"Do What You Love"

I believe you do what you love after you have accumulated a good amount of savings which you're comfortable with and you can pursue your true passion.

Ex. A guy I met, worked as a trader for about 10 years (90-00s), literally after his 10th year on the job, he left and opened a sports bar and a small coffee shop near the financial district. He always wanted to do both but since he did not have any start up money, it was hard to get started on the projects but once he got enough money, he was able to execute his plans.

I believe some people truly want to pursue their passion but the fear of not knowing how much money they will make is what keeps them grounded. Personally, I want a little bit of prestige, but I also want to be happy. If prestige comes with working 100 hours a week until I'm 40 years old, I might have to pass. If I can accumulate enough savings by the time I am 30-35, I would love to go off an open up my own business (non-finance related). At the end of the day, we all want security and start-ups don't provide much security, and that is one thing most people fear when thinking about making that leap.

Just my $0.02

i believe if you're intelligent enough and have a little luck, doing what you love can often make you a decent enough living. gotta be reasonable though. if you love licking freshly dried cement in your birthday suit it's probably not going to get you far. but if you love writing/ photography/ etc, you will have the will power and motivation to get better and better, unlike in some dull banking or accounting job where you lose any mojo the Lord had given you.

My $0.02.

CanadianPositiveCarry:

How do you rank: $ / prestige vs satisfaction from the job. Do you think "do what you love" advice is an idealistic product of liberal mental masturbation or a realistic guideline for one's life. Would love to get the input.

Before working as a professional trader I've been working on a job (for some years) where my salary was double than it's right now (but with no bonuses, as I have now). I just left my job because I didn't feel happy with it.

Now I'm doing what I like and that makes me feel happy, I don't care about staying 10 hours in front of the screens because I have a purpose to do it.

Always that it let you live in good conditions, do (or fight to get it) what you love, always.

Do what you love. $/prestige only give you orgasms, the other gives you happiness. When you are older, you will figure out.

Most people dont love or like their jobs, but that isnt a reflection of their intelligence. Its a reflection of both risk tolerance and willingness to live "good" lives, as opposed to "great" lives which would take a lot more strife to attain.

I think to "follow your passion" is absolutely terrible advice, especially when dispensed to the general population. Unless you're an athlete, most people don't have preexisting passions that can be matched to their careers. And for those that do have such a passion, there's little evidence that building a career around it will lead to satisfaction or success. I think if you want to love what you do, you have to become indispensible and have a meaningful impact on whatever your firm does, or, in the case of entrepreneurs, offer something that no one else can. You don't get seed capital for being passionate about mobile apps. Develop unique and rare skills, and you will naturally become an autonomous, valuable worker. Don't spend your life trying to match your career to some mythical, hard-wired passion, or pretending that trading equity options is your "passion." Become necessary, and if you develop your skills enough, I thoroughly believe you will achieve optimal career satisfaction