Doing What You Love vs. Doing What Pays Better

Filipinos are hardworking people. When we find a job even if it does not suit our skills or passion, we still do it with all our effort. Inevitably, the employment system in the Philippines is not necessarily pro workers. Sometimes the skills and passion we have cannot always be aligned with our financial needs. This is why Filipinos succumb to high-paying jobs and sacrifice the craft that they love. In a nutshell, it is a choice between passion and money.

To weigh both points down, let us review their pros and cons of doing what you love and doing what pays better.

Doing What You Love

There are a lot of pros to doing what you love. You will never get tired of working since you are enjoying what you do. As the saying goes, “Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.”

When you adopt your passion as your work, you will never get tired. Focusing is not hard, you will be filled with positivity, and even setbacks will not hinder you to continue your work. Also, there is no point in doing something that you do not enjoy. It will only be a burden and it may affect your lifestyle, perspective, and relationships.

On the other hand, there are also cons to choosing a career that pays less. Especially for those who are financially lacking, it is better to have a job that pays better. Passion cannot feed your family. It cannot send your children to school. It cannot pay the bills.

To be fair, there are people who do their passion while being paid enough. Yet, the rising cases of underemployment prove that there are many Filipinos who are not in the field they wanted.

This is more prevalent in bachelor of arts programs than in science. Money is a necessity for us to live and sometimes sacrificing our careers may be the only option to get paid better.

Doing What Pays Better

Higher compensation is a great deal-breaker when it comes to finding a job. Many professions pay better than others. These professions are under the STEM and ABM strands. Engineering, accountancy, law, and medicine are some examples of high-paying jobs.

Careers in the field of communication, humanities, and social sciences, are statistically proven to have less compensation. People argue that any job can be learned and one just has to be patient enough to get the hang of a certain work. So long as it pays well, there is no need to complain.

Conversely, being in a field that does not excite you can be depressing in the long run. It is natural for people to find their life’s purpose. Most of these can be found through careers that you enjoy doing – not through careers that pay better. Things should not always be about money. We should also do what we do because we want it and enjoy doing it.

Realistically, what we end up doing in life is not always up to us. We all have different head starts. Some can pursue their passion right after they graduate, while others need to be practical and choose what pays better. It cannot be a conflict between doing what you love against doing what pays better if the circumstance left the person with no choice in the first place.