Do What You Love and the Money Will Come

Transcript:

Do what you love and the money will come. Raise your hand if you’ve heard that one thousand times.

Do what you love and the money will come. Is that even true?
I love to eat popcorn and watch old movies. I love to hike in the forest. I love to ride motorcycles, and dine at fancy restaurants. I’ve been doing these things for years and they’ve never brought my money.

But yet, I love what I do. I love my work.

What if “do what you love and the money will come” is missing the most important bit. “Do what you love for others and money will come.”

Just those two little words – for others – make all the difference between self-indulgence and service. Between a hobby and a career. Between fun and fulfillment.

Here’s the thing about being an artist: you can love your art with every fiber of your being, but if it doesn’t speak to someone else, if it doesn’t solve a problem or fill a need, or have the chance to be appreciated, it’s just therapy. And therapy doesn’t pay the bills.

So when is the right time to quit your day job? I get this question constantly from artists who are dreaming of that mythical moment when they can finally toss their name badge in the trash and declare themselves “full time artists.”

The answer isn’t what they want to hear: You quit your day job when your art is already making you enough money to live on. Not when you think it will. 

Not when you hope it might. When it already is.

Think about it this way: your day job isn’t the enemy of your art. It’s the patron funding your creative and professional development. It’s giving you the freedom to experiment, to fail, to find your voice without the pressure of having to sell every piece just to make rent.

The artists who succeed aren’t necessarily the most talented. They’re the ones who figure out the intersection between what they love to create and what others value enough to pay for. They’re the ones who learn to translate their passion into something that serves.

Look at any successful artist and you’ll see this pattern. They didn’t just follow their bliss into a void. They found where their bliss overlapped with other people’s needs or desires. Their passion became the vehicle for connection, not just expression.

So before you draft that resignation letter, ask yourself: Am I creating for myself, or am I creating for others?

 
Have I found the sweet spot where my joy meets someone else’s need?

 
Is my work creating a feeling that people will pay to have on their walls?

When you can honestly answer “yes” to those questions – and when you have the bank statements to prove it – that’s when you know it’s time to take the leap.

Until then, keep your day job. Let it fund your dreams. Let it teach you discipline and professionalism. Let it connect you with people outside your artistic bubble who might just become your biggest supporters.

Do what you love for others, and the money will come. It’s not as catchy, but it’s a hell of a lot more true.

My name is Crista Cloutier and you can find me at theworkingartist.com doing just what I love – serving artists like you.