Not usually. Most times, the opposite is true: doing what you love is the formula for failure. Or at least middle class. I’ll give you three reasons why.
Competition
Umm, hello, everyone wants to make a million bucks a year doing their favorite thing in the world. Which is why I wanted to be a professional basketball player when I was little. Ditto about a billion other kids. Many of whom were taller, more athletic, and could dribble, pass, rebound, shoot, and perform better under pressure. Right? So the truth is, unless you’re an oddball, what you love is saturated as sh*t. And if you’re not world-class, no one cares.
Selfishness
Speaking of no one cares, society definitely doesn’t. Just because Christie likes making cupcakes doesn’t mean they’ll bend over backwards to order hers. Nobody needs another place to buy $4 diabetes cakes from. You know? Which pressing problem is she solving? My point is this: if you’re building a business based on what you want, and not what they want, you’ve already lost.
Regret
Say you are good enough and there is demand for what you love. Should you try to turn it into a million dollar business? Maybe. Maybe not. Something strange happens the minute what you choose to do in your free time becomes what you have to do all the time. You might end up hating it. And by might, I mean I guarantee you will.
Solution
I’ve made my millions solving large problems in low competition markets, using skills I originally had no interest in. But as each business took off, I learned to love it. And my hobbies didn’t take a hit. Want more specifics? Read this.
