So most people don’t really really enjoy their j-o-b. But in order to live a somewhat comfortable life, you need one. But also most of us, have that hobby or interest that we really enjoy and probably will continue to enjoy doing most of our life. Sadly we haven’t figured out a way to make it pay.
So what is it? Reading romance novels. Watching college basketball. Going to 80’s hairband revival concerts. Noodling for mud-cats. Knitting baby hats and mittens. Breeding show-ferrets.
So what’s your passion? Maybe the rest of us can help you figure out how to turn your passion into an income opportunity.
Making quilts to donate to Project Linus
Growing African violets
Knitting hats for preemies and chemotherapy patients
Playing throw the stick with my dogs
I know I will never make a living doing any of these activities. However, after all these years, I finally asked Project Linus for a 501c3 statement so I could claim the deduction on my taxes. I hope it will at least pay for some of the supplies I use.
Bowling or playing tennis. I am passionate about both, but a very, very long distance (like, I can’t even see it from where I’m standing) from being at a level where I could make money doing either.
Do you play a lot of tennis? My step-father plays so much tennis that he started stringing his own rackets. That turned into a business stringing for people at his club. He makes enough stringing to pay for his tennis hobby. And, after retiring from his “real” job, he started coaching local high school tennis.
I like to read, hang with the pets, and spend time with the grandkids. I bet I would get tired of reading for a living, and I know I would get tired playing with the pets or kids, so I think they will remain for fun instead.
I’ve always wished I could get paid to be a beachcomber. Heck, I’d even pick up whatever litter I find. I imagine stuff is still washing ashore from the Japan earthquake though you don’t hear much about it anymore. Give me a small beach cabin and a bit of a stipend and I’d happily clean it up. Looking for agates and other beach stuff and watching the waves crash in would be the only bonus I’d ask for.
I like working on projects. Self-contained and taking from days to months to complete. Ones that require a variety of my skill set. Although the only thing I’m really good at is software, I am acceptably competent at industrial design, machining (including CNC), circuit design, and some others. As far as software goes I can go from low-level microcontroller firmware to fairly sophisticated high-level JavaScript, though my bread-and-butter is C++.
But I still have a day job and I can only dedicate so many hours to my side projects. I wish someone would pay me a bunch of money and give me a big list of quirky things to work on, and I could either do those or whatever else came to mind with no expectation of having a real finished product at the end. It’s the learning and discovery that I enjoy; I wish someone else would handle the bugs and other annoyances.
I sometimes make a bit of extra income from these projects, but not enough to live on. Living on a contractor’s income is too stressful and risky for my tastes.
I like to work on music projects (both playing and writing music) and I also enjoy making crafts (miniature cardboard pianos and Christmas ornaments.) I wish I could get paid to do either or both of those things. Well, I do get paid a little for those things sometimes, but I wish I could make a living off them.
I really enjoy writing. I would like to make some money writing fiction. I have only made money writing non-fiction (so far). I’m game to make more money writing non-fiction, except I don’t feel I have something non-fictional to write.
I really enjoy fiber arts, even have a degree in it. While I have made some money doing it, it’s not nearly enough to live on. I’d like to make at least some supplemental income from it, though. Maybe over time build it up so when I’m ready to “retire” in about 20 years I can segue into making it a part-time job to round out my pension, SS, and savings.
I love and collect fragrances, gemstone jewelry, and art glass, I’m quite a knowledgeable enthusiast on each, but don’t have sufficient expertise/education on any to make it into a career.
I enjoy sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, logic problems, etc. But I already have a problem-solving full-time job.
I would enjoy writing political position papers for a candidate should that opportunity arise. I enjoy researching and writing and my education was in IPE, so it would be right up my alley.
I work in a public library - I do enjoy my work and get paid well to do it. It would be nice to get paid for drawing - but I’m OK with just doing it for fun.
All the skills you describe pay very well, especially for contractors but permanent jobs are well paid too. Granted, there exist some low-paid entry-level jobs for JS and C++, but if you’re as good as you sound, there’s no way you should be applying for those.
If you’re currently…I dunno…a supreme court judge or something, maybe the money won’t look so hot, but if it’s your passion, I don’t see what’s stopping you.
