On The Job
Do What You Love and Starve
Forget the inspirational mumbo jumbo. In reality, following your passion can be a risky career move.
By Marty Nemko, Contributing Columnist, Kiplinger.com
December 6, 2007
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If the personal growth industry had a motto, it would be "Follow your passion" or "Do what you love and the money will follow."
Sure, if your passion is a rare one, like entomology, or even a moderately common one like accounting, money may follow. But if you are like the many people whose passion is shared by half the continent -- for example, activist or performer -- you're in trouble. Millions of people are competing passionately with you for the small number of decent-paying jobs. That's the reason the word "starving" so often precedes "artist."
Following your dream isn't all it's cracked up to be. Fact is, most wannabes aren't happy. In addition to the constant rejection, they feel unproductive. And when hired, they worry that they're just one wrong word from being unemployed again.
Even if you manage to land a longshot dream career, it may well turn out to be less than dreamy. You may be treated poorly: low salary, no job security, unreturned phone calls, etc. That's because bosses know they have little to lose. Coveys of wannabes are in the wings panting for your job. I've spoken with hundreds of people in so-called dream careers and often they're less happy than are people in more mainstream ones. If being a movie star is so wonderful, for example, why does it seem that half of them are in and out of rehab?
Keys to career contentment
My advice? Unless you're a driven superstar, pick a non-glam career that you'd be good at. Then do a competent job search so you have multiple job offers. Pick the one offering as many of these characteristics as possible:
- Moderately challenging
- Meaningful work
- A kind, competent boss
- Pleasant co-workers
- Learning opportunities
- Reasonable pay
- Reasonable work hours
- A short commute
A job with even half of those will make you more likely to love your job than if you had pursued a longshot career. Learn more about how to choose the right job for you.
Sometimes, finding career contentment is simply a matter of diving into whatever job is available. Gary had graduated from Michigan State with no clue what he wanted to do. His cousin told him that a job was open in a dashboard manufacturing plant. He wasn't passionate about dashboards; who is? But he was tired of living on his parents' sofa, so he took the job. Because he was bright and curious, he asked lots of questions and soon he became the go-to guy on the factory floor. Soon after that, he got a promotion and a raise. Before he knew it, he felt passionate about his career.
Feeling expert at something -- even something as mundane as dashboards -- and being recognized for that expertise, is more likely to create career passion than going after a lottery-odds career.
All the pleasure, none of the pain
Still hankering for that longshot passion? Do it as a hobby. Mine is acting. Because I act in community theatre, I'm not competing with pros so I can land good roles fairly easily -- I've gotten four in the last two years. That gives me pleasure that most professional actors never get; most of them don't get as many good roles in a decade.
Can't stomach relegating your longshot passion to hobby status? Give it a fixed amount of time, more or less depending on how much more training you'll likely need to reveal your professional potential. Circle that date on your calendar. By then, if you're starting to earn even a subsistence living from your passion, great. But if not, it may be time to accept that your longshot dream isn't your career; it's your sure-shot hobby.
Perpetuated myth
How did we buy the hype that if you do what you love, the money will follow? Whether it's Oprah, The Big Idea, or most other media, they're selling the dream. Being realistic isn't inspiring; it doesn't yield ratings. So, when you see some actress, athlete, or corporate titan crowing, "I did it. You can too," remember that for every one of them, there are thousands of wannabes still waiting tables whom the media would never feature.
Career counselors and publications deserve some blame too. They too are endlessly spewing the "Do What You Love" mantra. Oh, how I wish career gurus were held to the same standard as physicians. If a doctor prescribed a treatment that required years and a fortune without disclosing the tiny odds of it working, he'd be sued and lose in any court of the land. Yet career gurus urge people to follow their dreams with no mention of odds, and suffer no reprisals when, years later, their customers are still in McJobs.
Perhaps the best career advice I can give you is to paraphrase singer Stephen Stills: If you can't do the work you love, love the work you do.
Marty Nemko (bio) is a career coach and author of Cool Careers for Dummies.
Reader Comments (50)
Posted by: Chris at 12/06/2007 02:49:11 AM
This article really hit home for me. Thanks!
Posted by: Mair at 12/06/2007 10:38:48 AM
Finally someone is exposing the myth of passion for your job. Thank you! Thank you! Neither my husband nor I were ever "passionate" about our jobs but we both managed to have a career and a reasonable income. In the end, that income was pretty important and in retirement enables us to enjoy our "passions".
Posted by: Bud at 12/06/2007 11:05:48 AM
Refreshing advice! Thank you.
Posted by: Nomen at 12/06/2007 11:32:27 AM
While I agree with your article, it leaves out a large segment of the "Do What You Love and Starve" population. These are people that work for the good and welfare of their fellow man. It takes a special kind of person to do these self-sacrificing jobs and I admire them greatly. Most of us don't have the emotional strength or will for this kind of service ,but we can all contribute by donating to worthwhile public or church related charities.
Posted by: Lance at 12/06/2007 11:49:40 AM
I found this article to be quite depressing. A lot of people need to try and see if they can make it. They either learn from their failure or feel better for at least trying. They can get a boring career like the author suggests after trying to achieve excellence. If all people thought like this author, we would be missing a lot of great talent that makes this country great. I'm sorry, but that book title is just atrocious.
Posted by: mimi at 12/06/2007 11:52:30 AM
Thank you for having common sense! It's about time that someone put this into writing in a highly public place, after all the nonsense about "following your passion", since so many of these "passions" totally disregard practical considerations such as supply and demand. "Following a passion" is apt to not pay one's light bill.
Posted by: Cody at 12/06/2007 11:59:25 AM
Whenever I hear someone on TV utter the "do what you love and the money will follow" cliche, it reminds me of when I was single and whenever a friend would get a new girl he'd throw out the "there's someone out there for you too" line. Ugh. Patronizing for sure. The people that say "do what you love..." are the people it has worked for. You don't hear from the ones who've failed, because they've moved on.
Here's my advice... take a crack at doing what you love when you can. You owe yourself at least one shot at it so that you won't go on in a "consolation career" with a big "what if" in your mind, thus making you despise the runner-up even more.
Set up some boundaries before jumping in, such as 'how long are you willing to try (and eat Top Ramen along the way)?', 'What is your minimum pay expectation for that career?', or simply 'what are you willing to sacrifice?'.
Then go for it, hard. Work your rear off so that you can't look back and say 'If I had only....'. And if you don't succeed and find yourself in something less grand, I guarantee you it will feel much happier with it once you've already attempted your dream career.
Posted by: Paul at 12/06/2007 01:36:07 PM
This column contradicted itself so many times that I gave up on finishing it. Apparently no one at Kiplinger is passionate about editing!
Posted by: Gene at 12/06/2007 01:51:02 PM
Sorry Marty but I’m not buying it – especially from one who seems to be pushing his own agenda. I ask you, “How do you know what you know?” Was it from your own observations of the people who are drawn to your ideology? Is there some government report that tells you wannabes aren’t happy? Could it be that you simply found the people who support your theory as justification for that theory?
Passion drives life. Doing what you love drives success. Being optimistic about life’s possibilities is what gets us up in the morning.
It is the mediocre life that is driven by the safe assumption that, “I’ll never make it so, I’ll settle for whatever is second.” I wonder to whom to you offer such career counseling. Does the world really need yet another person to fill the countless mediocre jobs that allow us to live our mediocre lives?
Posted by: Mark at 12/06/2007 02:48:30 PM
I couldn't agree more. I work in a place that is loaded with people who majored in music, art, history, philosophy, (in other words; their passions) etc., who are struggling in a low-paying clerical job and mad at the world because of it. They are 40 years old and struggling to make rent. If you love to sing, volunteer with a choral group on the weekends. At the end of the day, one still has to have a place to live, keep warm, and eat; not to mention salt away something for retirement.
Posted by: John at 12/06/2007 03:55:45 PM
Ya know, I understand what you are trying to say here, but I gotta tell you that I have tried to ignore my dream for so long and I have never been happy doing every other thing there is out there to do. And yes I've had "good" jobs. I've moved up in position on those jobs. But I have never been satisfied. In fact I have been more unhappy.
So now I am going for it. I know that I am a good enough artist that it will pay off sometime. I'm still working a "regular job", too though, at least for now.
Posted by: Mary at 12/06/2007 05:50:50 PM
Thank you!! The thing that most "successful" people forget is that along with their talent, risk taking and sweat equity, it took a bit of LUCK to become successful... whether it was the right person giving them a chance, their health, their risk taking paid off, they had someone supporting them emotionally or financially... Looking down on those who are less fortunate or labeling them untalented or undeserving is a result of this memory loss. Once people get over the idea that "everyone" can do it if they work at it, people will feel better about not having their fantasies of a dream career or anything else fulfilled.
Posted by: Don at 12/06/2007 08:08:43 PM
love the article! straight-talk and heavy-doze of reality!
Posted by: Misha at 12/06/2007 09:23:04 PM
Oh, come on!!! Nemko runs his own business, and he can swear up and down that it WAS NOT because of his PASSION for helping people get jobs and strong desire to own his own company he is happy and succesul?! I don't see him working in a cubicle for a dead-end job, do you?
Posted by: Heidi at 12/06/2007 09:41:05 PM
Thanks for writing a great article that really does make sense. Whenever I watch a show like Oprah that talks of following your dream, it always makes me feel like I've failed in someway.
I'm an insurance exec. I didn't plan on doing insurance but it was my first real job. I tried to get out once but it drew me back -- there always seems to be a job someplace in insurance, the benefits are usually good, you can work in a nice environment and I've been able to have a nice lifestyle for myself and my family. It's nice to dream and it's not to say if you have incredible passion AND the talent, that you shouldn't go for it but the older you get, the more responsibilities the have, the less able you are to take the risk of losing everything and providing for your family. There is a lot to be said about job stability.
Posted by: Al at 12/06/2007 11:20:27 PM
Hey Marty, does this mean that you'll no longer be writing career advice columns and instead will be pursuing a job where you're the "go to guy" in a dashboard factory?
Posted by: Samoht at 12/07/2007 12:11:13 AM
Eureka! Thank you for sayng this so clearly! I've been spouting this for years everytime I hear that BS about "do what you love..." Do you know how many utterly talentless musician-singer-songwriters are out there thinking how much passion they have for their "art", just knowing that BIG break is right around the corner? 99.9999% will go right down the tubes and soon be selling newspapers under the freeway. If everyone followed his dream, where would we all be? Who would we count on to dream of being a garbage collector?? Get a good education, get a job doing something real, be good at it, and passionately finance your dream as a hobby. THANKS!
Posted by: Jeff Atlee at 12/07/2007 06:32:00 AM
I totally agree. My great passion has always been movies. The important thing is that I realized that the job market in movies (especially in South Africa)is very small. So instead of choosing my job based upon my passion, I chose it based upon my competence and my wishes. I chose a field with a massive market and I believe that the freedom I will gain by doing the service that I perform will more than make up for the lack of a blockbuster movie on my resume
Posted by: Will at 12/07/2007 07:32:45 AM
I think this commentary is really depressing and only really applies to those people for whom their "passion" is in one of these low density careers. What about the people who have the great corporate jobs, but really want to be cops or firefighters or Marines. If you think that's uncommon, it's not. My wife currently has a "fantasic career opportunit" type job working on Capitol Hill for a congressman and is headed into work today to tell her boss she is quiting to go pursue her dream of being a paramedic. While I was in the Marine Corps I met several individuals who had given up other "successful" careers to become Marines. One was the head finance banker for the construction of the Wynn hotel in Vegas. Now he's enlisted in artillery. Another Sergeant who worked for me owned a chain of IHOPs. Another owned a successful coffee shop. There are plenty of passions out there that pay well. Just because yours doesn't doesn't mean they all don't and I think it's wrong for you to blanket discourage people from following their dreams. Happiness isn't always spelled with $$.
Posted by: Ree at 12/07/2007 10:20:27 AM
I agree with your article and with what Mair said. My husband and I have good jobs, the opportunity to pay for our kids college education, save for retirement, and mix in a little passion now. As retirement gets closer more passion will develop knowing our less passionate jobs have covered the bills. Thank you for your insight.
Posted by: Mike at 12/07/2007 01:21:26 PM
Couldn't have said it better myself. Work as hard as you can, for as long as you can, and make as much as you can. Then, hopefully, you can walk with no regrets and pursue your "passion".
Posted by: Rachel at 12/07/2007 04:34:35 PM
Since high school, I've known that I wanted to make a positive difference in the world. My dream was to one day be the CEO of the American Cancer Society or some equally awe-inspiring nonprofit. I worked hard. I got a business degree and sought out every education opportunity to learn more about the philanthropic sector. I got unpaid internships where I put in a hundred hours to host an event that raised $2000 in net profit. After college I found myself unemployed for six months, but refused to give up my dream and move home where my parents could find me a steady desk job I'd hate. Sure enough, as my checking account went into double digits, I landed my first dream job. I work for a wonderful nonprofit where I can go home at night and know that I've made a difference in the world. It's not glamorous- I stuff an awful lot of envelopes- but I love what I do and am passionate every day to go to work. I'm living my dream everyday and I would advise anyone to at least try to do the same.
Posted by: ivik at 12/07/2007 10:51:33 PM
I agree wholeheartedly with you, and if I were to add anything, it would be 'Know yourself'.
Posted by: Marian at 12/08/2007 08:13:04 AM
Finally, someone's telling it like really it is!
Posted by: Terry at 12/08/2007 12:16:43 PM
The problem with doing what you love is that when you do it for living it suddenly becomes like....work
Posted by: Kathy at 12/10/2007 01:07:10 PM
God bless you for being the ONE voice of reason I've heard on this subject, and not just mindlessly spouting the old pie-in-the-sky popular ideas.
Posted by: Amanda at 12/10/2007 01:32:35 PM
For years, I've said that if you try to turn your passion into a career, you'll end up hating it. There's nothing like trying to pay the bills on an almost nonexistent salary to make you more frustrated than ever!
Posted by: bj at 12/10/2007 04:37:11 PM
DO you have a comment for the too soon elderly? I got laid off a professional job, had had these jobs for twenty some years, and since I am fifty six am not getting jobs out of the many many many interviews in the last year and a half.
Posted by: Sonya at 12/11/2007 12:04:47 PM
Wonderful article! Thank you for presenting a balance between a passion and reality.
Posted by: Philip Barrett at 12/12/2007 01:09:06 PM
I'm one of those "luck"y people who has, what many would consider, a dream job. Much of your article is dead on, although comfortably successful in my chosen profession the road here was long, hard & not something I typically recommend. I often get the "I'd love to do what you do" questions & as you stated, I generally advise the passion as hobby not as career. On the other side though, I meet so many people utterly dissatisfied with their career paths & wishing they could wind the clock back to a time before commitments & events limited their choices.
Posted by: alex @ kazuum.com at 12/12/2007 01:40:16 PM
I wonder what the major points of failure are when people try to pursue their passions. It's definitely a matter of economics - if you want to do something and get paid for it- rock star, actor, and it's not much to get into the work, you're going to be a small fish swimming with a lot of other ones up the big river. -alex www.kazuum.com
Posted by: Ann at 12/12/2007 02:04:05 PM
Hah! If I had a nickel for every kid I worked with who complained about not being able to repay school loans on a $10/hr chef's wage.... I did follow my passion at a late age: loved being a pastry chef. Hated the extremely low pay, nasty working conditions. Now, even with stellar skills, I find it impossible to transition back into a clean, safe office job.
Posted by: kittenfoo at 12/12/2007 06:56:03 PM
I beg to differ. I became a freelance writer almost four years ago after over a decade in engineering, and nothing would make me go back, even though I only make about one-fourth what I used to. Sure, money is tight, but the satisfaction totally outweighs the low income.
Posted by: claire at 12/17/2007 02:59:26 PM
shame on you Marty, for...information that is ultimately saying take the safe job, not one you are passionate about...This article should be directed at artists and actors (since those jobs are the most high risk) and not the general public.
Posted by: successful writer at 12/18/2007 12:09:14 PM
Terrible advice, plain and simple. I've been on my own for 26 years now and would probably have been dead by from stress and unhappiness and other way. Obviously you've never had the experience of going after your dream and making it. I have.
Posted by: prince at 12/20/2007 02:23:19 PM
I agree - houses, kids, braces, cars, education, it all takes money - and how much retirement money does that (following your dream) stash away? Often you don't realize that you put youself in a hole until it is too late. I would like people to post their ages when they comment - we are approaching 55 and am very glad we did it this way. I tell my kids to take all of the careers that they are considering (that sounds appealing to them) and pick the one with the most growth and benefits.
Posted by: Mark at 12/21/2007 03:43:30 PM
The real test is how honest you are with yourself about your abilities in this dream career. Loving something is not good enough. You also have to be REALLY good at it because you'll be competing with lots of others who are REALLY good at it. If you love something and you HONESTLY think you are in the top echelon of talent for the field, then go for it. Otherwise, do it as a hobby and go for the good living and benefits.
Posted by: mysticaltyger at 12/22/2007 04:30:03 PM
For the most part, I agree. I remember reading an article about Annie Lennox (I love her!) where she said that commerical succes in the music biz is a lottery. I think the best advice you can give someone who is pursuing a career with lottery-like odds is: Live, eat, breathe your career until you're 30. Don't get too attached to anyone, don't get married, have kids, etc. If you haven't made any headway by age 30, then give it up for something more realistic.
Posted by: Eric at 12/24/2007 10:05:20 PM
I am a senior in college graduating this May in the social sciences field. I would agree with the article except I would stress the fact that although the tag line "Do what you love and the money will follow" may be false so would a tag line "Do what you're bad at and the money will follow". By this I mean that a person who is horrible at math, statistics and numbers should not become an accountant just becuase there is a need for accountants. It might be better for that person to go into a more competitive field such as education or journalism, if that is where they will be most productive to society in the long run, even if they have to flip burgers for a few years before they get their break.
Posted by: Larry at 12/24/2007 11:07:04 PM
I don't think that it is any coincidence that people make the same mistakes in their careers as they do in their pursuit of their most significant relationships. In both cases the deluded do not know the difference between true love and infatuation....they fall in love with the idea of being in a career, they become infatuated with it, without ever getting to understand themselves. This is puppy love. Sure puppy love sometimes works out, but it's the exception rather than the rule. Many people do love their work in the adult sense. They love the bad and good the highs and lows the messy details of the process just like one loves a significant other.
Posted by: geomish at 12/26/2007 01:34:59 PM
Thanks to the author for having the courage to write the truth. This is even more important now since college is so expensive...Yet people still dream of being marine biologists, architects and archeologists...Students and parents think debt is not just normal and acceptable, but preferable. Evidently Kiplinger readers are thoughtful and literate.
Posted by: Greg at 12/28/2007 12:21:21 PM
This is a well thought out article. I am an environmental scientist with a good career, but I would not recommend going to school in this field today. The competition for a job with a good salary and environmental basis is fierce. You can pursue your passion, but you must be willing to diversify. For example, you could become a professional engineer with an environmental emphasis. This would allow for a career change in the future should market conditions change or opportunities become available.
Posted by: Rita Ashley at 01/04/2008 02:03:22 PM
As a Job Search Coach I frequently remind my clients looking for the perfect job is like buying a new car; it is a used car as soon as you leave the lot. The job changes constantly, your needs and desires change as well. I counter the career coaches' mantra of "follow your bliss" with, get a job you can do successfully and find your bliss in your private life. Amazingly, many of my clients are relieved to accept the "almost perfect job."
Posted by: Ramay at 03/07/2008 02:53:20 PM
I agree with the article..I was one of those people that stayed away from my "passion" or dream job and focused on something more reasonable. Like majoring in business administration. I ended up working in banking...I am bored out of my mind. I am struggling just to stay focused. Sometimes I wonder if I should have followed my passion...maybe i won't feel so empty. I wanted to help people, maybe major in social work or psychology , but again I was hearing "oh those jobs don't pay well" People I didn't even know would stop me on the street and asked if i was a model. I thought about that...a hard career to get into so I backed out of that one. Now I'm too old to get into modeling. Most people don't know what they want to do with their life...they just do something to pay the bills, keep the lights on. I just want to feel alive and I feel depressed. I want to make a difference in peoples lives.
Posted by: josh at 04/28/2008 02:55:46 AM
you can either live your life as a cop out or do something that is meaningful. this article suggests people cop out...
Posted by: Jon at 05/22/2008 11:14:28 AM
Ramay, You have just written my biography. I'm in the same boat.
Posted by: JDF at 06/14/2008 08:31:06 PM
Ramay and others, You ARE helping people if you work at a bank. People use banks because they feel they need their services. As someone who doesn't personally kiss other people's boo-boos, I resent the ever-present implication that my work is self-serving and I'm not as good a person as the social worker. The world NEEDS people who do what we do to keep it running. What good would a surgeon be without a hospital? Congrats, construction workers, you are helping the sick. We all have our roles to play in keeping society running. If more people appreciated that, they'd be happier.
Posted by: Pablo Esparza at 11/20/2008 12:47:08 PM
You have written an article that I relate to to the tee. I have been acting for several years, but have never had my head up in the clouds. I know I am one in millions looking for the "opportunity" that may never come. However, I keep my restaurant business on the side to pay for my bills.
Posted by: Howdy at 12/30/2008 07:44:48 PM
Awww. Isn't that cute? Work hard! Bleed! Hate your life! It's all worth it for the almighty buck...
Posted by: Tony at 03/17/2009 01:36:12 AM
It's better to have loved and lost than not loved at all. Else you will try to do make up at the end of your life. Take the example of Bill Gates and Steve jobs. Bill is trying to make up by doing charity. I am not saying its bad, i'm saying "You don't need to make up if you love what you do"