Even the great Leonardo da Vinci struggled to balance his art, what he called the work, with his professional, paid commissions.
In one of his notebooks, number XXI, da Vinci wrote:
‘It vexes me greatly that having to earn my living has forced me to interrupt the work and to attend to small matters.’
Many of us have felt the same frustrations. For me the breakthrough was when I refused to do work that pays, so that I could focus exclusively on doing work that matters.
Ironically, work that matters pays far higher than work that pays… because it’s so rare. It’s also what the best people in every art and profession do.