Confusing personal and professional ambitions

There are countless bloggers who’d hate to be professional writers.

Which is why—when they’re not writing—they so often choose to make a living doing something else.

Before she started Brain Pickings, Maria Popova worked in advertising. Seth Godin did marketing. Brett Mckay was set to be a lawyer. Tim Urban did test-prep. And Peter Adeney was a software engineer.

I’m almost certain none of these ‘writers’ would enjoy writing for someone else. Cranking out long-form content and doing keyword research. They’re passionate about the the message, not the medium.

Alas. You too might find yourself in a similar situation. Confusing your personal ambitions with your professional ones, while slowly realizing that doing something on your own and getting paid to do it by someone are not entirely the same things.

Just because you enjoy doing something doesn’t always mean you should pursue it as a career choice. And just because you’ve found a way to make a living doing something doesn’t mean you have to do it forever.

Sometimes our personal and professional passions coincide. We get paid to do our hobby or to chase our dream, but rarely.