We’ve all heard: “Follow your bliss.”
And how about the famous saying, “Do what you love, and the money will follow.”
Does it? If you do what you love, will the money follow?
Maybe.
I do love the idea of following my bliss. Who doesn’t?!
The dilemma with these beliefs is that they can abdicate responsibility about money. It says “don’t you worry about that money stuff. Just focus on what makes you happy.” And of course, we want to believe that, because who wants to think about money? Isn’t it comforting that we don’t have to think about all this money stuff?
And I admit, it does sound lovely, and I wish it were true. The premise is good—it says focus on using your talents. But a lot of times it doesn’t work because people don’t realize that just because you are talented at something doesn’t mean you will make money. There must be a demand for what you do. Ouch.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that women fall prey to these beliefs more than men. Yes, men want meaningful work and work they enjoy. But they rarely divorce their work aspirations from money. They often believe they need to earn enough to support themselves as well as a family. Women often grow up still believing that we only need to earn enough to support ourselves. I rarely talk to a woman who grew up thinking she had to earn enough someday to support herself, her husband and two possible children.
Women often believe that meaning is everything, and focusing on money may somehow degrade the deeper meaning we seek. We may also believe that bringing money into the picture makes us appear greedy or more self-centered. This is perpetuated by our common belief that one can have meaningful work OR make good money.
But what if it wasn’t either/or?
I always tell people that instead of saying, “follow your bliss and the money will follow”, say “How can I make money following one of my blisses?” The difference between these two questions is huge. Or perhaps a better way to say it is:
“How can I make money doing something I like?” This opens the field to many possibilities. It is about trying to balance both money and doing what you enjoy.
There are many things I like. However, some of these ideas will earn me more money than others. Not all hobbies or passions can be turned into lucrative careers. And sometimes trying to monetize a hobby or passion takes the joy out if it. Passions are the spice of life. It may be better to create a career that gives you good work life balance, so you have time for your passions and interests.
When you think about work and career, look for the intersection of these three things: Work you enjoy, work you are good at and work that pays well (other people value financially). What type of work sits at the intersection of these three things?
When we say, “follow your bliss”, and disregard money, we are not living in balance.
A life lived in balance means we balance what we like to do with the money we need to earn to live a healthy and happy life.
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