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Passion Projects vs. Paying Projects

Ivan Novak on August 15, 2023

We're builders. We build things. We explore tech, systems, and processes related to how we build things. We play with the stuff we find that intr...
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Ian Bonaparte

Ah this article speaks to my soul. I have been feeling like I don't have a purpose lately, and my job has been beating me down a bit. I always felt like I am an artist at my soul and was born to create..but the things I like to create don't pay the bills. I am making it a goal for the rest of the year to spend time creating things that I want to create, while also keeping myself from starving with my basic job :).

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Peter Witham

@ianbonaparte I am so right there with you buddy. Over the last couple of years I've felt my soul wanting more of the things I had to put on the back shelf as I got older and the bills got bigger.

In my case, my Photography has been non-existent the past couple of years almost. That is always great for kicking my motivation for all my projects of any type.

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Ivan Novak

That hedonic adaptation is real! (scary stuff)

Pick up the camera!

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Ivan Novak

Hard to argue with that goal, Ian.

Have to make some breathing room to do the things we love.

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Peter Witham

This is always a topic close to my heart. Navigating the map of need to do and want to do. We need both sides for sure, and choosing which gets the attention on any given day is always a struggle until the bill drops through the door.

No pressure, but I would dearly love to invite you to discuss this on my Podcast if you are interested. I always feel this is something that needs to get in as many ears and eyes as possible.

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Ivan Novak

Glad this one struck a chord @peterwitham

Happy to chat with ya Peter! Sounds interesting. Feel free to reach out. ivan [at] ivannovak [dot] com

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Artak Avetyan

Monetize Your Passion -- this is the bottleneck.
If you get paid for passion project, you found your market. Then if you want to be paid more, you start to attend workshops, courses and hire resources.

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Ivan Novak

Absolutely - scratching an itch for ourselves is one thing, solving our own problem is better, solving a problem for others (or for a market) is magic.

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Oluwafemi Paul Adeyemi

Pursuing one's passion is lovely! However, paycheck is the only language bills understand. This calls for balance indeed. This post is a must read for everyone.

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Ivan Novak

Thanks @opaul !

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Karishma Shukla

"Remember that your journey is always changing, moving, evolving. Today's passion project could be tomorrow's primary income source." - I wish. Thank you for the post. Didn't know I needed this.

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Paul Salamone

This needs to be sent to my brain everytime I go to bed late because i was debugging some weird library for my side projects when i should have been sleeping. thanks for the reminder!

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Ivan Novak

I’m sure there’s an app for that 🤪

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Fleszarjacek

Helpful

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PeacefulBlaq 🇳🇬🕊️

Awesome.

A very nice piece.

I love it.

Thanks for this.

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Ivan Novak

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

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Jamie Bowman

Notice how the author describes himself as "self-taught"? Developers who do this for fun because they have a passion for it always end up being the better ones.

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Kavin Kannan

Reading this article was a therapy. Beautifully written.

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Ivan Novak

I’m genuinely thrilled that it was meaningful to you! Thank you.

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Ingo Steinke, web developer

Thanks for your pragmatic and positive perspective! Even when we don't find enough time for side projects, there might be inspiring aspects to be found in what seemed to be "just for the money" before.