How to make money doing what you love

ANINDITA PAUL theguide@ mid- day. com ACCORDING to a u0013 u0012 u0011 u0010 survey, three out of every five Indian employees hate their jobs. And while their reasons for chronic clock- watching at the workplace can vary from unpleasant colleagues to long working hours, a significant proportion of these dissatisfied workers claim that they simply donu2019t love what they do.

Develop a toolbox of skills In his book, Deshmukh describes the first three to four years of your career as the u2018 backpacker phaseu2019. This, he says, is the starting point of your career where you use the lessons learned from your college, internships, training period at your first job and your probation period to discover your competencies and your shortcomings. You will also learn to build saleable skills. In this phase, he recommends trying your hand at as many different kinds of tasks and assignments as possible. u201c Get feedback from managers and peers who can help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, sweet spots and areas that need improvement,u201d he adds. Harsh Vaidya, the . . - year- old founder of Tree Box shares a similar view. u201c After my first MBA, I started working with then one of the best real estate companies as a brand manager. I then pursued another MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and eventually took up a job as a senior brand manager.

Evolve with your interests u201c People evolve and grow all the time,u201d says Deshmukh. Accordingly, the things you may have found compelling in your u0013 u0012 s may no longer bring you joy in your . u0012 s. Conversely, you may have developed new skills and abilities that make it far easier to pursue a career in the field of your choice. Writer and filmmaker Michael Burns explains, u201c I made documentary films until I became interested in writing. I now teach writing in my own company as well as at Flame University, Pune. While I have always believed that storytelling is the superpower of our species, I was initially drawn to the visual side of stories and accordingly dabbled in film- making. With time, I became more interested in the nuances of creative writing and also found that there exists a massive market for teaching because, sadly, there is a lot of bad advice out there on how to write,u201d he says. At the same time, he warns that there are no guarantees. u201c While I love my work and students, and my clients value the observations and advice I give, if something were to change, I would find another outlet to channel my passion for storytelling and nurture that with the hopes that I can share and thereby sustain myself,u201d he says.

Fashion stylist Sonali Gadiya says, u201c When it came to choosing my career path, I thought back to a form Iu2019d filled out in the ninth grade.

In it, Iu2019d proposed three future achievements u2014 building a career in fashion, writing and psychology. This gave me some idea of my broad areas of interest. At the age of u0011 . , I had already begun working as a celebrity fashion stylist, while studying psychology and English literature.

I had also begun content writing and an advanced course in French. Eventually, I settled on fashion. Iu2019d also recommend seeking the guidance of a mentor u2014 I worked with a few stylists in my formative years until I was confident about branching out by myself. Itu2019s also important to not wait too long. While pursuing your full- time job, you can take up individual assignments in your spare time and develop your skills, reputation and network,u201d she says. Deshmukh calls these gigs your u201c Sunday side hustlesu2019u201d or your passion projects. u201c It helps if you can also monetise these projects. In fact, studies say that no matter what industry you choose to build your career in, youu2019ll eventually get bored. As the markets keep changing, the jobs that are in demand today might not exist tomorrow. This can make you anxious and fearful about losing your job. All this can be negated if you have more than one source of income. Mental and financial security is the first step towards pursuing other things,u201d he says.

Donu2019t be blinded by finances In his book, Deshmukh writes, u201c For the first few years at least, keep earning money off your hobby on the back burner. If you start thinking about how much money you could make from the very beginning, you might instantaneously limit your options, and you might not find the thing you love, or it may not remain your passion for long. You may even subconsciously try to find things that you could make money out of, but are not passionate about. This will eventually make you unhappy because it will become a chore. Add this to your life on top of an unhappy job and it becomes a recipe for disaster.u201d Shivani Patel, founder of . . Piano Academy, agrees with this observation.

u201c I had completed my masters in communication and worked in the Corporate Communications team of a bank for close to three years.

While pursuing my studies, I would teach music to the partners and children of my professors after lectures.

Word of my work as a music teacher got around. This inspired me to pursue music full- time even when I was barely making anything from it.

With time and by developing unique offerings with my brother Vivek, our venture began to thrive. Over the last couple of years, we have been featured on various platforms and have grown exponentially. It is also important to periodically evaluate what you are bringing to the field as a professional. If you lose sight of this, you will invariably falter,u201d she says.

How to make money doing what you love SELF DREAM JOB Chandan Deshmukh Michael Burns Sonali Gadiya Shivani Patel Finding fulfilment in your job and being financially comfortable are not necessarily mutually exclusive, says a new book on the topic.

Readers share their insights on what it takes u2018 The skills and know- how from my education and professional stints helped me device and build an innovative business modelu2019 Harsh V