In the quest for “career,” aka skill + value + meaning , many people (myself included) seem to want our ___ (our art, our expression) to be enough to get by financially. I hear:

I see two problems with this mindset. They are:

The idea that, just because you like doing something, lots of people will automatically want to buy it. To put it bluntly, your work may not be good enough for that. Yet.

The idea that “doing work” MUST mean doing some Tedious Thing that you’d rather not do. Unfortunately, you seem to think that’s the only option.

But in reality, your “work” can be anything. If you want to get paid for making ___, you have to make good ___. And to make good ___, you have to start working at it. That only happens when you get serious about it.

Then, people will want your ___.

If you want to read more, see why Cal Newport argues that “skills trump passion in the quest for work you love” in So Good They Can’t Ignore You.