Years ago, when it came to career advice it was fashionable to spout platitudes like this one in particular: "Do what you love … and the money will follow".
Which, on the face of it, makes perfect sense. But how much does it really apply to those hundred of thousands of wannabe superstars of sport, stage or screen who absolutely adore what they're doing now, even if it’s just practising for later on - and would even love to do it for a living – despite all the additional admin and form-filling thrown in?
Sadly, the money, in their case, even if they did end up doing what they loved as well as filling in the appropriate forms and timesheets, isn't going to follow ... and never will.
The most notable exceptions to this rule, of course, are the celebs in their field. But the ratio of hopefuls to celebs runs at millions to one.
Other exceptions, though, would be people who've decided on high-level banking as a career. Here, though, the money doesn't really follow, because their working environment is so awash with the stuff they spend their working days wading through it. And unless they're not particularly brilliant at what they do, they can expect some super-sized bonus packages on an annual basis.
Actually, from what we've seen in the recent past, they don't have to be particularly brilliant - or even good - at what they're doing, because those bonuses just keep on rolling in. Following, you might say.
So unless you're aiming for a career in extremely high finance, doing the job you love might not bring in the money you're expecting to follow you … but at least there will always be the satisfaction of doing what you love - and that, in some ways, can be worth more than mere money.
Simply put, in the words of another bit of well-spouted career advice, "If you find a job that you enjoy ... you'll never have to work another day in your life".
Something to think about ...
