There are thousands or more articles and videos online promoting the idea that in order to succeed in life you must find something you love and turn it into work. Supposedly, if you do that, you will never work another day in your life, because you'll do something you really enjoy, and you'll even be paid for it.
That's a great idea in theory. I even wrote about it and promoted it multiple times in the past. I believed in it because it seemed that so many people were benefiting from it. I did my best to turn my passions into work, and make money while doing something fun.
I will not deny that there's a chance for that to happen.
Maybe you love writing and creating a blog will eventually help you make enough money to live a comfortable life, while keeping a fairly relaxing attitude towards work, never getting burned out, and never running out of ideas or encountering stressing situations.
Maybe you love coding so much that at some point you'll be able to do it for money without feeling stressed and unhappy like so many people who work in that industry.
Or maybe you love drawing so much that working in the art industry will work out well for you, and you'll work for fun while being paid really well for it.
The truth is that it rarely happens for people to get to the point where they are extremely well paid by doing something they love. It's even rarer for those people who do actually get there to never get burned out or tired of the activity they choose.
Finding something you love can be an extremely difficult process and it can quickly turn into something you dislike or get bored of in only a few months. The initial excitement can turn into boredom faster than you think. There's even a chance that you will eventually find something you really like doing, but you'll barely be paid for it, and then all the fun will turn into stress because of the lack of money.
What can work for you, and what worked for me as well, was to give up on the idea of making money doing something I loved and instead focus on making money, period. Instead of keeping on trying to make enough money to live a good life as a freelancer, which is something I wanted since I was 16, I gave up and found a job. I hated it, but I went there for 2 years and managed to get some money (although not enough) to fix some aspects of my life.
After two years I stopped going to that job, took a break for a few months and then, with the help of a very good friend I found another job in another country, where I'm currently in, and I'm spending most of my time there. I work as hard as I can for 8 to 9 hours a day, with a single free day, and I'm getting well paid for it.
I probably made more money in those two years, and in these past few months, working at these jobs, than I ever made trying to follow my passions. Besides, things are much easier simply because I don't have to worry about every single aspect of the workplace.
As a freelancer I had to be the one creating the concept for a product (be it an article, a video, or a design element), then create the product itself, upload it or sell it on different platforms, do the promotional materials myself, do all the marketing myself, then worry about taxes and all that while also hoping to make enough to be able to pay bills and buy food.
Focusing on making money and nothing else, leaving passion aside for a while helped me do just that - make money. I didn't make enough at first to cover all my needs, but overall, I had less things to worry about. All I had to do was show to work on time, do the things that I had to do, then come home, eat, spend a few hours on my computer, sleep, and repeat the same thing again and again until I got paid.
Pursuing what you love in the hope of making money is way more difficult than simply pursuing money and doing what you love in your free time, with the idea of making some extra money on the side.
Besides all that, there's one more benefit that you rarely see people talk about - not finding a job you love does not necessarily mean that you'll hate all the other jobs. Maybe you won't be the most excited person in the building when you get there, but it doesn't mean you'll hate it. Maybe you'll just like it, even a bit. Maybe you'll be quite indifferent and you won't mind the job itself as long as it pays.
This idea that you must find a job you love in order to be happy is a great thing when you already have all the money you need to cover your basic needs and pay for the things that are vital to a decent life. Then you can spend some of your time trying things out, failing, going from one thing to another and so on.
But when that's not the case, chasing happiness and the illusion of a job you'll love 24/7 can be tiring and stressful. Just finding a job you don't absolutely hate is enough. Then things might start to get easier.
Obviously, there are a lot of variables to take into consideration, such as the country you live in, and the region, the jobs available to you based on those variables and others, such as your education and your skills, and other more. But the main idea still stands - finding a job you don't hate that pays a decent wage should be the priority.
Your passion is important, but if it doesn't help you live a good life immediately, then that passion should be something you do in your free time. Otherwise, you might end up getting tired or sick of trying to do that particular things and not having enough money at the end of the month for rent, bills, food, and other necessities.