Why following your passion isn’t great advice

“Outliers make for great inspiration…but lousy role models - Scott Galloway in The Algebra of Wealth”

There’s a quote Tim Cook said a while back: “Follow your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Plenty of people ask me how it is that I balance YouTube with a full-time job and other stuff going on in my life, and I usually say something to Tim’s effect. I enjoy making videos. So why am I telling you not to follow your passion?

Well it’s in the second sentence. I don’t do YouTube full-time, and I don’t see it replacing my full-time job anytime soon. YouTubPixel e is very much a side gig for me - if it makes money for me, great! But if not, I’m okay with that. And that’s because being a YouTuber is what I describe as a “romance job”. These are jobs that people tend to glamorise - think careers like acting, being a musician, and (recently) content creation. I’ve made a video addressing this already, but being a content creator is actually a tough job - you’re taking on the roles of full-time videographer, editor, writer, researcher, designer, brand ambassador, accountant, CEO, CFO, CTO all at once at the beginning! And having your income tied to the number of views you get each month isn’t the safest way to live your life - as Scott Galloway has said, the “risk-adjusted returns” of passion industries generally aren’t that great, since there are so many people who would love to work in them. There are plenty of YouTubers who are happy to work unpaid for the first 1-3 years; there are very few chartered surveyors who would agree to do the same.

Succeeding in a passion industry usually requires you to be in the top 0.1% of your industry. We’ve all seen those stats about how 94% of all podcasting revenue is made by the top 5% of podcasts. A similar story exists across music, YouTube, and cinema. Meanwhile, to succeed as a tax lawyer, you generally don’t need to be in the top 1% to do well. You just have to not suck, and maybe go a little above and beyond during your early years, which is a much lower barrier to entry. And I have to be honest with myself: as talented and hardworking as I might be, I’m probably not going to become one of the top 1% of YouTubers. Sure, it might happen, but it’s not the kind of thing you want to bet your livelihood on (unless you’re super passionate, in which case nothing I say in this email will sway you).

So what's the alternative? Well, according to Scott Galloway - who has an amazing book called The Algebra of Wealth I’d highly recommend checking out (see below) - the better approach is to do what you’re good at. Having talent and developing mastery means your accomplishments come faster, reinforcing your confidence, which then begets more achievements (you can notice the virtuous cycle emerging here).

As with most things, there’s nuance to this. Me saying “don’t follow your passion” is not the same thing as “do something you hate”. If you resent your industry you probably won’t develop the mastery needed to excel. But that doesn’t mean you need to be passionate about it. Enjoying it a little should suffice.

Whats New

Pixel 9 Pro Review

Super proud of how this video turned out. It was my first time using an Android phone in over 10 years, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The camera system is incredible - I’d go as far to say that I prefer the way photos look on the Pixel compared to the iPhone, but of course I still shoot all of my YouTube videos in Apple Log, which isn’t something the Pixel (or any Android phone) can currently do, so I’ll be sticking to the iPhone for the foreseeable future.

iOS 18 is out!

I feel like this was a huge year as far as iOS updates go. Even without all of the Apple Intelligence stuff (separate rant), there was a lot of low hanging fruit Apple addressed - being able to send scheduled texts, customise Lock Screen shortcuts, lock apps behind FaceID, view reminders in the calendar app, and much more!

Monthly Favourites

• Book - The Algebra of Wealth, by Scott Galloway. You probably noticed from my spiel above, but this isn’t your standard personal finance book. There’s no spreadsheets or fancy numbers, it’s more of a philosophical guide on how to approach things like work-life balance, spending, your career and much more. This might go down as one of the most life-changing books I’ve ever read.
• Articles - 50 Powerful Life Hacks, by Sahil Bloom. Always a fan of these types of newsletters, especially when the tips are actually useful.
• Apps - Pixelmator Pro. A solid alternative to Photoshop on the Mac, and what I use to create all of my thumbnails and graphic design elements. It's a £49.99 one-time fee instead of a monthly subscription, and has most of the functionality you'd want with a much cleaner interface.