By Sumeet Kaur:
Are you among the ones who believe that your passion can pay you enough to sustain a living? I asked a lot of people this question and they were not really sure. Amish Tripathi, a famous writer, quit his job as a banker only after the success of his second book ‘Shiva Triology’, because it was then that he fully realized what his passion was really worth. It is his passion that is bringing him name and fame as compared to his earlier job. I believe that the world would be an altogether different place if we all did the work that actually mattered to us. It would literally change the world.
“Living a life of passion and getting paid for it is just that, a way of life. Those who wake up excited aren’t just the lucky ones, they condition themselves to experience and deserve it.”
– Scott Dinsmore
Too many people I talked to are afraid to try doing what they love, because they are afraid they are no good and will make a mistake or that they’re not simply ready yet. In my view, we all want to start doing the work we love. Isn’t it a fundamental human right? But there still is something that is stopping us and that is nothing but fear. Some of us don’t know exactly what our passions are or maybe we haven’t realized and the others don’t know how to make money from their passions. They lack guidance or an environment to test their abilities and gauge their chances of success. We, therefore, compromise on our passions and eventually, in the long run, feel frustrated.
Some of us are really lucky. Recently an Indian origin woman, Asha Patel, who works as a freelance writer and photographer in London, has been shortlisted along with 24 other people for the post of Western Australia tastemaster, described as one of the “best jobs in the world“. This is just a dream come true for the lucky one whose passion is food and travel and she will be paid good amounts for the same. But this is not the case with everyone. People need their space to pursue their passions. Today, we see a huge change in career options available which we didn’t imagine earlier. Lot of offbeat careers have gained much wider acceptance nowadays in society. The gen-next is at least taking the initiative to explore their interests and convert them into realistic full-time career paths as compared to earlier times when due to family pressures one used to only look at established options that provide a secure job and pay package. This is a true fact that in the absence of adequate family support, it becomes really difficult to pursue interests which are not mainstream and challenge the stereotypes. Every individual may have his own circumstances which may have lured him towards a lucrative job that for the moment was too good to resist and for others may be taking up a particular job that came their way was a necessity to sustain their family responsibilities or a need of the hour due to lack of options.
Heard about Raghav Juyal, the Dance India Dance sensation who attained success through his slow motion dancing style? Lot of fame has come his way and he thinks that dance and films are something he enjoys and is therefore honing his skills in this field. He will also shortly be featuring in an upcoming Ramesh Sippy movie. This is one small example of a young boy from Dehradun who was great when it came to studies and whose parents were not happy about his passion for dancing but he was determined and when the opportunity came his way and he realized that his passion would no doubt be his career and that too a well paying one. New York Chef Vikas Khanna, one of the judges of Master Chef India, popular for his culinary skills and good looks developed an obsession for food in his early childhood. He enjoyed learning cooking from his grandmother and that turned into his passion and landed him amongst the top chefs.
Nitin Gupta, CEO of Entertainment Engineers did his engineering from IIT Bombay. At the undergraduate level, he was more involved with theatre. He got an opportunity to perform as a stand-up-comedian and mono-acting competitions where his journey towards performing arts began. He liked this forte and thus put in his hardwork and dedication to follow his passion. He has performed in some of the biggest college festivals in India- the IITs, NITs, IIMs their International Alumni Meets and various FORTUNE 500 Companies.
Lucy Mathen, BBC’s First female Asian Broadcaster was a successful Television reporter with a glamorous, well paying and interesting job but she later switched over to become an ophthalmologist, as according to her she wanted to make a real difference in the society for which her choice of journalism didn’t seem to be fruitful. She, therefore, made a change to fulfill her passion. So, there are people like Lucy who make a career switch to something they love, but I guess that the longer people wait to make a career switch to something they love, the less likely they are to ever do it. Steve Jobs also thought that he was following his passion when he decided that he wanted to be a lawyer as he loved to argue from a young age but later he realized that it was not something he wanted to do and so switched over to what he believed to be his passion. Film director Zoya Akhtar,the director of ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, right from a very young age knew what she wanted to do in life, she was very clear with her vision, wanted to direct films and that is what she is successfully doing.
My personal suggestion is that If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, then you should act quickly. Turn your passion into a business, because as you get older, you are less likely to take risks. And the other way out for those who are not exactly into entrepreneurship is to hunt for opportunities through personal contacts and internet, especially social media. You should try to find out recruiters who are in search for the kind of talent you have as your talent is going to benefit their enterprise and you in turn will get your dream job that you will love to do and be paid for it at the same time. It would in turn be a win-win situation for you. So, no matter what your taste is- from watching videos on Youtube, trekking, tasting wines, planning parties, to being a movie buff or a food critic, going out on excursions, making people laugh, writing poetry or talking and meeting people, there is a paid job for each one. You only need to be dedicated and begin your search. Prove those people wrong who think that passions and income don’t usually align. Good luck!