Not Every Hobby or Passion Needs to Become a Money-Making Hustle

You can do something you love, just because you love it.

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Earlier this week, I received an email from a reader who’s at a crossroads in her creative path. She had recently followed her heart’s calling and started publishing her writing online. And while she’s thoroughly enjoying the writing process itself, she’s paralyzed by the confusion of what to do next.

To capitalize on a creative hobby that brings her joy?

Or to keep it for what it is, a soulful conduit for radical self-expression?

“But even though I thoroughly enjoy writing, there are moments when I feel completely lost and wonder where is my writing taking me. Is it okay to feel this way? I never knew that I could be a writer. But now when I do, I feel I belong here, in the world of words. But which direction will it take leaves me demotivated at times; I don’t know if I should make it my career or only pursue it as a hobby.”

While these are her exact words, it baffles me how I too was in her exact same situation less than a year ago. I too was at the notorious crossroads between hobby and hustle, deliberating which path I must take.

This makes me wonder: How many of us struggle with this pressure to turn our…