Growing up, my parents were incredibly supportive. They told me time and time again that I could do anything I wanted. That I should do what I wanted. They warned me that I would be miserable if I worked at a job I hated. I would have to work for a living, so it might as well be something that I loved. I wish they had told me to follow the money instead.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never worked at a job I outright hated. But I did follow my dreams. I got a degree in Early Childhood Education. I worked in ECE for years. Not long after I graduated, I left the field and I doubt that I will ever go back. The reality is, doing what I love doesn’t pay the bills.
In ECE, I would probably never make more than $35,000 per year. $35,000 a year will never buy me a house, offer me the chance to take vacations, or even to put my child in the very same school I would work for. When push comes to shove, $35,000 wasn’t enough for me to live the life I wanted. I would work to live and live to work and go nowhere.
I left my field and now I work at a job that maybe I don’t love, but it pays a whole lot more money. The trade off is that my personal life is a lot less stressful and a lot more fun. I have money to travel. I can give my little one experiences by taking them to a pumpkin patch or the zoo. I have a nice home that we live in and I generally don’t have to worry about making ends meet.
I think the follow your dreams mentality stems from generations of middle and lower class workers spending all of their time working. If you are going to spend the majority of your time at your job, yeah, you probably want to do something you enjoy. But I wish, before I had accrued student loans, that someone had told me along the way that I would never make enough money to live on doing what I love. It’s a sweet dream if what you love makes you a ton of money, but if you can’t make ends meet, it is actually terrible advice.
Instead of doing a job you love, I would advise everyone work a job that makes the lifestyle you want affordable, and to enjoy your time outside of work. Don’t do something you hate, but know that life is a lot more important than working every day. Do something so you can afford to live the life you want. There is nothing wrong with your job just being your job.
