I think it's a worthwhile question to ask from time to time.  It's good to keep in mind what one finds important, what is of value.  Work often isn't what someone really enjoys though, they work so they may do what they really enjoy.  It's probably best if someone doesn't despise what they do to bring in an income though.  I know for some people doing what they love isn't what they should do for a career.  By having the external motivator, they start to lose what joy the activity itself brought them.

I found the video to be a little too one-sided.  We all have to do things we don't enjoy, it's part of life.  It's also to remember to enjoy life too though.

I think there's a balance to be struck between doing what we like and doing what we have to do to pay the bills. I'm sure we've all known people who absolutely hate their jobs - who simply do them because of the money. For me, that's no way to live. I have a friend who is in that situation right now - he makes lots of money, but is so unhappy in his job situation. He doesn't like any of his coworkers or bosses, and doesn't find the job to be rewarding in any way. He actually told me once that he was somewhat jealous of me. Although I make a lot less money than him, I actually enjoy being at work. I make enough money to live comfortably and I find my job to be challenging and fun. 

If I had kids, I'd like to think that I would encourage them to both set realistic goals and do things that they enjoy. That might mean encouraging them to use their skills in ways that they might not have considered otherwise - for example if they were good at art I might encourage them to become an art therapist or a graphic design artist (and in their spare time they could do their own artwork). That said, I know from experience that kids rebel against their parents, so maybe the best thing to do is simply to be there for them - no matter what they decide to do.

This is where the saying 'Don't quit your day job.' may apply.

Balance. 

I do think that the primary focus for most people should be following their dreams - growing food or flowers, teaching children or adults, working in the healing professions, fighting fire or disasters, creating works of art, architecture, or music, raising children, sharing the faith.

Some of these are professions, but usually not the top paying professions.  And unfortunately, some will likely not even support your basic needs.  I know an artist - he paints beautiful oils that sell for several hundred dollars each.  It is his passion, something he devotes much of his time towards.  But he is also an orderly at the hospital - to bring home a paycheque and put food on the table. 

Money matters.  You have to be able to maintain a roof over your head and put food on the table.  But my advice would be - don't put making money as your goal or main focus.  Find you passion, follow it - but until you are established and confident that it will support you; DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

What's wrong with having a hobby you love, and having a job that you don't love but don't mind doing and it pays the bills?

Chemgal - there's a difference between having a job that you don't love and one that you truly hate (as my friend seems to do).

Doing what deeply engages you teaches you a lot about what you do-and-don't need.

It also gives you the space and the oportunity to become as good as you possibly can at whatever it is that most excites and interests you. 

I don't know how to put a monetary value of a minute of my life. You only get that minute once

I'm afraid my dad gave me this sort of spirit. He taught me quite explicitly to never do anything :for the money" because the cost to who you are and your what you are truly capable of is never worth it. He taught me to ask "why not?" rather than "why?" and that the journey is more important in the end than the destination. He taught me that freedom was as necessary as breath, that ethical integrity was preferable to food. That I can only serve one truth, and that truth has to be conscously, deliberately nurtured and kept alive.

So, at 66, I am still journeying, feel deeply joyous about life and have  why waste it? all sorts of things many people have not without ever having had a great income. 

I studied anthropology at university because one of the first books I remember reading was about the New Guinea Highlands and many of my friends were New Zealand Maori or Cook Islanders… and the way culture made people different fascinated me. My own background was my dad's Scotttishness and I loved bagpipe music but he wouldn't let me learn (although he was a good piper and a had been a pipe major) — he had too many painful memories of pioers he'd taught during the Second World War being killed or wounded to bear the sight of me with a practice chanter in my mouth. At the same time, I got sent to the Antarctic with the New Zealand Navy as part of my (compulsory) military training, I got very much into left wing political activism and paid my way through five years of university by washing dishes then ultimately managing a jazz nightclub. I loved all of this stuff… and went into journalism on a whim. It seemed to offer variety and "adventure". I had no training but had always enjoyed and greatly respected writing. All of the training was in-house, by the employer and I was lucky to be with the New Zealand Herald, we well-resourced, high quality national daily.

As a journalist, I met a number of very "important" people (some of them remarkably tedious) and a lot of very interesting "unimportant" people. I had a ball.

Then came Rupert Murdoch and I quit the ethics-free business plan he spread so virulently around the World. Principled journalism was maybe never completely to the fore, but Murdoch annihilated it. So, after messing about and having fun as a community newspaper editor, I got into "niche publications" where I could be the kind of writer I wanted to be and, as an unpaid hobby on the side,  founded a bagpiping magazine in New Zealand — a little thing but it gave me a sense of the piping world and a whole lot of ideas so, when I was asked to start a publication from scratch for the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, I leapt at the chance… provided I was free to look at and write about non-Scottish traditions: there are scores of them all across Europe.

So, without actually ever learning to play pipes, I was catapaulted into the midst of it and got to travel Europe in short, 2-3 week forays, three times a year: from the Baltic to the Black Sea, Ireland to the Greek Isles… in a dozen years or so, I spent maybe three or four nights in hotels: I couldn't afford them on the pay I was getting, not even of Romania. But I didn't need them.

The magazine became respected in the bagpiping and traditional music communities and I'd get invited to go here or there, or I'd persuade someone to invite me. II'd then get on a plane, be met at an airport by someone who may or may not speak English, plce myself wholly in his/her hands andbe immediately immersed in the culture — full-on, among people no better off and often poorer than myself: the music, the food, the booze, the values, the concerns, the history, the pride, the faith, the politics, the language… I slept on the floor of a ballroom in a derelict Imperial era Russian farmhouse on a straw-filled mattress with a whole family of non-English speakers around me… I have stayed in Soviet-era highrises in Eastern Europe with no hot water, on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean, in the homes of prosperous lawyers and local politicians, in a rather nice stone barn and in one or two tents… and I am still the vice-president of the Italian Bagpipers' Association. I was in Scotland, Italy and San Marino in September-October this year and, thanks to very dear friendships, my three-week adventure cost me less than $200 of my own money, and I'll earn rather more than than back from thne writing I'm doing now. I would have had to compromise relationships to spend more… 

The experiences I have had could not be bought.

They have all come about through involvement. They continue to draw me into excitement.

I have never put a cost on that involvement.

I have values that I live by and they are expressed in all the love I feel for my wife, daughter and grandchildren, and for my friends. But none of these have "costs" — they resolve into "paying: with time, with love, with loyalty and with doing my utmost best for these people whenever and however I can and wherever they are (and they are very widely scattered, believe me). In the same way, the returns are immeasurable. And life is an ongoing adventure… I have never found a "destination" and can't really imagine wanting to. I give myself to the extremes of idealism, love, beauty and adventure I can manage with my skills, aptitudes, energies  and health. 

So, no Kay, you CAN live for the sake of life itself… it does involve risk but it brings joy, a fulness of being and deep, long-lasting, true friendships. I'm not sure if anything, from destitution to some terminal disease could actually disillusion me in this… my heart is full, my meories are rich, my hopes abound, my faith excites me. So we'll see, but it's not something that worries me. I believe I am very incredibly, extraordinarily lucky… and I thank my parents for giving me that (and my wife for sustaining it!). I wouldn't know how to start translating that into the deadening, defeating language of a ledger.

AND I couldn't agree more with Alan Watts' video clip. I suggest it's only fear that holds anyone back, and fear is easier to overcome than any of us think (until we actually try). The only people for whom this advice would not work would be those who actually don't want to do anything, without realising that this is the same thing as death and that it's a symptom of fear. Fear is death.

This is becoming very nuanced as various people add their thoughts.  It is making for a good read.

One thing my friend has wondered is "What about the young person who wants to be a doctor or a vet  (just examples)?    Dreams like those require many years of schooling and it is an extremely rare person who can access scholarships to pay for that, which is, of course, in addition to the need to be sheltered and fed. 

The video addresses students graduating from college or university.  Many people don't have an opportunity to even go there - much less.  stay for long enough to complete a degree. 

I agree wholeheartedly with Steve Jobs! (And I think I ended up with a better deal!)

P.S. Kay: I worked part time and did a BA in five years as oposed to the usual three. I had a totally good time, washing dishes in a jazz club to begin with and working my way up to manager. For half of that time I also did compulsory military training. I didn't get to my longed-for postgrad oportunity till I was 55 and under-employed. By then, I had a rather better understanding of life, so got more out of it (though not a job).

Life is an adventure… and I really do believe anyone can do it well. Life isn't a creer. You don't need security… you need curosity, energy, passion and self-knowledge (and self-knowledge is far more important that self image or 'confidence' — life IS uncertain, no matter how you play it and coping well with failure is one of life's most important arts).

Unfortunately schools, colleges, social media and parents tend, each in their own ways,  to dumb these qualities out of kids. Wealthier kids are protected from experiences of failure, disappoinment and real need… which can make it difficult for them to know themselves… what they want or how to be resilient and resourceful, or how to really push yourself when your dreams seem just out of reach).

The essential skills and attitides are quite hard enough to come by and to sustain without feelin you have to waste time (your one irreplaceable resource) working in crap jobs to make other people rich when setting out to make others happy makes you happier still.