There is no question that I have a passion for blogging and all things related to the Interweb – writing code, sharing knowledge, helping people, and building relationships.
The ideal that many of us strive for is to find work that we love while still being able to provide for ourselves and loved ones. Shortly after I began blogging, I have had the desire to see this passion become that work that I love to do and be able to provide for my family.
But at what cost does one pursue their passion?
With a full-time day job being balanced with three blogs and countless other side projects, there have been sacrifices made. Sacrifices by my family. Sacrifices by me. There has been some degree of success, building up to the point where my blogs earned nearly $10,000 in 2008, but it has certainly been a difficult road.
As much as I have tried to keep everything balanced, I have failed.
The late nights spent working on the blogs and various projects have been having a negative impact on my family.
So what does this mean?
Right now this means that I need to take a step back and focus on my family and life away from the Interweb. There is no timetable on how long I will be away but right now the cost of pursuing my passion is too high for me to continue on this path.
This doesn’t mean that I will stop pursuing work that I love, or that I will completely unplug. While I understand that stepping away will make it more difficult to build on what has been started here, this is something that I have to do.
Knowing all of you, I am confident that you will understand.
Before I go, I’d just like to say thank you to each and every one of you. The interactions that we have shared is what has made it so much fun to pursue this passion and that is something I truly cherish.
Thank you!
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Hello, You work very hard! congratulations.
I have that trouble too – my wife is on at me a lot lately to focus on the family. I have to give more time to them. Thanks for the post.
I think it is a very wise decision you have made Derek. I know we all can’t pursue our passions in life, for me personally, I always wanted to be a race car driver, that is my passion, I love cars, but in order to do that I would have to spent alot of money, and more than likely lose than make. So unless we are all rich, we can’t do exactly what it is we want to do.
Keep working hard man, because I know one day it will be worth it
Hello,actually dont complain much to others,I think family is my great treasure.
It is important to work a job that you love but is very important that you are financial satisfied with the work that you do. Potential problem is working hours. Many people do not think on that problem to start.
All too often do I hear that people cannot afford to do what they truly love. Its a shame because so many of us struggle with the same internal conflict- knowing that we are working at jobs we do not really care to do but only for the purpose of barely making the bills. As if we are slaves to money… Sometimes, our dreams and passions are just too big for our wallet and it sucks! It amazes me that you are able to do what you love and do what you have to and that you try to balance it out. If life effects your passion to the point were you are sacrificing what you need to do, then you are right- you should take a break. I feel your pain
I can see what you’re talking about, running three blogs can be very time consuming. I run a bunch of websites that are about my hobby cars, they are a pain in the butt to keep alive with traffic. It’s almost impossible to do it with a family or another job. I have found that making a schedule for your work can help. That way you don’t get stressed out. Good luck, so far I’m very impressed with your blog, has some great articles. Will come back to visit every now and then.
Doing what we love might be costly for awhile. But in the long run it would be more sustainable and more income generating. My brother-in-law loves photography and he spent a great deal paying for training and buying his photography equipment. It was costly and he almost end up selling them all. But once he learned the trade and skill – which would eventually happen because he loves doing it.
Now – he is doing good with it. Taking shots on wedding, houses, landscapes, and portraits.
Derek, I know exactly what you mean. So tell us, now that you’re back, did this give you what you wanted ? Fulfill your plans and dreams ?
Keep on keeping on, it only gets better
j henry´s last blog ..If you want to be one…
Focus on what you love to do. You can be in the position to be a champion if passion is your direction. It only gets rough from the start but if sustainability is your concern, just concentrate.
an extra 10 grand is not bad. You should just use that as vacation money with your family and then you can have the best of both worlds.
I think it’s really amazing that you managed to build up your blog to bring you $10,000 in 2008.
You could afford to take your family for some cool holidays in a nice hotel for that.
In a way to pursue your passion you always have to make sacrifices, but there are ways to make it up to the family.
Well done on making choices that mean the most to you. Have you ever thought of outsourcing all of your blogging work?
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