Self-help books for generations have taught us, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
I think this is overrated. Or at least overstated.
My qualm is not with the quote at face value but with how it's normally interpreted: as a free pass to aimlessly pursue activities of pleasure and call it a career once you're 22 or older. The only thing more fun than chasing your passion is financial stability. And let me be clear: by "financial stability," I don't mean having a seismic savings account and a portfolio buttoned-up with low-cost ETFs. I just mean having the money to do things when you want to do them, whether that's traveling, going to concerts with friends, or buying a lot of books. Financial stability is freedom, and although I'm only 22, that sounds pretty fun to me.
I still think everyone should "choose a job they love." That phrase should just be adapted to say, "Choose a job you love and that pays enough to live the life you wanna live." If you think your life is hell with a boring job, try out your life when you can't pay your rent and stress about money every ten minutes.
And sometimes I truly believe that if you love a hobby enough, it should stay a hobby. There will always be an exception for those who truly cannot imagine themselves doing anything else for a living, but that's alright because the people with that level of drive are bound for success anyways. For the rest of us, making something your career will likely ruin it at some point or another. You'll get sick of the work. You'll get sick of catering to other people's needs. You'll lose the magic and innocence that got you interested in the hobby in the first place. Losing that magic is almost never worth it.
But being a bohemian and denouncing corporate work is not freedom. Having financial stability is freedom.
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