Today, a year later, the feeling is not really the same. And it comes down to a simple problem: money. I don’t mean that my bank account is empty. The startup is just not (yet) profitable, not until it becomes mainstream. And because I’m not in Silicon Valley nor NYC and I don’t have many connections, telling investors that the startup makes no revenue is a joke to them. Even if it would get investment, most investors would typically push me to make money as soon as possible.

With or without investors, I’m stuck with trying to squeeze out money from the startup. Recently, we came up with a new idea, an alternative for making money which is business-wise interesting and has good potential, but I have no interest in it. I don’t like it. I don’t want to do it.

The original startup’s concept is simply not sustainable at the moment. And sustainability is what it’s all about. If what you love to do cannot keep you alive and pay your rent, it’s doomed to be temporary. That doesn’t mean temporary things in life are not worthy, it just means you should keep this piece of information in mind.

Except for really rare cases (and you shouldn’t think you are one), doing what makes you happy is unsustainable. There’s always someone paying the bills. So if you’re happy doing what you love, probably there’s someone paying your bills by doing something profitable that they don’t love to do. At the end of the day, all of us go to the supermarket, where the people working there probably don’t love their job. You could abstract away from that example, but ultimately the whole world goes to work because they have to.

Sustainability is normally a necessity, not a desire.

Now this is not to discourage you nor to paint a picture that everyone is dissatisfied with their jobs. Not at all. When I woke up tonight, all I wished is that honest friends and people would have given me the following advice.

Rather than doing what you love,

just don’t do what you hate.

Dismiss those possibilities that clearly suck the life out of you, and choose something that you know will not be a burden for you. Probably it won’t be your dream job, but it will give you mental and financial stability to do what you love on your free time. It will give your passion some solid ground to build upon.

Don’t let your passion die by becoming “work”. Rather let your passion come alive supported by your work.

These are my 2 cents to myself. I hope it was useful for you too.