Do what you love...or work so you can afford life?

I wish I'd listened sooner to the pile of Firefighters who told me it was the best job in the world. 4 days off a week, ok pay with plenty of opportunity for OT, interesting work and when you get off shift somebody else is ding your job so you don't have to take it home with you. Plenty of opportunity in Mountain towns.

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Originally Posted by TahoeJ

Dabbled with the idea of trying to "do what you love" and eventually decided that instead I'd follow a path that made me enough money to be comfortable but also emphasized flexibility above all else, so I'd have time to pursue my passions (i.e. go ski, mtb and golf a bunch). Do I wish I could get out more than I do? Sure, although that probably has more to do with family life than work life.

There was definitely some luck involved - there always is.

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Not that I have much credibility these days... but.. this is spot on.

Quiver of one is only a dream.

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Originally Posted by cmcrawfo

Not that I have much credibility these days... but.. this is spot on.

Quiver of one is only a dream.

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It's hard to make a living doing what you love, posting pictures of your balls.

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Originally Posted by Danno

It's hard to make a living doing what you love, posting pictures of your balls.

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Yet In contrast, plenty of women make a killing on tit pics.

I don’t get it.

Have we heard from any part time dentists?

Most of you all seem like professional careerist types, even if there's a heart of true dirtbag in there somewhere.
As a counterpoint, let me just say that :

I FUCKING HATE MY JOB. WITH A PASSION.

And what's funny or sad or maybe especially just to the point is that it's really not about the actual job itself. I've done a bunch of different crap over the last twenty years and i've got to say that, basically it all sucks donkey balls.

I did have a short stint of trying to make my passion pay (tried to get into ski and Mtb guiding) , but found out i just wasn't skilled enough to actually get anyone to pay me for it. Or make any real money if i could actually get a job.

More to the point though, i then pursued a number of different vocations/jobs and have got to say that i i've found that i just fucking hate WORK more than anything else. If i have to be productive and held accountable to someone else for my time then the whole enterprise pretty much goes down the shitter in short order. Occasionally i've started down a new vocational (won't call it a career path for decency's sake) and found it fun/interesting/stimulating for some short amount of time but soon
enough . . . "fuck all that, time to start looking for a new gig" starts creeping into the noggin.
I don't know for the life of me how some folks go their whole lives working pretty much the same goddamn job. Or how or why they ever give a fuck for anything they do for money.

And yes i've got issues, haha.

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Originally Posted by HotSchmoo

More to the point though, i then pursued a number of different vocations/jobs and have got to say that i i've found that i just fucking hate WORK more than anything else. If i have to be productive and held accountable to someone else for my time then the whole enterprise pretty much goes down the shitter in short order.

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Ah, a kindred spirit, although perhaps with a less advanced case of fuck-it-allitis.

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Originally Posted by Cravenmorhead

"Do what you love" is pretty hackneyed - nobody is going to pay me to ski and drink beer. But it's worth finding a job/career that involves doing things that you enjoy doing and are good at. Maybe that's writing, or negotiating, or teaching, or whatever. Take some time to determine what sort of core competencies/skills you have and enjoy and look for something that uses them.

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Don't be so sure about that... I get paid to ride bikes and drink beer. ;)

I spent 15 years in the corporate world before I jumped ship and made it happen, and it's taken a few years to get to where I wanted. But, I can honestly say that 95% of the time with my job/company, I'm doing what I love. Sure, there are times when it truly feels like a job, but when I've got a good group of clients on one of our trips, it's like I'm mountain biking with friends in some of the best places in the US. But that said, I sacrificed a lot (I left a really good paying job and started from scratch), my wife and I don't have kids, and I had a pretty solid plan going into it.

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Originally Posted by smmokan

Don't be so sure about that... I get paid to ride bikes and drink beer. ;)

I spent 15 years in the corporate world before I jumped ship and made it happen, and it's taken a few years to get to where I wanted. But, I can honestly say that 95% of the time with my job/company, I'm doing what I love. Sure, there are times when it truly feels like a job, but when I've got a good group of clients on one of our trips, it's like I'm mountain biking with friends in some of the best places in the US. But that said, I sacrificed a lot (I left a really good paying job and started from scratch), my wife and I don't have kids, and I had a pretty solid plan going into it.

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What is it you do then? Guide?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I own Chasing Epic: www.chasingepicmtb.com

Steve, you are our hero, or at least mine. And I give you all the props in the world. I will say, however, that just because you did it doesn't mean everyone could. In other words, you're a bit of the exception that proves the rule.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Steve, you are our hero, or at least mine. And I give you all the props in the world. I will say, however, that just because you did it doesn't mean everyone could. In other words, you're a bit of the exception that proves the rule.

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No, I totally get it... I'm just saying it's possible but it takes commitment. That's why I make an honest effort to answer every email and PM I'm sent about others trying to make it happen, because I couldn't have done it alone. There are some really good ideas out there, it just takes execution and a little bit of luck.

I also totally get the other side of the coin, as I lived it for years and I've got really good friends who tell me every day. There's absolutely something to a job that gives you comfort, security, and a good living. That was THE hardest part about my starting my company for the first two years: not knowing if I was going to make enough money to pay the bills, and not knowing if it was going to work.

I'm someone who has done both in a way, ski bum for 4 years now a professional, and I think Geezer Steve has it down. I tried to make my work my passion and I ended up just making my passion into work. I was a climbing guide for 3 years before I realized it was sapping all my love for climbing. I left that job and joined the ranks of TGR's surprisingly large number of attorneys.

Flexibility and location is definitely key. I'm not absolutely in love with my job but I'm passionate enough about it, I get weekly wellness leave, a flexible schedule, decent pay, and live somewhere I can bike/climb/ski within 20min of my front door.

I suggest to focus more on finding something you enjoy the actual procedure of. I've learned the subject matter isn't as important. When I started law I focused on environmental law because that's the subject I'm passionate about it. It turns out that writing long briefs all day and never really interacting with people wasn't for me. Now my subject matter is something I'm less passionate about but I enjoy my work more because I'm helping people solve problems and my work is more dynamic. Think about what work process is best for you, then try to match to a passion secondarily.

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Originally Posted by HotSchmoo

Most of you all seem like professional careerist types, even if there's a heart of true dirtbag in there somewhere.
As a counterpoint, let me just say that :

I FUCKING HATE MY JOB. WITH A PASSION.

And what's funny or sad or maybe especially just to the point is that it's really not about the actual job itself. I've done a bunch of different crap over the last twenty years and i've got to say that, basically it all sucks donkey balls.

I did have a short stint of trying to make my passion pay (tried to get into ski and Mtb guiding) , but found out i just wasn't skilled enough to actually get anyone to pay me for it. Or make any real money if i could actually get a job.

More to the point though, i then pursued a number of different vocations/jobs and have got to say that i i've found that i just fucking hate WORK more than anything else. If i have to be productive and held accountable to someone else for my time then the whole enterprise pretty much goes down the shitter in short order. Occasionally i've started down a new vocational (won't call it a career path for decency's sake) and found it fun/interesting/stimulating for some short amount of time but soon
enough . . . "fuck all that, time to start looking for a new gig" starts creeping into the noggin.
I don't know for the life of me how some folks go their whole lives working pretty much the same goddamn job. Or how or why they ever give a fuck for anything they do for money.

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Amen. Work fucking sucks.

Some regular Joe Schmuck in corporate America saying "I love my job and am passionate about my career"
Fucking loser to me.

Or they just don't know the definition of love.

I love my family, my dog, love to ski and camp.

When Joey Fuckass puts someone in the right insurance plan for their needs or processes that year end report and say they "love" that shit they are living a weird existence. Or the word "love" just means things that are okay. I don't get it.

I am starting in dirt pimping so I can do both.

I sometimes wish I was just a generic all-american so I would be happy living away from the mountains, working 50 weeks a year for a fat salary, and sitting on my ass all weekend watching sports on TV.

Like most maggots I have WAY too many interests and they are all pretty time consuming and involve getting as far away from a TV/computer as possible.

It's all about balance... I did the ski-bum thing for a few years in Bozeman,,, It was fun while I was young, but not sustainable. 15 years later, I have a stable job as an Mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry with a startling amount of freedom for work lift balance. (hooray for consultancies!) I worked my ass off to get here, and sacrificed 7 years in the Midwest to build my resume, but now that I am back in the PNW, I am taking advantage of the great outdoors again. Last year I only missed 3 pow days that were over 10 inches of snow in the storm cycle. In the summer, it was really easy to convince my manager to blow off work and go mountain biking on sunny 70 degree days.

Make a job work in the mountains.

Plenty of ski towns need professionals - doctors, accountants, and even dentists. They also need mechanics, plumbers, and laborers.

What they don’t need is bullshit middle managers that don’t actually add any value to their workplace.

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Originally Posted by GeezerSteve

Pro tip: Nobody is gonna pay you to smoke dope, watch TV and play video games

Yeah, it's 99%+ Instagram bullshit. I hope most people are fortunate enough to get satisfaction from their occupations. But love? Nah. Many people create a narrative about loving what they do as a means to deal with worldly ennui, but that's a defense mechanism. There's <1% who can follow a passion and make money, e.g., some pro athletes, elite artists, but the "do what you love and the money will follow" shtick is a myth fabricated to sell a self-help book.

You can check other threads for anecdotes re people who try making a living from what they love, then watching their passion metamorphose into toil. My anecdote comes from my brief stint as a professional musician, when I met an older career pro, a hugely talented musician, for whom playing music had become a struggle like any other shit job. He regretted not learning a trade and playing music part time. And he warned we younger players. Yeah, 1 in 5,000 musicians find good steady gigs as studio players or popular acts with longevity, but those are unicorns. All but a few orchestra players are forced to give lessons or find other side work to survive.

The other side of the coin: The 70 y.o. senior partner in my ex-law firm with a nice paid-off house and $10 million in the bank who refused to retire because practicing law had become his identity. Fuck that.

For all but a few, the practical path is to assess your talents, skills and abilities as objectively as possible (i.e., with the help of disinterested others), and find a trade, business or profession that matches your talents, skills and abilities. That allows you to make money more efficiently and with less stress than mismatching your natural acumen (square peg) with the wrong occupation (round hole), which is constant uphill battle.

IME, doing for a living what you're best at is the surest path to career satisfaction, and you'll have more power to negotiate (or, if self-employed, to structure) schedule flexibility to do more of what you love to do, which, for most, is the surest path to life satisfaction.

Also, always keep in mind that making a living is a two-way street: making money + spending money. Living within your means will allow you more freedom to do the things you love.

[/Dutch uncle speech]

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this is: what is called;... brilliance

Fascinating stuff. I came at this from such a different perspective. Grew up in the deep, rural south, mostly lower-middle class, though mah daddie inherited a decent bit, maybe 2.5 mil in today $ that was tied up in a court battle until I was maybe 17.

When most days were 100 degrees 90% humidity in a flat coastal pine forest, Skiing was just about the most exotic, “rich” thing we could think of. Did it a few times in the NC/VA mntns but had no concept of what was out west, just heard it was better (this was late 70s early 80s). Then my much older sister married a very successful attorney who was a skier, who talked about places like VAIL. Things like getting on an AIRPLANE. Sometimes he worked past dinner. Ina OFFICE. Ona CASE. Things i'd never seen.

I was very fortunate in that my parents paid for a four-year degree, but I basically had zero guidance. Had to figure out majors, get jobs, on my own; I paid for post college. and I know i had it a LOT better than a lotta people. It NEVER occurred to me in that timeframe, "what do I want to do?" "what is full-filling?", etc. Those were never questions I asked. I'da siad it was crybaby shit. I was asking what and where the jobs were. Would have seemed selfish to think otherwise. I guess it never really occurred to me to move out west after school, that far from where i was, but that was the times. I knew I would have kids one day and I wanted better for them than I had. Didn’t want my wife to HAVE to work, my kids raised in daycare. That’s how we thought in that place and time. Found a major and path that, was a reasonable fit for my skill set. Not a great fit, but a decent one. God only gives ya so much talent. you do with it what you can. Maybe 15 years into that I thought a little bit about what I wanted to do, ski more, etc. but by then the cement had hardened.

So, Yah, I look pretty jong-ish on my $80-from-ebay movement thunders. I’ve never skied backcountry (unless you count the hill behind the neighborhood tennis courts in 8 inches of breakable crust. once.) and have had maybe 5 true power days in my life. A big year is 20 days on the snow & ice of NC; maybe a few out west.

I do have some coin in the bank. and by any measure I have done better for mine than what was done for me.

I have found an awful lot of “full-fil-met” in that.

^that is awesome. Respect.

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Originally Posted by Marshall Tucker

Fascinating stuff. I came a this from such a different perspective. Grew up in the deep, rural south, mostly lower-middle class, though mah daddie inherited a decent bit, maybe 2.5 mil in today $ that was tied up in a court battle until I was maybe 17.

When most days were 100 degrees 90% humidity in a flat coastal pine forest, Skiing was just about the most exotic, “rich” thing we could think of. Did it a few times in the NC/VA mntns but had no concept of what was out west, just heard it was better (this was late 70s early 80s). Then my much older sister married a very successful attorney who was a skier, who talked about places like VAIL. Things like getting on an AIRPLANE. Sometimes he worked past dinner. Ina OFFICE. Ona CASE. Things i'd never seen.

I was very fortunate in that my parents paid for a four-year degree, but I basically had zero guidance. Had to figure out majors, get jobs, on my own; I paid for post college. and I know i had it a LOT better than a lotta people. It NEVER occurred to me in that timeframe, "what do I want to do?" "what is full-filling?", etc. Those were never questions I asked. I'da siad it was crybaby shit. I was asking what and where the jobs were. Would have seemed selfish to think otherwise. I guess it never really occurred to me to move out west after school, that far from where i was, but that was the times. I knew I would have kids one day and I wanted better for them than I had. Didn’t want my wife to HAVE to work, my kids raised in daycare. That’s how we thought in that place and time. Found a major and path that, was a reasonable fit for my skill set. Not a great fit, but a decent one. God only gives ya so much talent. you do with it what you can. Maybe 15 years into that I thought a little bit about what I wanted to do, ski more, etc. but by then the cement had hardened.

So, Yah, I look pretty jong-ish on my $80-from-ebay movement thunders. I’ve never skied backcountry and have had maybe 5 true power days in my life. A big year is 20 days on the snow & ice of NC; maybe a few out west.

I do have some coin in the bank. and by any measure I have done better for mine than what was done for me.

I have found an awful lot of “full-fil-met” in that.

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Marshall Tucker: the Movie.

A Netflix Original.

Review: it's like a modern day It's a Wonderful Life, but with skiing ... and if "modern day" was the late 1970s.

Two thumbs up!

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Originally Posted by GeezerSteve

they will get stuffed in a back room looking at security offering documents or in a big litigation support role or some other support role.I was warned by my sister Duly warned,

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do you have any freaking idea how lucky you are?
getting that kind of career insider coaching that early?

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Originally Posted by reckless toboggan

Marshall Tucker: the Movie.

A Netflix Original.

Review: it's like a modern day It's a Wonderful Life, but with skiing ... and if "modern day" was the late 1970s.

Two thumbs up!

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no, no it isn't. I was pretty much an ordinary yokel who went to NYC with Sam Wainwright and, truthfully, went more down the cog route Steve describes than anything. but I have found there is an awful lot of wisdom coming "from our shabby little offices"

In order for me to do what I love, I must work my ass off...Many times I remind myself of Office Space and want to up and quit work and corporate world. However, I must work to travel, take care of my family, etc...