You Can Make A Living From Your Passion, But You Must Give Yourself Permission
We live in a world where many things are backwards.
One of the world’s biggest backwards ideas is that generating an income from work you feel unfulfilled/less fulfilled by is more noble than generating an income from work you feel deeply fulfilled by.
Why this programming is hard to pinpoint is that society gives a lot of mixed messages. On one hand, success stories of innovators and the “lucky ones” who make it are constantly pushed in our faces. On the other hand, virtually everyone around us has subscribed to the programming that prioritizing security is more important than prioritizing our dreams. This, of course, is largely because most people are not in their primary purpose work themselves.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying we should abandon our responsibilities or throw all caution to the wind. We all have different seasons and circumstances.
However, the truth I want to get across is this: It is okay to generate an income from your primary passion.
Not your secondary passion, not your tertiary passion, not something you do because you are good at it. I mean your primary passion.
For many people, this idea is going to trigger guilt. But that is particularly where we have taken the “blue pill.”
We have been taught that following your other passions is the moral, responsible thing to do, but following your main passion—perhaps why you were literally born—is immoral, irresponsible, and downright dangerous.
On the surface, these views may simply seem like prudence and concern for people’s well-being. When you scratch beneath the surface, though, you’ll see that this mode of thinking is meant to keep people in check.
I do understand that sometimes we need to work a 9-5, odd jobs, or even work for ourselves doing what isn’t our primary passion. That is very common and the case for the majority of people.
However, I also believe the idea that we MUST do other work alongside our primary passion—forever—is a limiting belief. And it comes, interestingly, from the deeper conditioning that we shouldn’t prioritize what lights us up most.
A small minority of people may have such a surplus of money that they don’t even have to worry about the income component when it comes to their passion. Perhaps they have a large inheritance, are comfortably retired, or have a spouse who takes care of all their financial needs, so they are able to solely focus on their passion.
For most people, though, they have to work a regular job or do less fulfilling work so they can do work on their primary passion. This is not “bad” per se, and certain occupations can help build our character and develop skills that serve us in our calling, but it is usually not ideal indefinitely because it is time away from what one loves to do most.
Therefore, the ideal situation is to be able to generate an income related to what you love most.
I say “related to” because sometimes it is not about selling your photography but teaching how to do photography or giving photography resources, just as an example.
This doesn’t usually happen overnight.
In fact, it may take years.
That can be an uncomfortable truth since many people fear being stuck in jobs they dislike or feel unstimulated by. But know that “years” does NOT mean “never.”
What you DON’T want to do is not try at all because you lack faith that anything can come from your work.
Additionally, I am not advocating putting all one’s eggs in one basket or NOT having alternate sources of income.
Nonetheless, there are some very important truths to consider:
We only have a finite amount of energy in this life.
Our purpose demands our focus.
While we may need to earn an income not related to our primary passion for a season (or alternating seasons), if our focus is constantly scattered, our creative energy is less potent.
It is okay to generate an income through other means if it’s relatively easy and enjoyable, but it can become a problem if they keep taking away our focus from what we prefer to do.
If we are not careful, we can keep on making justifications for why we aren’t prioritizing our primary passion. We may think it’s because we are being responsible or we don’t “need” the money, but usually it is due to fear and believing one needs to be dependent on other forms of work as the only means to survive. So most people don’t fully commit to make the transition, which is what is actually necessary to get the wheels going a lot of times.
I know every person’s situation is highly individual and unique, and I am not trying to blame those who don’t “make it” in their purpose work. But there is also something to be said for mindset and how deciding (committing) you will generate an income from your purpose work can make all the difference. This isn’t just due to willpower but related to spiritual mechanics in the ether.
Ultimately, what needs to change for most people is that it is okay to prioritize their primary passion and make a living from it. Then to go all in.
If we feel we always need other streams of income and never make the transition to only doing our primary passion, then we have to question why.
Again, lots of caveats to this topic, however, it often boils down to us not giving ourselves the PERMISSION to fully prioritize our primary passion because we usually, deep down, feel doing so is irresponsible, immoral, greedy, etc.
About being a “sellout” for making an income from your gifts, whether primary or secondary…
I find this viewpoint so fascinating because, if anything, working a job one hates or feels apathetic about is the ultimate way most of us sell (or have sold) our souls. The matrix purposely conditions us to believe that pursuing our passion is wrong because that is less fuel for the system, so pursuing one’s higher callings is actually the opposite of selling out.
I definitely get that there are people who are desperate for money and sell themselves out on social media, but “sellouts” are not the only ones who achieve success. There are honest, integral people who can make a living as well.
I often hear people say things like, “I don’t need to make money from social media, I have a 9-5 job I am happy with,” but deep down, they are not happy. If they could make a living doing what they loved, they absolutely would. It’s just that they don’t believe they can, so they project “sellout” onto others as an excuse to stay in their comfort zone. This also often has to do with a limiting belief of “Only dishonest people succeed,” which is of course going to hinder one’s own growth.
I have even seen this phenomena among creators. They don’t know how to make a living from their online presence, so they decide it is just not possible for them, when really, they may need to change their strategy.
For example, instead of relying on revenue from ads, they can create an online course or start a community. It is important to expand one’s minds and understand that the possibilities are limitless.
It can seem like we are doing other forms of work to be responsible, but in actuality, we may be avoiding fully immersing oneself in one’s primary passion due to false guilt or fear. Eventually, we have to have our training wheels removed so we can fully fly in our calling.
That might not be today, that might not be tomorrow, but when you align with God’s will, He will provide. That is because when a vision is from God, He also provides the provision to fulfill it.
Never feel guilty for being compensated when you work for God because, when you are prioritizing your higher purpose, you are fulfilling God’s purposes through you as well.
