Midlife Malaise, Episode 5: Is that all there is?

Eight Words

A Dose of Reality

My new book, How to Do Life: Advice on life, work and the future is free, today only

 My new book, How to Do Life: Advice on life, work, and the future was published today. Today only, the Kindle version is free. I'd welcome your writing an honest review of it on Amazon. Here's the link to the book: https://smile.amazon.com/How-Do-Life-Advice-future-ebook/dp/B0BSD1L8Y1

Starting Out: You've graduated (or dropped out.) Now what?

You’ve graduated or dropped out. Either way, it’s your first September without the structure of school.  There’s no MWF 9-11 class to show up at (or cut.)

Now you’re supposed to be a grown-up. Now what? I offer a bit of advice in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Preachy Pleas: 20 entreaties a parent might issue

Many people say, "I wish I knew then what I know now."  A possible antidote to such laments is to consider the 20 parent-like pleas I offer in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Follow Your Dream?

I write my PsychologyToday.com article today as an antidote to the incessant polllyanism I see and read in the media.

These anecdotes about people who followed their dream are true. I've just  changed irrelevant details to protect my clients' anonymity.

Do You Know How to Be Practical? A Self-Assessment Tool

 In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer a self-assessment tool to help you decide if you want to be more practical and, if so, how.

Should You Follow Your Passion as Your Career?

This is the fifth in a series of five posts, each of which distills one of the presentations I made at the Commonwealth Club this month.

Many of us have deliberated whether to do our passion as our career or as a hobby. Most often, it's some creative activity: writing, performing, creating visual art, fashion but also could be environmentalism, journalism, etc.

The commonality across all of those is that they are popular passions and so supply and demand means that only a small percentage of wannabes will earn enough money doing their passion to even pay back their student loans, let alone to make a sustainable income.

But one size doesn't fit all. Should you pursue your passion as your main career? Or should you relegate it to hobby or sideline status? Perhaps these questions will help you gain some clarity:

1. If you pursued your passion as a sideline or hobby instead of as your main career, you'd be:

a) dissatisfied (30 points) 

b) somewhat satisfied (12 points)  

c) satisfied (6 points)  

d) very satisfied (0 points)  

2. If you pursued something other than your passion as your main career, what would you likely earn per year?

a) Less than $20,000 (15 points)

b) $20,000-50,000  10 points) 

c) $50,000-$75,000  (6 points) 

d) $75,000-$100,000 (3 points) 

e) More than $100,000  (0 points)

3. In the past year, how much have you earned from doing that thing you're passionate about:

a) More than $75,000 (15 points) 

b) $50-75,000  (12 points)

c) $25,000-50,000 (8 points) 

d) $5,000-25,000 (4 points)  

e) less than $5,000 (0 points)

4) Which best describes the feedback you've received from people with the power to pay you to do your passion:

a) A person(s) would definitely pay you a good-enough annual amount to do what you're passionate about (25 points)

b) A person(s) would likely pay you a good-enough annual amount to do what you're passionate about (15 points)

c) A person(s) would possibly pay you a good-enough annual amount to do what you're passionate about (8 points)

d) No one with the power to hire you has said they might pay you a good-enough annual amount to do what you're passionate about (0 points)

5. What percentage of people stably earn at least a working-class annual income doing your passion? For example,  database programming would get 10 points, fiction writing would get 0 points.

a) More than 75% (15 points) 

b) 50-75% (12 points

c) 25-50% (6 points) 

d) 5-25% (3 points)

e) less than 5% (0 points)

SCORING: Add up your points  The closer your score to 100, the more likely you'd be wise to pursue your passion as your main career.

My new book, "How to Do Life" is now available

I've just published my new book, How to Do Life: what they didn't teach in school.

Perhaps it's author bias but I believe it is an invaluable assemblage of ahead-of-the-pack ideas on career, relationships, money, health, education, and life's big questions, all in 142 crisply written, even mildly entertaining pages.

Many but not all of its ideas have been presented on this blog and on my website. The book presents them in a coherent package.

I've priced it at just $7.99 because I'm far more interested in being helpful than in making money.

I believe How to Do Life would be of great benefit to people of any age but particularly appropriate for someone just starting out.

HERE is the link to the Amazon page where you can buy it. Do note that the cover may be the one above or the one pictured on the Amazon site. (I can't control which.)

Both a printed-book and Kindle version are available.

I welcome your writing an honest review of it on Amazon.