For friends who need guidance on this issue, this little list may help.

The second list

is for those who have a profession they don't like and therefore may need the
encouragement to do something about it:

1. There is a great TED Talk by Alain de Botton ( the founder of this channel ) on
TED called

" A kinder, gentler philosophy of success".

Here is a very wise passage from that talk, just to give you an idea:

"So what I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success,
but we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas,
and make sure that we own them; that we are truly the authors of our own
ambitions. Because it's bad enough not getting what you want, but it's even worse
to have an idea of what it is you want, and find out, at the end of the journey, that it
isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along."

I think you really must watch the documentary Status Anxiety by Alain too.

2- Anyone who is willing to think deeply enough on this issue, before deciding what
to do, must also read Alain's great book: " The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work". I
have found so many things in it that I have never thought about before.

3- Ken Robinson have wonderful speeches on this issue. Just search for his name on
TED. He also gave a speech in TSOL which is on youtube. It is called " Ken Robinson
on Passion".

4- There is a German documentary called " Alphabet" by Erwin Wagenhofer. Ken

Robinson is in there too. You can watch it in English on Netflix. It gives you a lot of
clarity about the kind of education system we all fell victims to. Seeing clearly
where our problems come from can contribute to the solution.

5- If you want to be sure about how it feels like being in your element, you can read
the wonderful book " Flow , The Psychology of Happiness" by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi.

I think especially friends who already have a profession but do not like it need good
examples and role models, to be motivated. So here is a list of that type of folks:

1- In his book " Creatures of a day" , psychiatrist Irvin Yalom, recommends to a

patient who is not happy with his profession, the book " Mediations" by Marcus
Aurelius. He says Aurelius being the Roman Emperor, was not happy with his job
either! Because he wanted to become a philosopher indeed... I think because it was
his real passion, we honour Marcus Aurelius today more as a philosopher than as a
ruler!

2- Take Argentina's most beloved psychoanalyst Gabriel Rolon. He first studied

guitar and became a tango singer! Later on he realised that what he wanted the
most was to become a psychologist indeed. But he was scared to be too old to
begin with the studies.... Then his father said to him:

" I will not be ashamed of a son who tries and fails but I will be ashamed if you don't
do it for fear".

So he went for it and that was the best decision he ever took!

3- Being from Turkey I find it a bit hard to like the police. But recently I have heard
an interview with one, who is definitely such a good person. Seth Stoughton was a
cop, then he decided to go back to studying and became a law professor! He does
a lot of critical thinking about how things work in the police departments nowadays
and he is trying to help improve that system, in order to turn it more human and
fair. Hopefully....
( You can hear that interview with him on the podcast "7th Avenue Project". )

4- In one of his speeches Ken Robinson gives the example of a famous piano player.
Consider that if she could make it as a concert pianist she must have practised
literally thousands of hours since her childhood...So this girl was making a great
career and all, until one day the conductor of an orchestra told her: you play
wonderfully, but you don't seem to enjoy it really, do you? She said she doesn't.
Indeed her passion was reading! So at some point she took the decision and
became an editor!

5- Take Maria Popova. She is the founder of the wonderful website Brainpickings.
She used to have a steady , well paid job , but this is what she says about her
decision to leave it:

Do I want to bury myself in a corporate job that Im going to spent 80% of my

waking hours at, be miserable, and hope that the money it gives me will make the
other 20% of my life better, even though Im angry and tired and burned out? Or, do
I want to do something that makes me happy to wake up to and happy to go to
sleep having done and let the financial part figure itself out?"

She is reading and writing all day and bringing wisdom into people's lives through
her website and turns out that it became a huge success and she makes her living
out of it!

Here is one last quote I always repeat. Remember:

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

Friedrich Nietzsche