People usually say that you need three passions in life: one that makes you money, one that makes you fit, and one that makes you happy. However, the ones that make you fit and happy tend to be monetized as well and you end up, in the best of all cases, with three passions that make you money. For instance, you can make Youtube videos about fitness and create a monetized blog where you write about your passion for horses and how they make you happy. Usually, it is even worse than that (we will see why it is actually a bad thing for you to monetize absolutely everything you do) because you usually end up with only one passion left: a passion that makes money. Period.
You may end up hating your own passion.
If you ever have monetized a passion in the past, you probably know that it is beyond easy to lose sight of what is important…. and of what is not. Usually, when you monetize your passion, you feel so good in the beginning because feel like it is the biggest accomplishment (yes, we live in a capitalist society). However, as months go by, you end up losing this feeling of accomplishment as the main reason you are continuing what you do is… profit. Profit replaces passion really easily. For instance, when I started writing for a newspaper (my very first job, I was 18 at the time), I felt felt like it was the biggest accomplishment: I would finally get paid to write. However, I ended up writing about topics I did not feel totally passionate about or writing when I just did not feel like it. In the end, that jobs became more a “to do” than a passion, which I think is really sad.
If you feel like you still want to monetize your passion, feel free to read that very helpful post: Doing what we love and still love what we do.
Monetizing everything is a capitalist trend, not a necessary choice.
When I started blogging five years ago, I automatically got comments such as “and how much do you make?” or “is it great financially”? Well, no and no, I was simply blogging for fun, and I truly think it is the only way you can blog well. Actually, it is the only way you can be good at anything: have FUN. Today, I have more opportunities even though I usually get free books &c. and not proper money, which is a really good thing in my eyes. However, I have never done anything on that blog for the sole sake of profit, and I think it is the main reason why I am still here after five years. If you do it all for profit, you will just never make profit, period.
Just a final word when it comes to blogging: you CAN blog for fun. I have read so many things recently about blogging “for money” and “not for pleasure”. The worst thing I have read was “why having a time-consuming hobby?”. Well, a hobby is by nature a “time-consuming” thing, but it ABSOLUTELY does not make it a bad thing. It is just a passion, and a passion is a wonderful thing to have.
You probably do not NEED that extra money, and that is fine.
Do you really need extra cash? Let me rephrase: do you really want to take the risk of monetizing you passion (and eventually losing it) to get $200 a month? I do no think so. If you really need extra money, consider getting a part-time job in addition to your regular job, but turning your passion into a side-hustle is probably not the right thing to do:
- it will probably take the LONGEST time for you to make a profit.
- it will probably not be your passion anymore and if life gets hard, a passion is really, really important.
You may also like: 10 Money Mistakes you MUST Avoid In Your 20’s (in college, especially)
You may want a passion that helps you forget your struggles, not a passion that creates new ones.
As we just said, when life gets hard, a passion is always the way out… even for an hour. The first purpose of a passion is to forget your everyday life for as long as performing your passion lasts. You want a passion that helps you forget about the world: sing, dance, run, cuddle your cats (yes, it is a passion and no, you can’t monetize your cat… well, I hope not).
You may also like: How to: enjoy learning and learn for FREE.
I hope that today’s post helped you put things into perspective. I really think we live in a sick society. Of course, we all need money to live and I would advise absolutely anyone to save money as well in case of emergency. However, our whole entire life does not have, and should not, be turned toward acquiring more money. You have so much more wonderful moments to live and new things to experiment. If you have a passion, consider letting it be as passion is far better for your heart than for your bank account, and it has things to offer that money will never buy.
The English-speaking Frenchie 
Leave a comment