thanks James! That is a question that I’ve been pondering about and recently changed my focus from SEO work back to what I’m really passionate about which is being creative and sharing insights with people about wellbeing and personal development. In doing so, I am feeling happier, getting feedback that my art is a special gift and my workshops are life changing. I really enjoyed your Ikigai article!
Balance is good!
Great post and very timely. I believe finding the middle ground is hard because it is easy to be in a rush to get somewhere.