Many people will tell you that the best way to be happy in life is to turn your passion into work. They will say that this is the key to happiness and fulfillment. But is this true? Is it worth giving up your day job and chasing after your dreams? This blog post will explore the pros and cons of turning your passion into work. We will help you determine whether or not this is the right decision for you.

Turning your passion into a career path

It's normal to feel some boredom while doing everyday work. However, you can't just be on fire every time. If one lets these feelings accumulate, it may lead to burnout and cause you to give up your job. So if you ask for advice to remedy your situation, most people will probably say that you need to find a job you love doing, so you can feel happy and fulfilled most of the time. Follow your passion, as they say, and turn it into something that can bring you money while enjoying what you are doing. Sounds too good to be true, right?

The truth is that, yes, it's possible to turn your passion into your work and make it into something profitable. However, it's not that simple. We are not talking about doing what you love the way you used to do them, and suddenly you can earn money from it. Nope. The most common way to turn a passion into work is by turning it into a business. It means you must know to run a business and various associated things, such as doing paperwork, managing people, sorting finances, dealing with clients, etc. But, wait, this pretty much sounds like work already, right? Can you still do your passion as you do it? You may now question yourself if it will be worth it to pursue the idea of turning your passion into a career. So before jumping the gun, you have to learn some truths first about whether your passion can be your dream job that will give you enough money to buy what you want and fulfill your goals.

Your purpose will change once your passion turns into your dream career.

A passion is something that you do to find joy and fulfillment. It is something that you do with a wholehearted desire and devotes significant time and effort to do because you love doing it. No matter how busy you are every day, you will try to find time to do your passion. All of these may change once your passion turns into a full-time job. You have a different purpose with a job: to earn money. But, sure enough, you can still experience the joy you gain from your passion even when it has become work. However, your happiness may diminish as time goes by. Any money-making endeavor is not exactly a joyful ride. There will be ups and downs, and you may be forced to do something you don't want to earn money. To a certain degree, money can buy happiness, but it is not equal to this feeling.

The danger of burnout

Burnout happens when we feel too exhausted from doing something. It can occur due to excessive stress and frustration from repeatedly doing something without gaining much satisfaction and fulfillment, such as from your current job. Now, imagine if your job is also your passion. There is now the possibility of burnout from doing what you love because you no longer do your passion on your terms. You are forced to do it because it is now a job, so you need to do it for a fixed number of hours each day instead of doing it whenever you want. As a result, you may lose motivation to do your passions. What was once an activity for relaxation and happiness can now be a chore.

The way you do things won't be the same.

You are free to do what you love however you want it. There are no time restrictions or rules and procedures to follow. However, if you decide to turn your passion into your new career path, there will be changes. For example, let's say your passion is playing video games. There is such a thing as esports, which turns video games into a competition, and somebody can become a professional gamer. A professional gamer competes in various tournaments to win prize money and essentially turns gaming into a career. With so many people playing video games nowadays, one may think this is a dream come true. However, the moment you decide to pursue it and do become one, there will be changes to how you play video games in your life.

• You can't just play any game you want. You have to play the most popular games to participate in tournaments that host such games. Also, playing popular games is a must if you want a significant following if you decide to become somebody who streams video games as a career.
• You can't play games casually. Professional gaming requires playing at a competitive level to beat other professional gamers so you can gain a higher chance of winning the grand prize and recognition.
• Since gaming is now a career, you must dedicate significant time playing to improve and train. Sure, you can be happy doing this, but you are doing it primarily to become better, win more often, and outlast the competition. Therefore, your mindset has a different focus.

We are not suggesting that professional gaming is an unhappy career path. On the contrary, it can be rewarding and fulfilling. Unfortunately, however, the pitfalls of stress, frustration, burnout, and anxiety, common in work, can now creep into your passion. We used video games as an example, but the changes we listed can also apply to other things. For example, if you love writing and decide to become a professional author, you can't just write about anything you want. Your writing should resonate with a broader audience, and you now have to follow deadlines on when to turn in your work. A certain degree of freedom gets diminished once passion turns into work, and it is something you have to consider if you decide to do it.

So, should I turn my passion into my dream job?

The answer to this question is that it depends. There's nothing wrong with turning your passion into your career or own business. However, turning it into one can be challenging, especially if what you love doing falls within a niche market. There may not be many related career opportunities; however, if you manage to turn your passion into a career, congratulations! Do make sure that you won't lose interest in your passion the moment you start receiving negative feedback and criticisms on what you do because, after all, your passion is now a job. Do it if you are confident that you can handle these things and won't burn out from your passion.

On the other hand, if you fear you may not be passionate about something the moment it turns into work, you can do something as an alternative. No rule states that your passion should be your work. Also, jobs related to your passion may not pay well. So to earn a living, you may need to find other jobs where your skills and knowledge can be handy and delegate your passion as something you do for relaxation, fun, and fulfillment. Your work will be a means to gain money which can help you enjoy your passions more by having the resources to enjoy them. Find a job where you have the competency and don't mix your passion with it.

Don't blindly follow the advice of following your passion and turning it into work. Instead, analyze your situation and see if you can be comfortable with the idea of mixing your work and passion into one. Suppose it works for you, then good. If not, you can always do something else for work and leave your passion alone. What's important is that you derive fulfillment and happiness from whatever you choose to do and derive success from it eventually without burning yourself out and draining your motivation.