Recently I was contacted by a young alumna from my college who requested advice on breaking into the movie business. This woman was different from the usual newbies in that she was contemplating a big career change. She was a successful investment banker who wanted to leave her job and chase her dream of becoming a creative producer of independent films. So, I started out warning her as others have done for me when I first started – if you can make a living doing anything else and don’t hate yourself for doing it, then don’t build your livelihood around film as it is such a difficult and mercurial business.But in saying this to her, it got me wondering whether following one’s true calling and being able to make a living at it is a luxury or the only way to be truly successful at anything. (Following one’s calling while being funded by parents/spouses/sugar-parents doesn’t count as there’s no skin in the game) Some happiness theorists, consider this experience of being so positively connected to one’s work that you lose all sense of time aka “flow” as a critical component of achieving satisfaction in life (along with strong personal relationships). Granted we all need to work to cover the basics of food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and kids for some. But to what extent is work a means to an end vs. a basis for our sense of purpose in life? Do you work to live or live to work? Or maybe both?
DHH: My 16 year-old son and I were just talking the other day about career choices. He said, “I think I’d rather do something I like than something that makes a lot of money.” I explained that, when I first started wanting to write plays, I didn’t expect to make money from it, and certainly never expected to have shows on Broadway. If you do something you love, you’re more likely to work hard, achieve more, and it won’t feel like work. Then, at some point down the line, there’ll be a decent chance you can find a way to make some money from it.
Work and life, in my view, are inseparable. We spend a huge part of our lives working, right? So a good work life is a huge part of having a good life.
