In The $100 Startup, you wrote about dropping out of traditional employment. Did your work on that book influence the new one, which is about finding meaningful work anywhere, whether on your own or in an established setting?
I did a lot of traveling and touring [for the book] and met a lot of people who crafted a dream job within a company or organization. I’m fortunate to be connected with a great group of readers, entrepreneurs, and people working regular jobs all over the world. I researched for a couple of years before I started writing [Born for This].
What did you learn about how people land their dream careers?
Some people felt very lucky, but it’s not just luck. Fortune and privilege certainly play a role. And then at the same time, most people make decisions and choices to get to where they are. I wanted to decode that process of making decisions. When you come to that fork in the road, how do you know which path to proceed on, and what do you do when you make a choice that isn’t the best for you?
Making bad choices is something most of us can relate to—and probably would prefer not to do.
The lesson is not just that it’s okay to make mistakes, but that they actually can benefit you. One way around having to risk it all is the side hustle [having a part-time business venture]. That aspect seems to be resonating with a lot of people. It helps people to think entrepreneurially even if they don’t want to be an entrepreneur.
Many people dream about being famous athletes, actors, or pop stars—but then there’s reality. How can we balance fantasy and the real world?
It’s a case of looking at all of our passions and interests and saying, “What here relates to things that other people also want that can bring value to some company or other people, and that’s how I’ll monetize it?” I interviewed the first female firefighter in Ontario, Canada. She’s been a firefighter for more than 20 years. That’s something that’s very meaningful—she’s saving lives—but obviously if you want to be a firefighter, there needs to be a real commitment. You can be passionate about all sorts of things, but it doesn’t mean that you can make a living from it. Some people are passionate about something that would make a better hobby than a career.
