A job that interests you VS a job that earns you great money

It has been taken as gospel, by a group of people, to "do what you love to do" since Steve Jobs delivered his speech at Stanford in 2005. I was one of them, very inspired and fascinated by the picture of freedom depicted in his speech. However, later I found it is quite difficult to do what I love to do, not because the job is difficult but rather because the reality is cruel.

A frequent conflict occurred occurs1* between doing the job you love and making enough money. A job that interests you doesn't necessarily bring a good payment. Well, if you do the job to an extreme like Steve Jobs did, that might happen, because he is was creating new knowledge and advanced technology.

Some people may argue that money is not everything. However, without money, there is almost nothing. The exception occurs in terms of those people who are contented in poverty, rich in mind though flat in pockets, like what Confucius advocates. Unfortunately, in reality, a good number of people can't be completely indifferent to fame and wealth, like me. An interesting question comes up: what is the definition of "enough wealth" ? or how much will you trade off between you own interests and the money you want to earn(on the hypothesis that you need to sacrifice interests for money)?

"There is never a limit", my roommate commented. People tend to be greedy and feel it an 'obligation' to keep up with the Joneses. When getting good money, you want to earn greater more*2 money. So does that mean you need to sacrifice all of your happiness and interests for the great money you want to earn ?

"No, because there is a job that could combine interests and good enough payment!" one may argue.

Actually, the ultimate conflict arises not between making money and maintaining interests but between making A GREAT DEAL of money and still having interests. For example, I love teaching English to kids which may earn me 3000 RMB per month after graduation, however, I want 6000 per month which is,in a the short term, not likely to be brought about by being a teacher. On this occasion, I need to sacrifice, because what I want exceeds what I can earn by doing what I love to do. The rule is simple: sacrifices are needed when the expectations are high.

A job that interests you versus a job that earns you great money, the choice lies in how greedy you are, if you can't be as innovative as Steve Jobs. In addition, it might be a perfect combination to do one thing for pleasure without payment and do another for getting paid.

What is your choice?

1* more usual order - a conflict frequently occurs

2* as you probably know 'great money' is very usual but a more colloquial version of 'a great deal of money'. but 'greater money' doesn't really work.

Lots of nice natural sounding expressions which are well used. In general well corrected.

Hi Kailin,
Your text is very good. I've just made some comments regarding style and clarity.

A job that interests you VS a job that earns you great money

It has been taken as gospel by some [to say "a group of people" suggests you have a specific group in mind and will talk more about it. If you want to keep it vague it is better to simply say "some people"] people, to "do what you love to do", since Steve Jobs delivered his speech at Stanford in 2005. I was one of them, very inspired and fascinated by the picture of freedom depicted in his speech. However, later I found it is quite difficult to do what I love to do, not because the job is difficult but the rather because reality is cruel ["the reality" also sounds too concrete, like when one says to a politician "It sounds good on a speech, but the reality on the ground is different". If what you mean is something more abstract and general it is better not to use "the"].

A frequent conflict occurs between doing the job you love and making enough money. A job that interests you doesn't necessarily bring in a good payment. Well, if you do the job to an extreme like Steve Jobs did, that might happen, because he was creating new knowledge and advanced technology.

Some people may argue that money is not everything. However, without money, there is almost nothing. The exception occurs in terms of those people who are contented in poverty, rich in mind though flat in pockets, like what Confucius advocates [This is a bit prolix. You could say: "Exceptions are in those people who are contented in poverty, living with a rich mind but empty pockets, the way Confucius advocated". The expression "flat in pockets" sounds like an idiom, reminiscent of "flat tire", though I have never heard of it. It is okay to be creative with the language, just be careful not to sound a bit affected]. Unfortunately, in reality, a good number of people can't be completely indifferent to fame and wealth, like me. An interesting question comes up: what is the definition of "enough wealth" ? or how much will you trade off between your own interests and the money you want to earn (on the hypothesis that you need to sacrifice interests for money)?

"There is never a limit", my roommate commented. People tend to be greedy and feel it an 'obligation' to keep up with the Joneses. When getting good money, you want to earn greater even more money. So does that mean you need to sacrifice all of your happiness and interests for the great money you want to earn ?

"No, because there is a job that could combine interests and good enough payment!" one may argue.

Actually, the ultimate conflict arises is not between making money and maintaining interests but between making A GREAT DEAL of money and still having interests [I understood what you mean by the example you gave next. However the first sentence in this paragraph is not clear. When you mention "maintain interests" and "having interests" what you have in mind is the personal satisfaction you get from acting on your personal interests. Bear in mind that one could have interests without acting on them. Instead you could say, for instance, "The ultimate conflict is not between making money and achieving personal satisfaction, but rather between making a great deal of money and achieving this satisfaction"]. For example, I love teaching English to kids which may earn me 3000 RMB per month after graduation. However, I want 6000 per month, which is, in the short term, not likely to be earned  by being a teacher. In this case I need to sacrifice, because what I want exceeds what I can earn by doing what I love to do. The rule is simple: sacrifices are needed when the expectations are high.

A job that interests you versus a job that earns you great money, the choice lies in how greedy you are, if you can't be as innovative as Steve Jobs. In addition, it might be a perfect combination to do one thing for pleasure without payment and do another for getting paid.

What is your choice?