"Hobbies are BEST when they are TREATED as HOBBIES"
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We all have seen that time on Social Media and YouTube, where most of the time, the advice of “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS” and “MONETIZE YOUR PASSION” is preached. For some, this is just a video, that they watch, enjoy, listen to, and move on with their lives. But many fall into believing this and end up in the wrong direction, which they regret. 

Although I do not oppose the idea that “ONE SHOULD CHASE THEIR DREAMS”, if doing so, be aware of the pros, and the cons-and even consider the things that are mostly overlooked. Once you have all the things well aligned-then it is all up to you-what you want to do, how you want to do it, and for how long!

THE SUCCESS BIAS

Also known as the “Survivorship Bias”, is the situation where we consider a small sub-group and their outcomes, and extrapolate it to the outcomes of the whole group-considering the subgroup and their Outcomes as the whole Group and their outcomes. 

Success Bias(i.e., survivorship bias) is mainly the grounds on which many people are exploited. Seeing and listening to the Success Stories of 10 individuals, many people overlook the failure of thousands who tried walking the same path but failed in the worst possible way. The failure also has a setback to not just the thing being pursued, but to the mental state as well(I will discuss it in the later sub-section). 

The biggest reason for people falling to this is that, seeing the REWARDS shown by the PEOPLE, but not the struggle, nor the sacrifices, our brain interprets it as an EASY and ACHIEVABLE path. Seeing the rewards and the outcomes, we forget to consider the very fact that life and all that happens is a cumulative result of compounded hard work, with a big factor of Luck, with the Unfair Advantage that the individual had, not missing, the Time when the thing started, and had its rise!

SOLELY MONETIZING YOUR PASSION

Another mistake that slowly turns into frustration is making YOUR PASSION MONETIZED WITH IT BEING THE SOLE MONETARY SOURCE YOU HAVE. If you did not get it, let me explain. When conveyed that FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS and FOLLOW YOUR PASSION, people take this as- “We leave everything and make the most out of the passion”. I believe that regardless of your command on that, in the initial time, it is illogical to make YOUR PASSION your only SOURCE OF CASHFLOW(and many a time, even if you are doing well in it, I, for now, think that it is not a good thing to make your Hobbies and Passion as a High Source of Cashflow-or to better frame it, REGARD IT AS A SOURCE OF MONEY). 

Making your passion/hobby your source of money, you then attach a string to A THING THAT GAVE YOU HAPPINESS- a string that brings a huge toll with it. As you fail to make more and more money, you start getting frustrated, and this, frustration gets attached to THE THING THAT YOU LIKED. Slowly, you start to develop a Toxic relationship with YOUR HOBBY-and then the conflict starts. You realize that you are NOT LIKING and ENJOYING THAT AS A WORK, while OTHER SIDE OF OUR BRAIN COMPELS YOU TO FEEL OBLIGATED FOR THIS IS WHAT YOU LIKED! As time goes on, there is stagnation not just in growth, but also in your love towards the hobby and slowly, you DON’T LIKE your own passion.

THE MENTAL SETBACK

Let us assume-
that you decide to make your Passion, your Hobby as something you wanna make your career in, you work hard, and initially, you are on an upward trajectory. However, a time comes when you see a downward curve, and a fall in all the stats. Since a monetary component is attached to this, you start to feel the pressure, and thus, try working hard, which, in most cases, has close to a negligible effect on your growth.

Since the Human brain evolved so that it weighs Loss more than the Gains, you too view the loss as a Catastrophic Event and would have second thoughts on your Decision. In all this, there enters the Mental Setback.

You came into doing this because you regarded that You had a Great Command in this, with the fact that there was an added advantage of this being your Passion/Hobby, which would keep you motivated to push harder. Now seeing that, regardless of all this, you are not sky-rocketing as you expected, a part of you would make you think- 

“If I am Not able to Outperform others in the Thing I like, and which I regard as my Domain, HOW WILL I COMPETE IN RELAMS WHICH AREN’T MY DOMAIN AND I DON’T HAVE ANY UNFAIR ADVANTAGE?”

THE SETTLEMENT

This is the end of this blog-Don’t Misinterpret this blog as an ANTI-DREAM CHASER, or a DREAM KILLER BLOG-but the main aim of this blog was to make readers aware of the DOWNS and the CONS of making YOUR PASSION/HOBBY AS YOUR SOLE CASHFLOW SOURCE. 

I strongly believe that GETTING PAID FOR THE THING YOU LIKE DOING IS AN ADD-ON.

All I aim to say is that you MAKE YOUR CHOICES SUCH THAT YOU DO NOT JUST ACCOUNT FOR THE PERKS, BUT EVEN THE FALLS. For I had heard this saying, I don’t recall where, but I quote- 

“It is a Fool who Knows JUST THE TRUTH, but a WISE MAN WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH AND THE DIFFERENCE IN IT!” 

Thus, it now lies in your hands, how You use your experiences, learnings, unfair advantages and all-choosing your own path and doing what you feel is the most appropriate for you!

Will see you again soon-Till then, Keep Learning, Keep Growing!