Throughout my life, I've had some great advice and some howlers too but not many bits of advice that seemed crazy initially but with time and experience turned out to be correct. As I think about it I'm leaning towards the school of thought I call the twin terrors of life wisdom. Getting a Real Job versus Following your Passion. And early on I was faced with this quandary.

Years ago, I was sitting in my college's Career Adviser's office and my overactive imagination is in full effect. I can't remember the adviser's name but he was an odd fellow. He had a skin condition that could have been eczema that made him look lizard-like with inflamed pink skin and droopy grey eyes. Flakes of dry skin speckled his shirt collar and I think he's about to shed his skin. He speaks and I'm checking to see if the tongue flickering in his mouth when he speaks is human or reptilian. But he is the go-to guy at my colleague and he was known not to suffer fools lightly. I give him my spiel about wanting to write and be a part of the creative class doing something meaningful. He looks at me with those dead eyes and a mixture of disgust weariness, having heard it all before.

'Get a real job," he said. "Following your passion is for Bohemians and hippies. Start at the bottom and through hard work ascend the ladder.' He paused dramatically.'Tesco would be a good fit.'

What the f...k! Packing shelves in the ubiquitous British supermarket chain was not a part of my plans for world domination.

'Tesco?' I spit, my ego and youthful exuberance kicking in.

'You sir, 'he said ominously. 'Are not too good for Tesco.'

My mom would have something to say about that and I couldn't help wondering if he recommended this career path to my English peers too. Suffice to say, I didn't take his advice. Subsequently, I did have a few 'Real Jobs' and his words stuck with me throughout. Looking back on it,  I’m ashamed to say, it did have an impact on my later decisions.I kept migrating from job to job thinking the fulfillment I required would be found in any one of them. I even had substantial financial success going for the money and not the passion.

It just didn't last and neither did the sense of achievement.

We learn our greatest lessons when things get rough and that was certainly the case for me. All I'm saying is. you shouldn't  follow your passion without asking yourself some pertinent questions especially if you expect it to maintain you financially. That means your passion needs to be something the marketplace requires and something only you can provide. So my career adviser was right after all. Following your passion blindly is not the way but neither is a traditional JOB. You need to be an exceptional practitioner of  that  passion and create or find a marketplace for it.  Writing has put all of that in perspective for me. Somehow, I've been blessed enough to have a Real Job that works in partnership with my passion. So far it has allowed me to patch together a financial living while I enjoy the journey to financial independence one day, 

My book recommendation this week is Andrew Mathews - Follow Your Heart.  One of the most down to earth and immediately actionable books on finding purpose and passion in your life.

Hope it helps.