Joanne
Do you think it is worth dropping a high paying job to become a full time artist?
I know people say do what makes you happy if it's your passion, but what if I have a job that will set my whole future into place. Do I drop it and become an artist who is thriving and struggling to become a big time artist? #artist #jobs
2 answers
Austin L.
Austin’s Answer
Hi Joanne,
Interesting question. The whole "money vs. passion" question has been asked many times and it really is never as easy answer. Every person has different priorities in life as well as different drivers; what is important to me in life is probably different than what is important for you which makes it hard for me to say "you should do X and not Y". Whenever someone asks me this question, and believe me it happens often, I always advise that your life should not be zero-sum. By this I mean that you having a high paying job should not mean that you are without passion in life. You should be able to have BOTH a high paying job and engage in activities that make you happy. By looking at life as either one of two choices you are artificially limiting yourself from being engaged in things.
Do I personally believe that you should give up your career to become an artist, no...but I also don't believe that you should give up on being an artist either. Go ahead and continue working, but try and take art classes and paint in your free time. Life is about balance, being too heavy on one element is bad even if that one element is a successful career.
I hope this helps and I hope that you are able to find balance in your life.
Best,
Austin
Zeeshan Saeed
Zeeshan’s Answer
Its always great to follow your passion and your dreams but in regards to you question, if you are already having a substantial income then i would not suggest you to quit altogether & at the same time not advising to give up your passion for art. What i would suggest is to manage time and start investing at a micro level in you area of art. like for instance start by investing 15-30 min on daily basis and do it consistently & self review after like two month or a quarter & see if you are able to market the results to check if you are able to earn out of it. This will help in making sound decisions
All the best !!
Kind Regards