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Hobbies & Vocations

Image source: @olaojo15
Image source: @olaojo15

Most people wish many things on their death beds but wishing they spent more time at work will probably not be one of them. If we are destined to spend most of our waking hours on earth at work or working then we might as well do work that we enjoy and find meaningful. Life is too short to spend most of your life doing work that you don’t find satisfying.

I believe that a lot of people wish that they can convert their hobbies into their vocations. A hobby is an activity or interest which is pursued for pleasure or relaxation but not as a vocation. Such people wish that they can leave their jobs and follow their passions.

The secret of most successful people in any profession is that they usually tend to enjoy what they do. They are motivated to succeed and excel because they find what they do to be meaningful. Such people don’t dread ‘Mondays’ but rather look forward to them.

I got a writing notebook (picture above) a few days ago and it had a cool slogan on it – “Do what you love, love what you do”. This is so powerful. It is all about doing what you are passionate about. I believe that people who are passionate about what they do, usually end up doing great things. Their vocation is their hobby and their hobby is their vocation.

You need two things to succeed in converting your passion or hobby into your vocation.

(1) The self-awareness or self-knowledge to know which of your hobbies to pursue as a vocation. Most people tend to have several hobbies. You will need to have patience and persistence in abundance in order to make a passion into a vocation. Therefore good decision making is crucial in selecting which hobby is worth pursuing.

(2) Learn how to monetize your selected hobby. This is the difference between a hobby and a vocation. The latter generates enough income to pay the bills while the former usually doesn’t. There are lots of people who have by sheer luck, determination or both figured out ways to monetize their hobbies and there are also millions who haven’t. Most people are content for their hobbies or passions to stay in the background while they toil on jobs they can’t stand for the rest of their lives.

My question for you is this – are you prepared to toil for the rest of your life doing work you detest or are you prepared to figure out a way to turn your hobby/passion into your vocation?

One reply on “Hobbies & Vocations”

Well thought out stuff Ola. Reminds me of some of the things we raised in our last conversation.

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