What Would You Do For Free?

Over the weekend, my flatmate Dred and I decided to watch some feel good movies on Netflix.

The first movie we chose ended up as the opposite of feel good, to be honest. It was Due Date which starred Robert Downey and it pretty much stressed me all throughout.

The next movie we picked piqued our interest because it mentioned hedge funds in the summary (that’s our industry) and also because of the good looking lead (teehee).

It was called Waffle Street and it was about a guy who got fired from his finance job and decided that he wanted to shift to an honest blue collar career by starting out as a server in a waffle restaurant.

To be honest, the movie isn’t that fantastic but it’s a pretty good TV movie kind of feel-good movie, if you know what I mean.

The highlight of the film came towards the end when – spoiler alert obvs – a wise old man asked the handsome protagonist, who was hell bent on acquiring a restaurant, if he really loved the restaurant business.

“I see a life in it,” handsome protagonist replied.

“That’s not what I asked you,” wise old man interjected. “Do you love it?”

HP was very hesitant to answer the question. Finally he replied honestly. “No.”

They shared a long laugh. WOM admitted that he really loved grilling (which was his job), so much so that he was willing to do it for free.

“What do you love so much that you would do it for free?” 

This got HP thinking.

The movie ended with him not buying that restaurant after all. Instead he opened up his own business of giving financial advice to people, because he realized that was what he had loved doing so much, he often did it for free.

Well, that got Dred and me thinking too, so we decided to discuss the topic, sheet masks on our faces, as though we were writing movie reports for school, except that we didn’t really write it (until now, that is).

My answer came the next day, when I was suddenly presented with an award for excellence at my desk.

Normally people don’t get sashes, by the way, just a certificate and a $100 mall voucher. The sash was one we made for my teammate when it was his turn last month, and they decided to make me use it, too. 😅

“You’re a wonder” is a reference to our favourite Pokemon Go, when the best pokemon are appraised as “Your -insert pokemon name here- is a wonder! What a breathtaking pokemon!”

I’m not a high performer at work, to be honest. The reason why I was getting the award was for something unrelated to my role – promoting culture.

Somehow, even though it’s not in my reporting role, I had become the go-to for running video contests or putting together entries for global contests.

I didn’t really think that this was a big deal. These aren’t real accomplishments, because they are not part of my job scope, right?

But the big bosses noticed. And when you get noticed for doing something that you love doing so much that you do it for free, maybe it’s a sign that you could perhaps do well in that area.

And I realize that there was one thing which the wise old man should have mentioned in his advice – it’s not enough to love doing something, you have to be good at it, too because if not, how can you survive on it?

Okay, so you love to – sing, for example – that’s great, but if it won’t pay your bills, then I’m sorry, but you can’t quit your day job just to pursue it and be a financial burden to your loved ones – that’s not how to be a responsible adult.

So my revised question is this:

What do you love so much that you’ll do it for free, but you’re good at it that people will actually pay you for it so you can make a living out of it?

I know it doesn’t sound as romantic as the original line, unfortunately, but at least it’s more practical and grounded in reality. 😄

I think I may have found my answer, or have a clue. What about you?