I trained as an electrical engineer. Worked for a few years in the semiconductor industry. I hated every moment of my degree, I hated every moment of my work. I was good at math and physics in JC and EE was just an obvious choice. I also came from a humble background so money was a consideration. I made the transition to software, hated it less but I still loathed the work.
Few years ago, I decided to quit everything and started my own indoor farm. I am excited to go to work everything and it is a feeling I hope most of you reading will feel at least for a few years in your life. I don’t want to go into specifics but we raised $5M last year. Because of the type of crops we chose, and clever decisions we made by focusing on produce and not so much on automation/tech, we make very good money out of this. We are profitable, which is very rare for high tech farms.
I wouldn’t go back to EE or SWE even if you doubled my current income. I now generate more than double in profit than my last drawn income working for a FAANG company. The only difference, as far as I can tell, is my passion for watching my plants grow.
The other reason why following your interests, provided you’re not evidently bad at it, is because you can keep at it for far longer. Time is needed to get good. But if you hate what you do, it’s really hard to convince yourself to want to become good at something. Passion is needed to really dig deep into any subject.
If you are like me, i.e you’re naturally good at something you really hate, then you need to decide whether it is ultimately worth it to keep doing it for the money or whether you need to find a different path. I don’t think it is very common for people to be good at what they hate although I have met a few.