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Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

shant.nu

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Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#181

Post by pseudonym0us »

lynx23 wrote: post #179
pseudonym0us wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the typical nerdy polyglot, having dabbled in a two-digit amount of programming languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect > But I somehow always knew, if I had to do this 8 hours a day, for projects I am likely not intrinsically motivated to work on, I'd likely hate it after a few weeks You just play with programming languages on the surface. Programming is something different and chances…

Wait, I have never said anything about my supposed abilities or self-perceived performance regarding programming. How come you are diagnosing overconfidence from afar, without knowing anything beyond the few lines I've written? Being slapped with that link without any further comment feels quite out of place to say the least. Besides, this posting was about deliberately having decided to not become a programmer profe…

>Wait, I have never said anything about my supposed abilities or self-perceived performance regarding programming

How come? You said you are a ‘polyglot’.

Human language polyglots are geniuses who know several languages on a decent level. If you checked several courses on Duolingo, chances are you are not one.

The same applies to programming languages.

Maybe, stop calling yourself a synonym of ‘genius’ to avoid receiving references to Dunning-Kruger effect.

>How come you are diagnosing overconfidence from afar, without knowing anything beyond the few lines I've written?

Few lines are enough to see inconsistencies in your words and realize that I was in your shoes.

The only difference is that as a script-kiddie “having dabbled in a two-digit amount of programming languages“ I decided to give it a try and shifted to programming in my career. It’s not what I thought it was, so I cleaned out my closet from amateurish illusions, focused on 2 languages and I’m quite satisfied with my job.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#182

Post by bearmode »

Turning something you do for fun into something you do to survive has always been a great way to sap the enjoyment out of it.

I've been told numerous times over the years to turn my photography into a business. Or my baking. Or my cooking. Or to start music tuition. I can't think of anything I'd hate more.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#183

Post by bearmode »

Timpy wrote: post #73

I read a comment on hacker news that I cannot find now, but it resonated deeply with me. Don't try to answer the question "what do you want to be?", answer the question "what do you want to do?" I answered the wrong question, I said "I want to be a musician". And what I did was teach music I didn't care for, perform music I didn't care for, work for people and gigs I didn't care for, made a salary I didn't care for.…

Yep. I have been told numerous times to start a bakery, or a photography business, or to open a restaurant, or start a music tuition business.

But none of the hobbies that sparked those comments would stay enjoyable if I did that.

So I'm a full-time programmer, and have tons more fun with those hobbies now than I ever would if I turned them into a career.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#184

Post by wildrhythms »

brianpan wrote: post #103
uncertainrhymes wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've met many people who love beer and think they should start a brewery. All I can tell them: I hope you like cleaning. Really like it, because that is what 90% of the job is.

This is how I felt when I got one of the original Roombas. It's great if you don't like vacuuming but really like robot cleaning and maintenance.

Yup. By the time you've gone around and meticulously picked up anything that might upset the Roomba you might as well have just rolled a vacuum behind you and done it yourself.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#186

Post by Timpy »

LegitShady wrote: post #157
Timpy wrote: post #73

I read a comment on hacker news that I cannot find now, but it resonated deeply with me. Don't try to answer the question "what do you want to be?", answer the question "what do you want to do?" I answered the wrong question, I said "I want to be a musician". And what I did was teach music I didn't care for, perform music I didn't care for, work for people and gigs I didn't care for, made a salary I didn't care for.…

The issue is that that “main gig” dominates your time. I get up early in the morning to commute to work. I spend 8 hours at work doing what main gig requires. I commute home. If I’m super lucky, as well has having no family or social obligations, and I don’t do any cleaning or chores, I get 3-5 hours to both relax and work on side gigs. Then I’m getting ready for bed or doing one of the other things I have to do to s…

To some extent I agree. I taught guitar while I was in undergrad for my music performance degree, and having a guitar in my lap and reviewing the absolute basics with kids was way better than making pizza or pouring beers to make a paycheck like the other guys in my studio were doing. It gave me an edge that I'm grateful for, and being able to practice between lessons was insanely valuable.

But I have to reiterate that for me it translated into unhappiness when I got to the playing/performing/writing/networking loop. Those between-lesson practice hours became directed at making more money and not making myself better in a way that fulfilled me. So I kept grinding on my programming career until I had the work/life balance that I needed and now I don't feel too drained to enjoy my passions when I get home. It sounds like we have different goals though, because my definition of "taking the music gig forward and advancing" is probably unconventional. I'm not telling anybody what to do, I'm just saying that I had the same experience the article describes and it was a great growing experience to learn from.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#187

Post by sshine »

doubled112 wrote: post #59
sshine wrote: post #58

> His formula was, in a nutshell: Create training courses and sell them to others, just as he was doing. And at least one of us made big money (hint, it wasn’t me). There is something special about courses about getting rich by making training courses about anything non-self-referential that attracts a lot more suckers than the “real” training courses.

Any get rich quick scheme is probably a scam. If it was as easy as, say, follow this formula, wouldn't we all be rich? Instead, to get rich quick, it is likely best to prey on people who are probably already broke and desperate, but we can't all be sociopaths.

You don't have to be a sociopath to fall for this.

"Make online learning material about stuff you know" doesn't seem like a shady endeavour.

It is a very recommendable activity, especially if you happen to like teaching.

But I would never bet on getting rich from doing it.

I think it's only borderline scammy; game-theoretically you can say that it's a losing game for certain parties, but I don't think that makers of the kinds of learning material that is profitable are evil, just because it's profitable for recursive reasons. From their perspective they're just having luck because everyone wants to know how to make videos, how to talk, how to structure things, and what sites pay well.

It's like drop-shipping: This is a great idea if it weren't because the profit margins get eradicated by everone doing it.

Some cities arose around healing springs; the traffic alone could sustain roadside businesses that eventually formed cities. Maybe the spring didn't cure cancer, but does that make the roadside hotdog vendor shady?

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#188

Post by cushychicken »

gadders wrote: post #180
cushychicken wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author of ISMM, Don Lancaster, just passed away earlier this week. He was also an electrical engineer by trade, and made a good chunk of bread in the 70s and 80s by self publishing books like The TTL Cookbook and selling them by mail order.

Sorry to hear that. He seemed like a good dude just from reading his ISMM.

He had a long and rich life, and was in his 80s, so I'd celebrate him as a life well lived.

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#189

Post by systems_glitch »

glitchcrab wrote: post #112

Am I the only one who detests the term 'creative' as a noun? It seems to have come into being in the last few years and I just hate it. It feels like if you're not a creative then you're not creative. We're all creative in some way, so calling yourself 'a creative' is just daft.

Feel the same way about "maker."

Re: Turning my hobby into a business made me hate it

#190

Post by kagevf »

edmundsauto wrote: post #135
jrockway wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with that. If you make what you want, you at least have one user. If you make what you think other people want, you might end up with zero! Nobody wanted an open-source Unix-like OS, a keyboardless touch screen with third-party apps, a mini hard drive with a display and headphone jack tacked on, maps that could be infinitely panned instead of clicking arrows, etc. But they ended up being some of the defini…

Nobody wanted those products but they did want the problems solved that those products addressed. IMO, focus on the problems - those often exist before the solutions have manifested.

Excellent point!
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