Do What You Love, but Money Won't Necessarily Follow

Curt Rosengren

This may come as a surprise to hear from someone who makes his living helping people find passion in their careers, but I think the whole "do what you love and the money will follow" idea is completely flawed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that passion and thriving financially are mutually exclusive. I absolutely believe that the two can go together. I would even say that passion can feed your potential to thrive.

What I am saying is that passion isn't magic. There are far too many starving artists in the world for the "do what you love" saying to hold any water. Not by itself, anyway.

You can dream all you like, but a career you love happens in the real world. And except for the occasional stroke of blind luck, success in the real world doesn't come by waving a magic wand. It comes from trusty stand-bys like hard work, ability, and persistence.

Passion won't miraculously make it happen, but it can play an important role. A couple years ago, I interviewed various successful entrepreneurs for a piece I wrote on passion and entrepreneurship. I asked them how important passion was to success as an entrepreneur. I might as well have asked how important oxygen was to staying alive—it was that important.

Passion can give you energy to put into creating success. It can give you a sense of confidence. And it can feed the persistence you need to succeed.

But the success itself? You'll have to do that the old-fashioned way.

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As a speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work and his E-book The Occupational Adventure Guide offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren's blog, The M.A.P. Maker, explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.