“Do what you love” sounds great - until you realize you don’t really know what that is. Especially in your 20s. And by 30, chances are it will have changed.
Here’s what I’ve learned from experience and from people wiser than me:
Don’t follow your passion. Build it.
Passion comes after skill.
You don’t get good at something because you’re passionate - you become passionate because you got good at it. This is especially true for developers. In the beginning, learning is hard and frustrating. But over time, passion grows with mastery.
Ask better questions.
Instead of “What do I love?” ask, “What do I pick up faster than others?” That’s your edge. Liking something doesn’t mean you’re naturally good at it.
“Find work that feels like play to you, but looks like work to others.” - Naval Ravikant
For me, that’s thinking, brainstorming, and talking about ideas. Writing helps me sharpen those skills. I’d gladly do it after a long day of work. That’s a good sign.
Getting the cause and effect backwards.
What you love now probably won’t be what you love at 40. Passion shifts. But skill compounds.
Work on what people already pay for.
Don’t just chase dreams - solve real problems. Society signals what it values through what it pays for. Your best ideas live at the intersection of what you're good at with what the world needs.
Jobs once said:
"Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do…. People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
Figure out what you want. Ignore the opinions of others. Do so much volume that it would be unreasonable to not be successful.