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by dickeytk 2428 days ago
Work is the way you contribute back into society. Going to work and doing my job is my way of knowing that I'm giving back into the system that allows me and my family to live. I find it far more fulfilling than anything else.

Hobbies I hate. By definition I'm an amateur and I don't perform well. At my job, I get to exercise the skills I'm best at.

I can't do any old job though. I have to be able to trace at least a thin line from what I'm doing to the broader society.

I know this isn't a common opinion, but I encourage you to at least consider that work—while not fun—is at least a fulfilling way to spend your time. This should be the case regardless of what you do or how much you make.
3 comments
mkl 2428 days ago
> Hobbies I hate. By definition I'm an amateur and I don't perform well.

Depends. If no one else is doing that particular thing, then by definition you're the world expert. It doesn't matter if there are other people who could hypothetically do it better; they're not in the game.

I have a current hobby that most able-bodied technically minded people could do better than me (genetic joint condition), but as far as I can tell I'm accomplishing things no one else has.

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username90 2427 days ago
> Hobbies I hate. By definition I'm an amateur and I don't perform well.

Doing it as a hobby just means that you don't do it for money, not that you aren't good at it. For example often your hobbies overlap with your work. I program games as a hobby and program/design extremely performance sensitive things at my job, they overlap quite a lot.

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tasuki 2427 days ago
> Hobbies I hate. By definition I'm an amateur and I don't perform well.

If you love doing something (which is the origin of the word "amateur"), you're likely to be good at it. If you're a professional, it just means you get paid.

Amateurs care primarily about the pursuit itself, while professionals care primarily about their paychecks.

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Grustaf 2427 days ago
Well, unless you live alone or don't work at all, you will always be spending much more time working than on your hobbies, so you will inevitably be better at working.
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