Can Your Job Be Your Hobby?

What do you love to do in your spare time? Imagine if you didn’t have to wake up to an alarm tomorrow morning. Imagine waking up when your body is completely rested and ready to wake up. Imagine taking your time in the morning, not having to be anywhere. Imagine spending the day doing what you love. 

For the last two years, I’ve been spending most of my days pursuing my hobby. That hobby is helping people. I love helping people be the best they can be. My interest in fitness lends itself to helping people lose weight and get fit, while my interest in sport lends itself to helping teams and individuals succeed in competition. I also have a real extroverted personality and need to interact with people regularly. Teaching is a great profession for that and my favourite age group to teach is primary school because I get to keep in touch with my inner child. 

My other hobbies include outdoor adventure activities, travelling, going out with my family, watching movies and gardening. Overhauling my work life to suit my personal life has enabled me to feel more fulfilled day-to-day and do more of these things through the creation of my own schedule. It’s cost me plenty of time and money over the past two years but it’s been worth it to get to where I am. I still think I’ve got a ways to go because we haven’t been able to take a family holiday for a while but my projections show life is headed in a very healthy direction, across all areas of life - family, career, finances, health, spiritual, personal. 

Pursuing your hobby can be extremely rewarding but it can also be dangerous. Could you spend all day actively involved in your hobby? Some hobbies are more easily converted into careers than others. Can you easily make money from your hobby? It’s possible you love your hobby because there’s no pressure and you can pick it up or leave it whenever you feel like. What are the disadvantages? 

Considered the disadvantages and still determined to go ahead? Here are seven ways I’m making a living from my hobbies in order to not only follow my passions but to do so in a way that suits me and my family. 

Services

• Online products. Teach others how to do what you love by creating online programs. You could do this in person but by doing it online instead, or as well as, you’re leveraging your time and can help more people. 

• Write a book. This could be sold as an ebook online and I suggest that, but by writing a book (electronic or hardcover) you can leverage your time in the same way as an online product. Put all your knowledge on paper and put it out there for all to learn from. 

• Seminars. If you love public speaking like me, this is a great one. Find seminars on the topic of your hobby. Contact the event organiser and ask if you can speak. You can always organise your own but just be aware that there’s much more work that’ll be required of you. 

• Consult. Initially you might need to approach people to offer your services but once you get your name out there, the offers begin to snowball. Don’t fall into the trap of quoting based on experience, although you’ll probably need do offer some voluntary services to begin with. When you get the opportunity to quote for paid consulting, quote based on the value of what you’re providing. It’ll take time but hang in there. So often, the times when you want to give up are the times when an opportunity is around the next bend. 

• Coach. Take on a small group of people who want to learn how to do what you know how to do. I personally no longer do anything one-on-one. The price your client has to pay is so very often unsustainable and it takes a lot of your energy. Small groups are awesome because each person brings their own unique skills and experiences. Don’t underestimate the power of group knowledge. In group coaching, you provide the environment and the group provides the inspiration for each other. 

Products

• Fix things. If your hobby involves a product, you can bet it’ll need to be fixed at some point. I had a mate who loved technology. He saw a need when the iPhone was released to fix cracked screens. He was one of, if not the first, in our home town to fix broken iPhone screens. He would import all the little components and fix the screens of broken iPhones in his spare time. 

• Import. In a similar way to fixing things, you can import products and sell them brand new or second hand. Markets are popular places to start selling your imported items. 

Turning your hobby into your job comes at a risk. If you list all the the pros and cons and you’re still determined to leave your regular nine-to-five to search for something more meaningful, the rewards can be life-changing. 

What’s your hobby?

Share it with us in the comments section below.