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"Ilya Pozin is the founder of\u00A0Open Me\u00A0and\u00A0Ciplex.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nConventional wisdom says you should make your passion into your career so you\u2019ll never work a day in your life. But what happens to your hobbies when they suddenly become your 9-5? Can you keep the fire burning for your passion when it becomes your bread and butter?\r\nEmbracing your passion and turning your hobby into a career might sound great, especially if you\u2019re burnt out in your current profession. In fact, the Deloitte Shift Index survey found 80 percent of employees are dissatisfied with their jobs. This is backed up by the recent survey from Gallup, which found 70 percent of workers are disengaged at work.\r\nTurning to your hobbies can seem like the obvious answer to your career woes. But will it ultimately make you happier at work, or will it make you more miserable in the long run?\u00A0\r\n\r\nThe creativity gap\r\nThe inaugural Creative Jobs Report found something fairly unsurprising: most employees want more creativity in their roles. In fact, 55 percent of respondents said they dreamed of leaving their current role for a more creative self-employed route.\r\nIn addition, 36 percent want to quit their current jobs because of uncreative roles, and 29 percent would be willing to take a lower salary if it came with increased creative time.\u00A0\r\nWith creativity in high demand but unfound in many workplaces, more employees are turning an interested eye on their hobbies instead. After all, why not get paid to do something you enjoy? Since many career paths aren\u2019t making room for creativity, workers are beginning to dream of the day they can leave their 9-5 behind and turn their hobby into a money-making empire.\r\nBut is this a wise idea?\u00A0\r\n\r\nWhy your passion\u00A0should stay a hobby\r\nIt\u2019s important to have passion for your career, but this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it\u2019s smart to turn your hobby into your full-time job. In his book, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, author Hugh MacLeod devotes a whole chapter to the career-hobby divide.\r\nIn a chapter titled, \u201CBeware of turning hobbies into a job,\u201D MacLeod cautions against turning what you love doing on your off-hours into what you\u2019re forced to do in your 9-5.\u00A0\r\nWhile there are advantages to turning a hobby into a full-time gig, many people don\u2019t ever stop to consider the disadvantages. It\u2019s possible the reason you love your hobby so much is because there\u2019s no pressure associated with it; you can pick it up or put it down whenever you want. There\u2019s nothing depending on you making the perfect birdhouse or writing the perfect blog post since you don\u2019t have much money riding on your creative endeavors.\u00A0\r\nOnce you incentivize your hobbies with cash, however, you might find you begin to enjoy them less and less. Suddenly, your hobby isn't just a creative pursuit you use to stretch your mental muscles and blow off steam, it\u2019s the way you bring home the bacon.\r\nThis stress and pressure can eventually lead to the same type of dissatisfaction you have with your current career path, and you\u2019ve also lost a hobby in the process.\u00A0\r\nFor hobbies which involve high levels of creativity, you should also consider whether you can keep up the steady creative output necessary to thrive. If your new hobby-turned-career depends upon smiling muses or a creative lighting strike, you might be surprised when turning bursts of creativity into daily practice dries up your well of inspiration.\r\n\r\nInject some creativity into your career\r\nCreativity is important to all industries and jobs, whether you\u2019re writing music, writing code, or filling out tax returns. Instead of throwing your career away to chase a hobby you might eventually come to dislike, here are a few ways to inject some creativity back into your career:\r\nChallenge yourself\r\nPerhaps the problem isn\u2019t your job so much as your own complacency. It\u2019s easy to get comfortable in your career and stop striving for development and growth.\r\nInstead of throwing in the towel because you\u2019re bored, challenge yourself to tackle new workplace obstacles. Ask to be put on a big project at work which scares you. Look into opportunities for professional growth and continuing education to learn about new and exciting aspects of your industry. Task yourself with learning something new, and see if the challenge revives your flagging creative spirit.\u00A0\r\nStep outside of your box\r\nIt\u2019s easy to get pigeonholed at work, especially if you\u2019re good at a particular aspect of your job. Talk to your boss or managers and ask to expand your job description to include some new aspects. See if you can work with a new department or on a project you don\u2019t know much about.\r\nBy stepping outside of your comfort zone, you\u2019ll have to use creative problem solving to get the job done.\u00A0\r\nBring your hobby to work... occasionally\r\nDepending on what your hobby is, it\u2019s possible you might be able to occasionally incorporate those skills into your job. If you love to write, perhaps you can be the one to draft copy for a big project. If you rock out with your band on the weekends, maybe you can provide music for marketing videos.\r\nNot every hobby will be able to help you in the office, but by incorporating your part-time passions into your current position, you\u2019ll have creative satisfaction without the risk of ruining your hobby.\r\nIt\u2019s possible to turn your hobby into a full-time career, but sometimes this path is more attractive in theory than reality. Instead, try to inject some of the creativity and passion from your hobbies into the workplace - and wake up every morning feeling inspired.\r\nDo you think your hobby should also be your career? Why or why not? Share in the comments!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/05/12/hobby-job/>