Can you make a living at what you love? Probably not. But you have to do it anyway.

What you love is what you are gifted at. But can you make a living at it? Probably not. But you have to do it anyway.

Here's how.


I'm convinced that what you love is what you are gifted at. (I convinced Oprah too, some years ago. She liked what I said so much she repeated it on camera: "Say that again. No, let me say it: What you love is what you are gifted at," she grinned.)

I believe it still, more than ever.

When you love to do something, that's a message from your DNA showing what you're good at. Think about it: Horses can swim, but they don't do it unless they must. But from their earliest days, horses love to run even when they have no place to go. That's what they're designed to do, and it's a good thing they enjoy it, because those colts who didn't enjoy it got eaten before they could reproduce.

But can you earn your living doing what you love? Eventually, perhaps, if your gift is something people pay for by the time you get really good at it. But right away? Usually not. Don't invest in office furniture just yet. Unless what you love is finance and you're in a position to get into a top job, you almost certainly will not earn money at what you love for at least a few years, if then. Even with a gift you need time to practice and develop skill. (In fact, it's usually not a good idea to even try to earn money at what you love until you really know what you're doing.)  

But money or no money, you have to do what you love anyway. Why? I'll give you a link to a short video I made a few years ago that will explain why you must do what you love, but right now I want to tell you How. (I just smiled remembering that someone I admire greatly once called me her 'Hero of How.' )

What you need is a 'Good-Enough Job'
Do your best to find a job that doesn't drive you to drink, a job that isn't annoying or hateful and has as it's worst characteristic the fact that it isn't and will never be 'Enough.' That is, a life with only this job in it would be a life of despair. (If you already have that job, don't quit! Just start doing what you really love after work and on the weekends!)

You should call that job your 'Subsidy to the Arts.' Now you can do what you love on your own time, in your own way. You can explore and discover (or not discover), invent and fail (or succeed in your terms), with no one looking over your shoulder.

It's good to subsidize yourself. When you're creating something new you don't want to take orders from anyone. They rarely understand what you're doing. (Even you aren't 100% sure. )

So that's my message. I figure if it was good enough for Einstein, it's good enough for us.