Should I follow my passions or go towards following what will help me make a living?

I have a son about to go to college and we've been having the same discussions with him. Your job is where you will spend the better part of your waking hours, so it's important that you like it (or love it) at least sometimes. So don't pick anything you hate. But pick something practical, because if you are doing something you love and it doesn't pay the bills, and you are often stressed about how to make ends meet, that job you are so passionate about won't alleviate the stress. Find a way, perhaps to incorporate your passions into a side thing, or something you do outside of work. Also, keep in mind that happiness is a combination of everything in your life, including where you live, your family and friends, time and ability to pursue the things you enjoy - sports, travel, hobbies, etc. A job you like well enough, combined with general satisfaction in these other areas, will lead to a contented life. Hopefully. Good luck.

This is a tough question that I think many of us grapple with.

First, that advice might be worth double checking on. Based on some light research, the national averages for a photographer's salary are around $45k, and for architects it's more like $80-100k, depending on your source. They are both pretty reasonably paid positions.

Life is short, and if you can spend it doing something that you're passionate about and get paid for it at the same time, that's amazing.

Of course, every job has bad days or bad periods, if you're an architect but your boss or clients are awful, it's probably going to be hard to feel the passion, even if the work itself would otherwise be a blast.

There's also a question of how much money you really need. A life spent doing things that don't feel like work is it's own form of payment, and if you've got food and shelter, maybe that's enough! But if your dreams are of doing work you're passionate about and being wealthy, that becomes a harder target to hit.

A passion for photography and design can be a great asset for many kinds of jobs that are more commercially viable as well, so that might be another angle to explore.

Follow your passions when determining your career path. If you do something that you love, your job will never feel like work! Be creative and think broadly to find how your passion can provide you financial success. Sometimes there is a balance between completely following your passion and finding the right job to gain your financial success.

MyI started as a Microbiology technician, I thought it will be my passion for my living but after a year working as a technician I found out that what really interested me was management and technology on a day to day basis. My first passions where not the one I should do for a living, I still do Microbiology studies and research for my hobby but my everyday enjoyment is apassion that I didn't know when I started to work.

I started as a Microbiology technician, I thought it will be my passion for my living but after a year working as a technician I found out that what really interested me was management and technology on a day to day basis. My first passions were not the one I should do for a living, I still do Microbiology studies and research for my hobby but my everyday enjoyment is a passion that I didn't know when I started to work. My advice would be follow your passions without hesitating to change as much as needed to wake up everyday happy to go to work.

I started as a Microbiology technician, I thought it will be my passion for my living but after a year working as a technician I found out that what really interested me was management and technology on a day to day basis. My first passions where not the one I should do for a living, I still do Microbiology studies and research for my hobby but my everyday enjoyment is apassion that I didn't know when I started to work. My advice would be follow your passions without hesitating to change as much as needed to wake up everyday happy to go to work.